As San Diego State football nears its Aug. 28 season opener against Stony Brook, the Aztecs’ cornerback room has emerged as one of the defense’s most competitive and connected units.
Led by defensive pass game coordinator and cornerbacks coach Demetrius Sumler, senior returners Bryce Phillips and Chris Johnson headline a group that has absorbed setbacks but is leaning into its experience and bond to push forward.
A coach’s standard
For Sumler, who is entering his seventh year coaching Aztec corners, the fundamentals remain the same across coaching eras.
“Our cornerbacks don’t play man, they’re gonna play cover two. You’re gonna play cover three. The game plan doesn’t really change that much for the cornerback position. It still comes down to being able to cover guys and then coming up and tackle when you have to,” Sumler said.
Now, with added responsibility as defensive pass game coordinator, he’s focusing on the next layer for his veterans.
“They know the scheme. They know what they’re doing. They know the base techniques, but now [we’re] trying to give them those extra tools and tips to kind of take their game to the next level,” Sumler explained. “Finishing at the top of routes, discipline with eyes — that’s been a big deal for us.”
Bryce Phillips: ‘Connectedness, you can’t beat it’
Phillips, a senior from Long Beach who earned an NCAA waiver to return for 2025, has been locked in on finishing, both individually and collectively.
“My competitiveness, competitive maturity and finishing games, that’s something I want to work on,” Phillips said. “Personally, as a defense, we all wanted to work on that. Playing better throughout the whistle and snap 50 and snap one, playing the same way.”
With multiple starters back, Phillips said the familiarity on defense has become second nature.
“You come back with more than six. It’s like all you guys playing the same defense, playing the same thing and having the most sustained terminology,” he said. “It’s like connectedness. You can’t beat it, so we all play on the same page. It’s unstoppable.”
Chris Johnson: ‘No ceiling’
Johnson, a senior out of Eastville, California, echoed Phillips’ confidence in the room.
“At this point in camp, with everybody returning, man, feels great,” Johnson said. “I feel like we’re in a great spot. To be honest, I feel like we have no ceiling. We gonna be as good as we gonna be, and I feel like there’s no limit for us this season.”
Johnson credited Sumler for his growth since arriving at SDSU.
“Coach Sumler, man, he’s a great coach. The best DB coach in the country,” Johnson said. “I’ve been here four years, it’s my fourth year, and I never thought about leaving to go learn from a different coach. He pushes us every day, and like he should sit there and tell us like he couldn’t do it himself, but he knows we can, so he expects the best at all.”
The bond across the defense, he added, has turned into one of their biggest strengths.
“The first thing that pops in our mind is the competitive maturity. I feel like we could go head-to-head trying to take each other’s heads off, and the minute the play’s over, we’re all like best friends,” Johnson said.
Rallying after a loss
The room isn’t without adversity. Senior cornerback Jelani Whitmore’s season-ending injury earlier this month took away valuable depth and leadership.
“It was hard the first few days. I mean, it’s hard because we lost a lot of depth in the room,” Phillips said. “So we had to bounce back the next few days, and now we’re using Jelani’s situation to push us.”
The final stretch
For Sumler, Phillips and Johnson, the emphasis down the final week of camp is clear: sharpen technique, lean on chemistry and trust the work already done.
“They’re seeing things faster, playing faster, a lot more comfortable,” Sumler said of his veterans. “They’re just kind of taking their game to the next level.”
That standard, paired with the resilience to rally after setbacks, is what the Aztecs’ corners hope will define them when the season begins.
