15 quarterbacks left the ASU program since Trenton Bourguet arrived. Why has he stayed?

Arizona Republic
Jayden Daniels, Ethan Long, Dillon Sterling-Cole, Joey Yellen. Then came Finn Collins, Daylin McLemore, Jack Smith, Paul Tyson and Emory Jones. Then Bennett Meredith. If you didn't count, those are the 10 scholarship quarterbacks who have skipped town since Trenton Bourguet arrived in Tempe in 2018.
Bourguet can rattle off another five non-scholarship quarterbacks who have also left the program.
To state the obvious: Bourguet isn't afraid of competition. In fact, he's quite comfortable with it. He has had plenty in the Arizona State quarterback room, but he first tasted competition at home as the oldest of six siblings.
The Tucson native started as a walk-on. His main responsibility was quarterbacking the scout team. The transfer portal made it easy for other quarterbacks to come and go, but Bourguet chose to stay.
Finally given the chance to direct the team, he performed admirably in the last five games of the 2022 campaign. Yet he comes into camp this fall once again trying to prove himself. His biggest competition comes from Notre Dame transfer Drew Pyne and true freshman Jaden Rashada, a highly-touted four-star prospect..
"You have people that are going to believe in you and people that will doubt you but for me it’s been like this my whole life, middle school, high school, 7-on-7, starting here five years ago. Fifth-string, walk-on," Bourguet said. "So just to get to this position, nothing changes for me. I feel confident as ever."
QB Trenton Bourguet throws a pass during practice on Aug. 3, 2023, at ASU's Kajikawa Practice Field in Tempe.
Bourguet, who has said he would like to eventually be a coach, had only seen mop-up duty for four years. That changed last year when Jones, who arrived ASU as a high-profile transfer from Florida, was injured early against then No. 21 Washington. Bourguet turned in a signature performance, going an efficient 15-for-21 for 182 yards and three touchdowns in leading the Sun Devils to a 45-38 upset that kept the Huskies out of the conference title game and likely a college football playoff berth.
His first career start came two weeks later against Colorado in Boulder. He threw for 435 yards, completing 32 of 43 passes with three touchdowns.
Toby Bourguet, Trenton's father, said his son has always tried to keep things in perspective. It's a dynamic that is a focus for the tight-knit family too.
"We always constantly talk daily. You read your kids in those conversations," Toby Bourguet said. "I make sure he's still has his head on straight and he'd locked in. In life you can easily feel sorry for yourself. It doesn't take much. No matter what your doing in life, you can say, `Wait a second. I'm still here. I'm still breathing. The sun is shining.' So there are too many things to be blessed about instead of being stressed. We focus on that as a family every day. We give thanks to God every day and that keeps us grounded."
WR Coben Bourguet catches a pass during practice on Aug. 3, 2023, at ASU's Kajikawa Practice Field in Tempe.
Trenton says his confidence and competitive nature come from his upbringing. One brother, Coben, is a redshirt sophomore wide receiver for the Sun Devils, who has also started out as a walk-on. He is one of Trenton's five roommates in an off-campus house.
Another brother, Treyson, is a redshirt freshman quarterback at Western Michigan. There are two other brothers, Emeron, 11 and Kendren, 14.
But there is no debate as to the best athlete in the family.
That distinction goes to the lone sister in the family, Rylen. A true freshman, she attends ASU on a beach volleyball scholarship. Rylen won seven high school state championships — three in soccer, three for beach volleyball and one for indoor volleyball — for Salpointe Catholic She has also played basketball and flag football.
"She’s competitive," Trenton said. "Our games back in Tucson, we’ll be yelling, `We’re not playing USC in the Final Four.' She's THAT competitive. It brings the best in all of us. We’re all in different stages of our lives, so we don’t get to spend that much time together any more but in summer we had a week to be back together and talk, make memories and just help each other out."
Trenton said competition has extended to everything in life.
"With my family there’s competition with whose going to fold the most clothes, towels, whose going to open the most doors, bring in the most groceries," he said.
Having two brothers at ASU factored in Rylen's decision to go there as well. The trio landed and Name, Image, Likeness deal with Burrito Express, which has sponsored many ASU athletes in the past.
"There is definitely comfort in knowing I have my brothers there," said Rylen, while watching a recent ASU football practice. "I was thinking about some schools but this made sense for a lot of reasons."
With the revolving door at quarterback, not just at ASU but seemingly everywhere else in the college football landscape, the question remains: what kept Bourguet at ASU?
Both Toby and his wife, Vanessa, are graduates of ASU. Trenton, who graduated from Marana High School, was initially recruited by Arizona, the team closest to home. That changed when then coach Rich Rodriguez left that school.
"I’m super blessed to be a Sun Devil. I never thought about leaving," said Bourguet, who has another season of eligibility left after 2023. "Growing up, I wasn’t a Sun Devil fan, but God’s plans are always the best and you just never know what’s going to happen but definitely taking advantage of it. Having my brother here, my sister just committed here for beach volleyball, so next year there are going to be a lot of Bourguets in the stands for volleyball and football, so it will be exciting."
Bourguet's teammates appreciate his loyalty and work ethic, not to mention the fact he has never complained about not being given a chance to start sooner. Among those teammates is tight ends Jalin Conyers, another of Bourget's roommates. The two play a lot of Madden video games in their down time and Conyers can't seem to get the upper hand there. He chalks that up to Bourget being a quarterback and someone studious by nature. Bourguet is always one move ahead.
ASU offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin talks with quarterback Trenton Bourguet (16) during the Spring Game at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe on April 15, 2023.
According to Conyers he is also exceptionally "neat" at home.
"Let me tell you, Trenton Bourguet is one of the smartest people I know," Conyers said. "He knows he's not the tallest quarterback. He knows he's not the fastest, but he uses it to his advantage. He's a trooper. He's a fighter. Obviously, he wants to be here. He's shown that. He's not afraid of competition. You bring in Drew (Pyne), bring in Jaden (Rashada) and he said he knows. He's going into it like he's competing for the job and whoever comes out on top, we know we're going to be successful. I wouldn't count him out."
His team-first mentality shows off the field as well. During a basketball game last winter, Bourguet found himself talking to local car dealer Parker Jones, who had helped out a couple of past quarterbacks — Daniels and Jones — with cars as part of NIL deals. He offered Bourguet a vehicle too. Bourguet, who had just gotten a car from his parents as a gift after earning his degree in communications, suggested the dealer help out Conyers and wide receiver Elijhah Badger
Both Conyers and Badger had breakout 2022 seasons and had other schools trying to lure them away from ASU with endorsements. Now, have vehicles thanks to Bourguet's insistence.
"It was more using my platform to make sure we keep some of the guys I knew were probably getting some offers from other schools," the quarterback said. "For me it was, `We need to help out this guy and this guy.' They earned it. I was just kind of the middle man in between. Super blessed to be able to use my platform to help those guys out."
Bourguet is excited about the coming season for a lot of reasons. For the first time in two years he is healthy. He broke a bone in his foot in the 2021 season opener against Southern Utah but played through it, with that only possible by the fact he wasn't the starter so the physical demands weren't quite what they could have been.
After that season was over, he had surgery to stabilize the bone. Over the course of the 2022 season, the pin that was inserted wore down. So, just days after the season-ending Territorial Cup loss at Arizona, Bourguet again had surgery with a plate being inserted this time.
He wasn't supposed to be ready to participate in spring drills in March, but that competitive nature pushed him yet again and he was a full-scale participant in all 15 sessions.
Offensive coordinator, Beau Baldwin appreciates what he has seen from his quarterback so far.
"He’s definitely the great of example of guy that just overcame things, from a standpoint of how he was recruited to where he is now. The credit goes to him for that because he really worked," Baldwin said. "I do believe things happen for a reason. When you keep attacking whatever role you’re in, I don’t even like the term waited, because I think he was attacking the role he was in. If he just sat back and waited he probably wouldn't have been ready when he got his chance. I tell the guys all the time whatever role you’re in, you might want to change it but keep attacking it. That’s the thing that has impressed me because he had to be attacking it to then elevate and be ready when his time came."