Arizona State Football: Herm Edwards proving himself as the right hire

Many eyebrows were raised when Arizona State football hired Herm Edwards as head coach. But after just 18 games, the Sun Devils look like geniuses.

On December 3, 2017, Herm Edwards was named head coach of the Arizona State Sun Devils. From writers to fans, many were surprised by the hire, leaving those confused scratching their heads and thinking what the Sun Devils were aiming for.

Prior to the hire, Edwards had spent the previous eight years as an analyst for ESPN. So one of the biggest questions was why the would hire a coach who had not roamed the sidelines in about a decade?

Edwards’ previous coaching experience started immediately after he retired from the NFL in 1986 and spanned over three decades. His first coaching gig was as a defensive backs coach for San Jose State. After just two years, he moved up to the pros and never returned to college ball until the Sun Devils gave him a call.

The coach spent five years with the Kansas City Chiefs, starting out as a scout and finishing as the defensive backs coach. Edwards would then go on to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, also as a defensive backs coach but also as they assistant head coach. In 2001, Edwards earned his first head coaching job as he was named head coach of the New York Jets. In three of his five seasons with the Jets, including the first two, Edwards led them to three playoff appearances, picking up an AFC East divisional title and two playoff wins.

Following a 4-12 season, Edwards’ tenure with the Jets was over but he found himself in a familiar place soon after as he returned to Kansas City, but this time as the Chiefs’ head coach. His first season was a success as the Chiefs made the playoffs. But after 4-12 and 2-14 seasons, Edwards was out in Kansas City, finishing with a 54-74 record in eight years as an NFL head coach. While his record is not impressive, he still had some success as a head coach.

So to list: Nearly a decade of not coaching, an up-and-down coaching career and almost no experience coaching in college football. Add all of that with the fact that it was rumored Edwards was the only one interviewed for the position, it kind of justifies all the questions surrounding the hire. But it wasn’t like Alabama or Clemson made this hire, it was Arizona State.

The Arizona State Sun Devils have not had a 10-win season since doing so in both 2013 and 2014, and in between those two seasons and the hiring of Edwards, the Sun Devils were 18-20 and had one of the worst defenses in all of college football. After the 2017 season, then-head coach Todd Graham’s contract was over and the Sun Devils decided it was time for change.

Fast forward to today and that once highly-scrutinized hire of Edwards has turned out to be one of the best hires over the past couple seasons.

In his first season as head coach, Edwards led them to 7-6 season. A slightly above .500 record in your first year as a college head coach isn’t so bad especially when you see what Edwards was able to accomplish in 2018. The Arizona State Sun Devils finished second in the Pac-12 South, picking up a big non-conference win over Michigan State, and conference wins over USC, Utah and in-state rival Arizona.

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And in the Sun Devils’ four conference losses versus Washington, Oregon, Colorado and Stanford, they lost by no more than seven points, showing fight in every game.

Fun stat: the Sun Devils were the only Power Five team in 2018 with a 3,000-yard passer, 1,500-yard rusher and 1,000-yard receiver.

Edwards followed up his debut season by finishing with a 30th-ranked recruiting class (per 247Sports). Being in Arizona and competing against conference foes like USC and Oregon, this was a win for Edwards in his first year recruiting. His first recruiting class was highlighted by Jayden Daniels a four-star quarterback who was the second ranked dual-threat quarterback. Daniels was named the starter and has performed exceptionally well for a true freshman.

And while it’s still early, Arizona State is on its way to another top-30 recruiting class in 2020 and is on pace to break inside the top 25 in 2021.

Now we are here in 2019. The Arizona State Sun Devils are ranked No. 20 in the AP Poll and has a 4-1 record. The Sun Devils lone loss came in a nail-biter against Colorado that easily could have gone in their favor. Arizona State’s biggest wins are highlighted once again with a win over Michigan State, a ranked Power Five opponent, and a crucial conference win over Cal who, at the time, was undefeated and ranked No. 15 in the nation.

There is still a lot of football left to play in 2019. The Sun Devils have a bye in Week 6 before hosting Washington State and traveling to Utah in back-to-back weeks. The rest of the Sun Devils’ schedule consists of three home games against USC, Oregon and Arizona, while going on the road to take on UCLA and Oregon State.

They will be challenged as there are some tough games coming up but the Sun Devils are flirting with the possibility of a 9-10 win season.

So there you have it, the Arizona State Sun Devils’ hiring off Edwards was the right one. He has changed the direction of the program and introduced a new culture and a new era of Sun Devil football. The Sun Devils are trending up, and fast, and look to take reign of not just the Pac-12 South but of the entire conference in the year’s to come.

You play to win the game, and that’s exactly what Herm Edwards is doing.