Minnesota's Deven Eastern embracing leadership role ahead of final season
Minnesota fifth-year defensive tackle Deven Eastern has played a lot of football for the Golden Gophers.
Ahead of the 2025 season, Eastern has 32 career games under his belt and has totaled nearly 900 snaps. Now, he’s one of the leaders of not just the Gophers’ defense but the team as a whole.
For Eastern, it’s a role that he has embraced both on and off the field. While he has plenty of snaps under his belt and his positioning within the Gophers’ two-deep is secure, the Shakopee, Minnesota native still takes his responsibilities seriously every day.
“Man, I come in every day, and I try to set the tone,” Eastern said before quickly rephrasing. “Or, I don’t try. I do set the tone.”
“It’s my responsibility to bring that energy every single day,” he said. “So I’m coming out here, I’m bringing as much energy as I can. I’m trying to get the young guys fired up.”
With 26 games played over the past two seasons and over 400 snaps played in 2024 alone, the wear-and-tear has added up. The fifth-year defensive tackle even missed some time earlier in fall camp while dealing with minor injuries.
“Going into my last year, I spent so much more time on my body, investing in myself, which are things that I necessarily didn’t do my first year starting,” Eastern explained about his process this offseason and into fall camp.
“Just the extra recovery piece. But I’m starting to realize that, you know, your body is your temple. You got to take care of it,” he continued. “So, hot tubs, cold tubs, whatever I can. Whenever I get the extra time, I’m constantly working on my body. I’m constantly building my mental.”
A major part of his leadership role is also setting an example for those who will come after him.
“I see a lot of guys with a lot of potential,” Eastern said about the Gophers’ defensive line room. “We got Riley (Sunram) out there, balling, taking rep after rep. We got J2 making plays. Adam Kissayi, Mo Saine, I can go on and on.”
Seeing the growth of younger players is something Eastern takes pride in.
“As a guy leaving the program, it makes me so happy to be able to see the future of the defensive line room and how good they’re going to be,” he said. “I take pride in that because I feel like, as a leader, it’s my job to set the example so those guys can do better. They can do something that I wasn’t able to do.”
Eastern’s growth as a player and a leader has not gone unnoticed by his teammates. During the Gophers’ internal media day last month, fellow defensive tackle Jalen Logan-Redding discussed Eastern’s growth as a person and leader.
“Deven is one of the hardest workers in the room, especially at the weight class that he’s at,” Logan-Redding said. “He’s so passionate about the game in his own way, and you see it in his own growth and development when he’s maturing, whether it’s the words that he says or the way that he’s talking to the young guys.”
“He just continues to grow,” Logan-Redding continued. “Sometimes, especially when you see the journey as a football player, from a young guy to an old guy, the main thing from the young guy is you’re not doing the childish stuff that you usually do. Even I had my own childish stuff when I first came in. You’re not doing that anymore. You’re just being more consistent on a day-to-day basis.”
That consistency has helped transform Eastern from just a piece of the puzzle for the Gophers to a cornerstone of their team. “[He’s] becoming the leader we need him to be,” Logan-Redding said.
