PAC-12 CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA DAY

July 21, 2023

Jalin Conyers

Jordan Clark

Arizona State Sun Devils

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Here you are at media days. I want to start off with rumors about the first team meeting. Could you take us through that, what you thought walking in, what you talked about coming out.

JALIN CONYERS: Bo ripped his pants. That was the funniest thing ever.

He came in right away, started yelling, we were caught off guard. Once he had done that, he kicked his shoes off, talked about how his wife dressed him. Then he got into telling us about how passionate he was to be here, get ready to go.

It was a moment I won't forget. But looking back at it, it's him being passionate.

JORDAN CLARK: I would say it's our first kind of encounter with him when you learn how genuine he is, how much he loves Arizona State, how much he loves Tempe. It's genuine, it's real, the passion that he has for it.

For me, that's all you can ask for in a head coach.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Jordan, how has your dad kind of helped mold you into the defensive back that you know you are? Outside of him, who are your favorite Pittsburgh Steelers?

JORDAN CLARK: My dad is, to my career, everything, man. He taught me how to approach the game. He led by example as well as instruction. I watched my dad my entire life work his tail off. We didn't take a lot of vacations. Our vacation was going to Scottsdale during the summer to watch him train.

Watching him approach his career in such a professional way, then him taking time out to wake me up before school at 5:30, go work out before school, then after my practice at school, go work out again. Just taking the time out of his day to teach me, it really means everything. It's shaped me into who I am today.

Outside of my dad, my favorite Steelers were Mike Wallace and James Harrison.

Q. Jalin, you have this unique path, to now you're one of the faces of this program. Where have you grown the most? Changing positions, schools? Changing coaches?

JALIN CONYERS: Yeah, I think it's just finding myself at ASU. OU, I was a quarterback, tight end, then they moved me to receiver. Right before I transferred, they were telling me, like, we're going to possibly try you out in a new position.

I was kind of in a place where I was struck. What is going to be my role? Obviously getting into the portal, getting to ASU, you're going to be a tight end. COVID was a lag year, but this past year I kind of finally got to flourish, show what I have.

A lot of it was getting in that role, being able to play how I wanted to play, be me more than anything.

I think the one thing that a lot of people don't realize is I am myself, I try to be myself no matter where I'm at, whether you think I'm weird, funny, stupid, whatever. I think that's something I finally got to do and show it on the field.

Q. Jalin, last year you were sort of in the shadow of Messiah Swinson. It was a cold night in Boulder, Colorado, where this guy that was mired behind the scenes came out of nowhere and looked like Superman. The trajectory of your career took off. What was it that sparked that night and change?

JALIN CONYERS: I wore ramen noodle pajamas before I went to bed (laughter). I'm playing.

That was crazy. That was the first game that Trenton Bourguet started. Me and him lived together, funny enough. We always had a connection even when I came here and he was the backup and I was the second string tight end. So we always kind of had that relationship.

It was funny going into the game, we talked to him, and he was like, Hey, just know it's finally our time. I was like, Yeah. Not to say I brushed it off, but everyone kind of says that.

After the second catch, good game so far. It took off from there.

Yeah, I mean, I just had to be patient, wait my turn. Messiah is a dog. Obviously we have a good tight end room with Bryce, too, being in there as well.

I think that game did, it honestly changed my life. It put me in a place, it was my first game where I had the most confidence I ever had to be able to do what I did. I was able to run with that towards the end of the season, and I'm here now at Pac-12 Media Days, so it's cool.

Q. Jordan, I heard you on your father's podcast talking about you saying, I want to be great. I want to go do this thing. And he put you through workouts, and he said, You can quit anytime. Clearly you haven't quit. What do you think was building inside you as you were training and learning?

JORDAN CLARK: During that time, man, I told my dad I wanted to play college ball. I told him I wanted to take it seriously. Up to that point, because of the life that my father had built for my family, I hadn't really faced much adversity. My dad did a great job of creating that himself.

So just through those workouts, through kind of navigating recruiting, all of that stuff, it was just a chip I think formed on my shoulder, man. I just wanted to prove that Jordan Clark belonged, not Ryan Clark's son. I wanted to prove that Jordan Clark belonged. I'm here now, and I hope to continue to do that.

Q. Pregame superstitions, you shared with me you have a cool one, it started back in high school.

JORDAN CLARK: Yes, ma'am. Before every game I watch my dad's highlight tape, it's the same highlight tape I have screen recorded on my phone, and my uncle Sean's [phonetic] highlight tape from when he was in Washington.

I watch them both. I watch them how they play, their product on the field. I know the work, what they did to get to that point. It really just motivates me to represent my family, represent my dad and my uncle Sean the right way every time I go out there. Those two people mean the world to me.

Q. Your favorite play of your dad's, 2 1/2 minute --

JORDAN CLARK: Yeah, 2 minutes 32 seconds, when he put Willis McGahee to sleep, and he also went to sleep. I think that's super cool. Definitely rewind that a good bit.

Q. You guys have been at ASU, some of the few returners, what made you stay?

JALIN CONYERS: For me, I think the biggest thing was, like I said, after transferring from OU, I finally got my opportunity here to kind of show what I had. When I got here, like I said, I wasn't really sure who I was. I finally got to develop that.

After the season was over, I mean, obviously Herm got fired and stuff like that, so we didn't know where it was going, but obviously hiring Coach Dillingham, crazy offensive mind, hearing what he said to me, it made me want to stay.

I want to be a Sun Devil at the end of the day. I love Arizona, even though it's so hot. Bro, it's terrible. Beyond that, Arizona is a great place to be, Tempe, Scottsdale, Phoenix. Tempe, you go back, that stadium is packed, it's a college town, so fun. Our goal was to get us back in that feel, and I wanted to be a part of it.

Q. This is my first time seeing you guys in person. I see the fashion, the necklace, the shoes. Talk to me about your shoes, where do you guys get your sense of fashion?

JALIN CONYERS: Describe your drip first. If you don't see his chain...

JORDAN CLARK: My dad takes fashion super seriously. Before this, him and I had like a 20-minute conversation about what I was going to wear, what I was going to go buy for it.

I like to represent my family the right way, you know what I'm saying? I think fashion is a big part of that. Got some Palm Angels sneakers on, tennis bracelet, tennis chain. I like to represent my family the right way, so fashion is a way I can do that.

JALIN CONYERS: I'll be honest, I'm not a fashion guy. This is probably the best dressed I've been in a good three, four months. I'll be honest with you.

The shoes, I don't know, I've always had this thing, I've seen players have creative shoes in the past, custom stuff. There's actually a lot of people in Arizona that make custom shoes. I've always seen how cool it would be to be able to broadcast that. Shout-out to Kicks by Kenna, by the way, for making these. She made them in three days because I told her very late because I didn't know I was coming.

I think it's cool to be able to showcase stuff like this. It's super cool. Obviously something unique to me. I thought it would be a super cool thing for me. I'm not a big fashion guy, but...

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.