Arizona State's trip to Cal provides a reminder of where the special teams unit came from

All good long snappers know the importance of timing, rhythm, and focus.

And all the great ones know that the better you are, the less people will know.

In a position where anonymity is preferred over infamy, there’s a lot of mental preparation to deal with when the motion you practiced countless times isn’t enough. The balls that fly over the head of the kicker or punter and the chaos that can sometimes accompany special teams.

Arizona State long snapper Slater Zellers is fine with remaining anonymous to the average fan because he knows the cost of being known.

“I think in all the special teams, the majority of it is mental over physical,” Zellers said. “At this stage in our careers, we have the physical tools to do it. We’ve done it so many times, it’s just getting the mental aspect of it. That comes with game experience and being in that situation. It’s hard to mimic those situations.”

Among other areas, ASU had to overhaul its entire special teams unit.

In came Charlie Ragle, one of Kenny Dillingham's first hires. Ragle went back to Cal, the place where spent five seasons from 2017-21, and brought on two sixth-year players in Zellers and kicker Dario Longhetto.

Zellers and Longhetto are part of the four Cal transfers returning to their roots on Saturday, including running back DeCarlos Brooks.

“There will be a little bit of emotion going back there with those guys. I pride myself on that," Ragle said. "Those guys could’ve gone anywhere in the country. Slater and Dario are two of the best at their positions respectively in the country... For those guys to come here and be with me at Arizona State, it says a lot about our relationship.”

The countless experience and synergy between the two came as an added bonus.

“We’ve done it now at this point that I can’t even tell you how many reps we’ve done together. Thousands upon thousands,” Zellers said. “I try and give a consistent ball every time, but he’s gotten my timing down where he knows on the tap when he’s going to start his motion and his kicking motion.”

Scouting report: What to know about Arizona State's football game at California

Zellers had a quietly successful time at Cal where he appeared in 41 games over four seasons and made every snap on punts.

Once a center, Zellers displayed the right timing and deft hands needed for the position. But Zellers, who has been a long snapper since seventh grade, didn’t initially want to play it.

Instead, he’d rather be on the mound throwing strikes. But while he considered himself to be a decent baseball pitcher, he listened to his football coach and went to Kohl’s Long Snapping Camp, one of the top special teams camps in the country. There he met his coach, Ben Bernard, who remains his guide today.

“I didn’t want to be a long snapper, but after about a year of going to coach Bernard, I started getting better at it. I knew he was telling my dad, 'He has a knack for it. There’s a future with it.' I think about freshman year was when I started to realize the potential I may have with it. That’s kind of how it got started.”

The Scottsdale Notre Dame product was once ranked No. 1 in the country for the 2018 class. His blazing time of 0.63 seconds at a long snapping showcase in 2017 then earned him the fastest long snap time ever observed at the high school level.

While there’s constant pressure to do the one job assigned to you, there are perks that accompany special teams that Zellers wouldn’t trade.

“You’re not necessarily practicing as hard as everyone else. That’s life as a specialist,” Zellers said. “I’d say you probably get more time together as a group and have as many meetings as them and you get an extra hour of your day hanging out with the specialists as a group and getting to know each other in a deeper level.”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ASU football's special teams unit faces a big trip to California