Arizona State Football: 3 reasons Herm Edwards is a bad fit

2. Relating to college players

Herm Edwards has not coached a game in 10 years and has spent the last eight as a studio analyst at ESPN. It is still football, but the game has certainly changed in the last 10 years.

An even more telling stat is Edwards has never been a head coach in college football. In fact the last time he was around the college game was in 1989 when he was the defensive backs coach at San Jose State. He has been away from the college game for nearly 30 years. If you think the game has changed since 2007, it certainly has changed since 1989. In 1989, the Bowl Coalition did not even exist yet, instant replay was still 15 years away, and there were many independent teams instead of big super conferences.

It is not just the rule differences. Edwards should be able to adapt fairly quickly to the college game. The recruiting and relating to his players is more concerning. How can he relate to 18-22 year old kids if he has been away from the college game for three decades? Most high school players probably do not even know who he is. Luckily there is Google and I’m willing to be there were some Arizona State recruits looking him up on their smartphones.

Edwards is 63 years old, making him the oldest coach in the Pac-12. Nick Saban is 66, but has been around the college game since 1990 outside of a short NFL stint. Edwards just does not seem a long term solution for the Sun Devils.