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College Football 5th Quarter: 5 takeaways from Early Signing Period

By Justin Dottavio

ORLANDO, FL - DECEMBER 03: Head coach Dabo Swinney of the Clemson Tigers holds the chammpionship trophy following the ACC Championship game against the Virginia Tech Hokies on December 3, 2016 in Orlando, Florida. The Clemson Tigers won the game 42-35. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FL - DECEMBER 03: Head coach Dabo Swinney of the Clemson Tigers holds the chammpionship trophy following the ACC Championship game against the Virginia Tech Hokies on December 3, 2016 in Orlando, Florida. The Clemson Tigers won the game 42-35. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

5. Herm Edwards inauspicious start at Arizona State

Herm Edwards was hired by the Arizona State Sun Devils by his former agent who serves as the athletic director at one of the largest colleges in the country. Edwards, who hasn’t been an active football coach since the 2008 season, came in to what was supposed to be a tailor made position.

Edwards would keep the Arizona State coaching staff in place, and play more of a CEO or general managerial role over the football program. That idea has already fizzled out a bit as both coordinators have decided to part ways with Edwards and ASU.

The Sun Devils paid $12 million to break their contract with Todd Graham, and are paying Edwards $2 million a year to coach the team which is a huge investment in this new age CEO theory they’ve cooked up in Tempe.

Then both coordinators bailed.

Offensive coordinator Billy Napier left to become the head football coach of Louisiana Lafayette. For Napier, that’s an uptick in a way because he’s going from assistant coach to head coach. But in the case of Phil Bennett, it’s definitely a little more strange. Bennett, now formerly the ASU defensive coordinator, stepped down without a guaranteed new destination. Bennett is an experienced coach having worked all over the country but most recently with ASU and Baylor.

The end result is a possible tire fire in Tempe, but also a recruiting class that is sitting around 72nd in the country per 247Sports. That’s 40 places lower than in 2017 under Todd Graham. In 2017, ASU was sandwiched between Ole Miss and Utah. In 2018, the Sun Devils’ recruiting class ranks lower than the FIU Golden Panthers.

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