With one reception for seven yards in four seasons with the Arizona State Sun Devils, Coben Bourguet might not tick the box of stereotypical college football success. As is often the case, statistics don’t always tell the whole story. In striving for perfection, both on and off the field, the senior pass catcher has achieved greatness few can only dream of, let alone achieve.
Arizona State WR Coben Bourguet Earns National Attention With Off-Field Excellence
“We shoot for perfection. If you fall a little bit short, you’re going to be great. You fall a little bit short of that, you’re going to be good. We don’t ever want to be below average or mediocre. It’s all about shooting for perfection. That’s one of those mantras that my Dad has always coached. It’s not realistic to be perfect. But if you’re doing your job, being great is still pretty good.”
The standout Sun Devil could be referring to many things as he explains a family mantra that has led to success for his parents and siblings. Business is truly booming for the Bourguet family.
The Arizona State wide receiver is having a remarkable offseason, receiving nominations for the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team and Wuerffel Trophy as a result of his off-field endeavors. The motivational quote passed down from his father could be attributed to what Bourguet does on the field, in the classroom, in the business world, or in the community.
It’s easy to think of football players as being defined by the helmets and pads we see them in on a Saturday afternoon. Even in a social media world where gaining insights into what really makes a student athlete tick has never been greater, the measure of greatness is often a reflection of box score stats, positional awards, or the ultimate glory, a national championship.
Before I sat down with Bourguet for a PFSN exclusive interview, the Arizona State team sent me his resume. It’s longer than a short story and as impressive as the Sun Devils’ rise to national prominence in 2024. “Arizona State University Football Team, Tempe, AZ: Wide Receiver” is but a five-bullet point byline to a story I try to inhale as much of as possible in 25 minutes.
From football camps to meet and greets with his Arizona State teammates, providing opportunities for people to experience new sporting arenas that they might have previously been excluded from, and actively supporting emerging sports, Bourguet has been a whirlwind force for good in the Tempe community, built on three pillars of family, faith, and a football journey that has given him a platform to make a legitimate impact in the state.
“It’s very special to have a platform that a college football player is able to have nowadays,” Bourguet explains. “It’s only continuing to grow, so I don’t take it for granted for one day. To have an opportunity to use our platform that’s growing for the betterment of others and to be able to give back, how many people can we touch using this game of football?”
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One of the benefits of being a college football player in the modern era is access to Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) money or revenue share agreements. While some people have viewed financial gain for student athletes as the downfall of college sports, student athletes like Bourguet are showcasing how much good can be done away from the negative spotlight.
In 2021, following the changes to NIL legislation, the Bourguet siblings founded “Bourguet Brothers Enterprises” — the Arizona State wide receiver is quick to add that it’s brothers by name only, with sister Rylen a key contributor — as a community engagement program that helps bring together people across Tucson and Tempe, and multiple social demographics.
The enterprise has raised funds for local children’s hospitals, coordinated toy drives, and distributed food boxes through St. Mary’s Food Bank. Bourguet has also helped execute fan fests and meet-and-greets, served as a volunteer coach, and helped fellow college football players realize their ability to weaponize NIL for the greater good via long-lasting business partnerships.
“Our partnerships are a lot different than, you know, the one-and-done type deals where you shake hands one time and you never do business with that company again,” Bourguet explains. “We’re making partners with people that, after football’s done, we’re still going to be in that same business meeting with them, talking about how we can still support them.”
While his pursuit of perfection isn’t defined by football, Bourguet has found a way to infuse his experience and love of the game into his business interests and community payback. His platform as a student-athlete has helped fund an enterprise, while his knowledge of the game has been pivotal in establishing one of the great dynasties of flag football, Tucson Turf Elite.
“I was just that kid the other day,” Bourguet begins to explain his work with youth flag football. Once I got to high school, I started helping coach. We started off with one team. Now, our program has over 10 teams, over 200 kids — boys and girls — from age six to 18. It’s a nationally recognized brand that people from all over America are wanting to play for.
“In the offseason, I’ll work out five days a week and then on a Friday night, I’ll fly out to wherever the tournament is. I’ll coach all day Saturday and Sunday, fly home Sunday night, and then be back at workouts at 6 a.m. on Monday. It’s giving back in a way that I’m passionate about.”
Bourguet’s Personify “Football Is Family”
“I always tell people that the three pillars of our family are faith, family, and football. And then football is kind of like a cliche for every sport because we did everything growing up. But we really live by that. It’s just grown from those three pillars, and that’s what we like to fall back on.”
“Football is family” can be an oft-overused cliche, but there isn’t a family in football for whom the phrase is more perfect. Their immediate circle, Toby, Vanessa, and six kids, is something of an Arizona dynasty. At the same time, Bourguet talks passionately about an “extended family” of cousins and all the friends that essentially became family along the way from Tucson to Tempe.
Ray Lewis recently presented an award to Tucson’s Toby Bourguet for Tucson Turf Elite’s national success as a 7-on-7 program in the last year. 🏈 pic.twitter.com/rgsc9cbLM1
— Justin Spears (@JustinESports) June 15, 2024
Toby Bourguet is a renowned coach in the state, recently honored by Hall of Famer Ray Lewis for Tucson Turf Elite’s national success at the 7-on-7 level. With sons Trenton, Coben, and Treyson all going on to pursue football opportunities across the BYU Cougars, Western Michigan Broncos, and Arizona State, his influence on that sporting journey is more than evident.
Yet between Toby and Vanessa Bourguet, there was a greater impact on their children. As he discusses his journey, it isn’t hard to understand where the pursuit of greatness away from the sporting limelight comes from for the second Bourguet brother to grace the halls of his parents’ alma mater.
“Growing up, my dad was a small business owner,” Bourguet begins.
“He did as much as he could for the community that raised him. So, always having him and seeing him by my side give back, supporting other local businesses, just doing as much as he can to serve others. And my mum being the one always there for us. To have both of them together working for our benefit and serving others was the most important thing growing up.”
If Toby was the driving force behind the sporting success enjoyed by the family, Vanessa cultivated a foundation of academic success. Bourguet is a 4.0 GPA student with a degree in engineering management and will graduate from Arizona State with a master’s in industrial engineering in May 2026.
“Aside from football, academics have always been the most important aspect of my journey here at ASU,” Bourguet explains. “That goes back to my parents, specifically to my mom. My dad says that we got the brains from her, and I believe her. She brought me up in a way that I felt comfortable that I had the time management skills.”
“I knew what I needed to do, when I needed to do it. What I’m doing to this day in my master’s program is the same preparation and study skills that I’ve been doing since elementary school. Little things that a lot of people don’t go the extra mile for, I do without hesitating because it’s just a habit now, and building those good habits academically has gotten me to where I’m at now athletically.”
“I was able to walk on to ASU for football, but not pay a dime for school because my academics had covered my tuition. So, it’s little things like that you might not be the most gifted or have 50 offers to play football, or play whatever sport at the next level, but if you take care of your work in the classroom, a lot more doors are still going to be open for you.”
Bourguet is big on opening doors.
Unsurprisingly, growing up in a household with three older brothers and a father who was a football coach, Rylen Bourguet wanted to play football. Yet, as a girl, the opportunities were frustratingly limited. As more opportunities arise, “football is family” has never been more relevant than it is to this particular group of siblings with the sport flowing through their blood.
“I saw a stat not too long ago, and I 100% believe it, that women’s flag football is the fastest growing sport, or one of, in the world,” Bourguet explains his passion for elevating the profile of the sport.
“My younger sister was always playing up because there were no all-girl teams at the time. She always wanted to play football. NFL flag came along when she was about 10, and she was playing with U14, that’s when there was an all-girls team. So, she’s playing with 14-year-old girls, and she’s 10, and they were able to win the national championship.”
“It’s ties that go back a lot longer than just this last year of them announcing the Olympics. She’s had two national championships with NFL girls’ flag football, and now she’s made the top 60 for the US trials. Every year is going to be a tryout for the team. Only having 10 spots for an Olympic team out of hundreds of thousands of girls. You can see how competitive it is.”
Bourguet is also no stranger to competition, another by-product of a large family blessed with athletic gifts and the intention to pursue perfection.
As I dive into the on and off-field experiences that make a student athlete who they are as a person and a player, I always ask who the toughest competitor they ever faced is.
The answer is naturally close to home for the Arizona State wide receiver.
“I mean, being raised in my family, my siblings, we’re all the toughest competitors,” Bourguet smiles. “Nobody likes to lose, and losing wasn’t something anybody liked to settle with. If I had to tie it to one person, Treyson, my younger brother.”
We’ve always butted heads growing up. Not in a bad way, but because we’re always pushing each other. He’s about as tough of a competitor as I can think of.”
Bourguet and Arizona State Grow and Excel Together
“It’s a grind. That’s the simple way to say and explain it. It’s a grind to walk on to a college football team at any level. It’s something that you have to kind of check yourself every morning you wake up, that this is something you want to do. I never had any hesitation. I’ve always loved to play football.”
“To have the opportunity to still play football at this point in my life isn’t something that I take for granted. I have buddies that were way more talented than me in elementary, middle, and high school, and they could well be where I’m at. I’m doing it for people that should be in the shoes that I’m in right now. For me to have this opportunity, I couldn’t pass up on it.”
The pursuit of greatness hasn’t always been a straightforward one for Bourguet.
A two-way player at Marana High School and Salpointe Catholic who tallied 86 tackles in his final two seasons while registering 33 catches for 557 yards and six touchdowns as a junior, Bourguet wasn’t rewarded with any recruiting ranking from 247 Sports and received no offers, opting to walk on at Arizona State as a late arrival to the 2021 Sun Devils football program.
He didn’t see any time that year. Although he continued to be a vital part of the scout team, he didn’t make it onto the field as a redshirt freshman. But leaning on two of the three pillars at his foundation, he made his first appearance on the road against Utah in 2023 before logging his first catch — for seven yards — against Arizona in the final game of the 2024 season.
Like their walk-on wide receiver, Arizona State as a program has battled highs and lows during Bourguet’s time in Tempe. An 8-5 season that featured an AP Poll ranking and a 6-3 Pac-12 record in 2021 gave way to consecutive 3-9 campaigns ahead of a transition to the Big 12 where the Sun Devils entered the season ranked plum last in the preseason polls.
Yet, last season marked a fairytale storyline, a (perceived) worst-to-first fantasy that saw Kenny Dillingham’s team beat the Iowa State Cyclones in the Big 12 Championship Game and book a place in the College Football Playoff. It was a national surprise, but not for those inside the building. A pursuit of perfection resulted in greatness during the 2024 college football season.
“You can’t enjoy all the highs and not smile through the lows because you know things are only going to get better,” Bourguet reflects on his Arizona State journey. “Coach Dillingham has always said, from his first press conference, that Tempe is a sleeping giant.”
Coben Bourguet has been at Arizona State through good times and bad, creating his own legacy that transcends football.
We talked about his work in the Tempe and Tucson communities, but also about the spark plug behind the resurgence of a program: Cameron Skattebo 🔱 pic.twitter.com/5JDk2COabn
— Oliver Hodgkinson (@hodgkinsonsport) July 22, 2025
“We’ve always said, from the first time I got here, this place was just waiting to be activated, waiting to have something to back. To put together the season like did last season, and heading into this season. You can feel the support of this community.”
“Everybody loves to win, but more importantly, it’s real fans. It’s authentic. It’s people that, whether we win or lose, they’re ride or die with us, and they’re not going to sway with the wind. It’s building that foundation now for the 10-year run the program is projected to be on. We don’t want to be one-and-done. We don’t want to be the Cinderella story.”
“I think we had to go through those rough times, those lows, to get to where we are today.”
The pursuit of perfection is not without difficulty and troubled times. In those moments, it’s part of the human condition to seek comfort and support, to know that the path you’re taking, the journey you’re undertaking, is the right one.
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In the aftermath of his nomination for the AllState Good Works Team, social media was awash with comments from players, people, family, honoring the Arizona State wide receiver’s commitment to greatness, most notably from his father, who’s message was as powerful and reflective as any other.
Five-star players can impact a game… Five-star people impact the world.
“It just reminds me of why I’m doing what I’m doing,” Bourguet finishes up his PFSN exclusive interview with some thoughts on what those kind of words mean to him.
“It’s not for the praise. It’s not for people to give me flowers, but it’s a reassurance that there’s a real impact in what I can do with this platform that I’ve been given, and to never take advantage of it and never to overlook what I’m doing. It just reminds me of what I’m doing, and the amount of people I can touch.”