Nice read and insight. Only 9 seniors on ASU's roster this year . . . And I gather Herm wants Antonio Pierce to be his successor.
CU v. ASU will be fun to watch going forward - particularly as both coaches continue to bring in highly rated talent. Sko Buffs!
A close friend of San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch, Herm Edwards attended Sunday’s NFC Championship Game in Santa Clara, Calif. A lot of thought went into how the Arizona State coach would represent the Sun Devils while there. He ended up choosing a beige hat with an ASU pitchfork on the front.
On Monday, Edwards was scheduled for a business trip to Hawaii, where he would check out offensive line prospects. On the five-plus hour flight, Edwards planned to study ASU’s five losses, paying close attention to how the Sun Devils were outscored by 42 points in the first quarter of those setbacks. He hoped to return with answers.
Through two seasons, Edwards is 15-11 in Tempe. With quarterback Jayden Daniels in place, as well as the bulk of a promising defense, the Sun Devils already are getting preseason Top 25 attention. (By the way, this might prove that lower-level bowls actually do matter. Had the Sun Devils lost to Florida State in the Sun Bowl, they probably don’t make these preseason lists, not that they’re important.)
Before Edwards left town, the ASU coach met with The Athletic. Over 40 minutes, he discussed where the Sun Devils stand entering Year 3, how next season’s offense might look and why he thinks associate head coach and staff recruiting ace Antonio Pierce is better off staying in college than bolting for the NFL, at least for now.
(Answers have been edited for clarity and length.)
Throughout your first two years, you haven’t over-promised. After both wins and losses, you’ve reminded fans and media that this is not a finished product. Entering Year 3, how close are you?
Edwards: It’s interesting. Florida State was a good barometer for me. People say, “Well, Florida State (is struggling).” But it’s Florida State. They got athletes. When you talk outside the box of where you play football, out on the perimeter, whether it’s offense or defense, the back end, quarterback, running backs. They got athletes. Going into that game, I said, “This is going to be really good for us.” Because I knew they were fast. I was in Florida. I was in Tampa. I know the history. Their speed on both sides jumped out on film. How do we play against that? That was my curiosity. Where are we with that? Because in our conference, USC is always going to have some guys, and Oregon is going to have some guys, so I thought this would be interesting. And we were fine. It was OK. But then I looked inside, and I watched the national championship game. The perimeters — everybody’s kind of running around real fast. It was the big guys (we’re lacking). For us as a program on both sides of the ball, it’s the interior. We’re getting our skill guys.
You did not inherit a great situation on the offensive line, which forced you to play young guys before they were physically ready. Do you feel like you’re making progress there?
Yes, and this will be a big spring for some of them. For guys like (sophomore tackle Ralph) Frias, they’re getting into their third year now, so they need to, worst-case scenario, be No. 2. And then the freshmen you’re bringing in, they become a year-and-a-half away from being a 2 and then a 1. This year will go by and then the next year, hopefully, we’re caught up because the depth of offensive linemen we did not have. That’s why we still have to go out and get some veteran guys.
You’ve added one graduate transfer in Texas A&M’s Kellen Diesch. Would you like to bring in more?
We have our eyes on a couple guys, but we’re so early in the spring (with practice), that once we’re done other teams will start, and something will pop up.
What’s next for Jayden Daniels?
I was messing with him because he comes in here every day. I said, “Hey, this is what I want to see this year: How are you going to play with the ball? Guess what? You did good. Now it opens up.” If we can protect him, we open up the offense. I said, “It’s your offense now. We’re going to build it around you.” I told (new offensive coordinator Zak Hill): “Coach, it’s his offense.” Whatever we can do to allow him to have success, we got to do. We got to build around this dude. And we got to protect him. Now I don’t want you writing, “Coach is going to throw it a million times a game!” No. But it’s different. You’ll see at (spring) practice. Schematically, personnel-wise, what we do, it’ll be different. Some two tight ends. Sometimes three tight ends. A fullback. A lot of shifts, a lot of motions to create a box in our favor. Either way. If it’s a light box, we run. Heavy box, you can’t cover these guys.
You’ve had to play a lot of true freshmen. That’s great for recruiting, but it puts you at a disadvantage at certain spots on the field. How much longer will you have to do this?
We’ll have to do it at a few positions, but it’s getting to the point now that by next year, we should be done. Because we only have — and this is crazy — nine seniors next year.
Entering last season, Daniels had veteran play-makers around him. Next season, it will be the opposite. You have two freshman running backs and four freshman receivers who could play significant roles.
It’s different. They’re going to be young. (Receiver) Frank (Darby’s) coming back, which is good. It’s funny that position — it’s N’Keal (Harry), then (Brandon) Aiuyk — and Frank is thinking, “Now, it’s me.” And I told him, “It is you.” That’s how it works here. That position gets turned over to the next guy. And all the receivers know. What’s kind of funny about this offense, though, because it’s so multi-dimensional, it’ll be interesting who Jayden decides to throw the ball to. I know he’ll throw it to Frank, especially vertically. He’ll throw it to Frank because Frank has a knack for running vertically, getting open and jumping. But it will be interesting to watch him in this offense because he’s like a kid in a candy store right now.
After Danny Gonzales left for New Mexico, you promoted cornerbacks coach Tony White to defensive coordinator. How was that transition?
Smooth. He was ready. (Linebackers coach Antonio Pierce) was probably ready, too, but AP, to me, is on a different track.
How so?
He’s assistant head coach. It just ain’t a title. I told him: “I can’t do this forever so you’re the assistant head coach. Everything I do, you got your hands on.” I’m doing this for a reason. We do this right, and all of a sudden it’s easy. I want him to learn how to be a head coach. That’s what Tony Dungy did to me. He said, “Man, don’t get bogged down with that coordinator stuff — learn how to be a head coach.” I became a head coach and I was never a coordinator. Some people think you have to be a coordinator. No, you don’t. Being a head coach is different than being a coordinator. That’s what I did in Tampa for five years. Assistant head coach. I was involved in everything a head coach does. Everything. And I learned how to be one.
Pierce could jump to the NFL. According to reports, teams are interested.
Here’s what’s crazy about the NFL. I said, “AP, let me ask you a question. Approximately this year there are 20 jobs of authority — head coach, offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator. One minority guy got hired. I said, “That is a dead-end street, man.” And the owners, they don’t care. … I said, “You do the math. You got a better shot here in college football. Make your hay then go to pro football.” That’s just me being realistic, and I say that from a seat that has done it. Me and (special adviser and former NFL head coach) Marvin (Lewis) talk about it all the time.
How disappointing is that?
It’s embarrassing. It’s to the point where it’s like, “Come on, man.” And I’m not about, “The guy’s a minority so we got to hire him.” No, give people an opportunity regardless of who they are. Get off this minority thing, man. People ask: “How do you feel when you’re the first …” I said: “I’ve been the first everywhere I’ve been. I don’t want to talk about that no more. Why am I talking about that? Me and Tony laugh. We came into the league in 1977 together. There were seven black coaches — total — in the whole league. I’m dating myself, but I tell guys, “You have no idea. There were certain positions you weren’t going to play.” That was in 1977 — not 1957! They never told you that, but for some reason, it was like, “Nah, he changed positions.” Really? 1977! So I sit and I look at this and I think, “This is embarrassing.”
What will change with White running the defense?
If you watched us in the last game, we were a little more of a four-man (front). It could be headed that way a little bit with the guys we’re getting. We still could do a 3-3-5, and we’ll still have five defensive backs, but it will be how we orchestrate it. We have some young guys coming in that will compete for playing time. There’s a couple freshmen last season that didn’t play a lot, like the Markham twins, (Keon and Kejuan). They need to have a surge in the spring because we need them to play. We have some young corners. We’ll lose Chase (Lucas) and we’ll lose (Jack Jones) so we have to be in search of — in the 2021 class, I want bigger guys. I want guys that are 6-foot, 6-foot-1.
You recently agreed to a contract extension that will run through the 2024 season. That will take you through your 70th birthday.
It’s funny you say that. When you look at Nick Saban (68) and these other guys, they’re older than me. No one would question Nick. And no one questions any of these college basketball coaches. When I have to walk up those stairs that I walk up every morning at 4 a.m., if I would ever walk up the stairs and it wasn’t fun when I opened the door and walked in here, I’m going to turn around and go home. That hasn’t happened. I am enjoying this, and I’m just humbled to have the opportunity to continue to build this thing.
CU v. ASU will be fun to watch going forward - particularly as both coaches continue to bring in highly rated talent. Sko Buffs!
A close friend of San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch, Herm Edwards attended Sunday’s NFC Championship Game in Santa Clara, Calif. A lot of thought went into how the Arizona State coach would represent the Sun Devils while there. He ended up choosing a beige hat with an ASU pitchfork on the front.
On Monday, Edwards was scheduled for a business trip to Hawaii, where he would check out offensive line prospects. On the five-plus hour flight, Edwards planned to study ASU’s five losses, paying close attention to how the Sun Devils were outscored by 42 points in the first quarter of those setbacks. He hoped to return with answers.
Through two seasons, Edwards is 15-11 in Tempe. With quarterback Jayden Daniels in place, as well as the bulk of a promising defense, the Sun Devils already are getting preseason Top 25 attention. (By the way, this might prove that lower-level bowls actually do matter. Had the Sun Devils lost to Florida State in the Sun Bowl, they probably don’t make these preseason lists, not that they’re important.)
Before Edwards left town, the ASU coach met with The Athletic. Over 40 minutes, he discussed where the Sun Devils stand entering Year 3, how next season’s offense might look and why he thinks associate head coach and staff recruiting ace Antonio Pierce is better off staying in college than bolting for the NFL, at least for now.
(Answers have been edited for clarity and length.)
Throughout your first two years, you haven’t over-promised. After both wins and losses, you’ve reminded fans and media that this is not a finished product. Entering Year 3, how close are you?
Edwards: It’s interesting. Florida State was a good barometer for me. People say, “Well, Florida State (is struggling).” But it’s Florida State. They got athletes. When you talk outside the box of where you play football, out on the perimeter, whether it’s offense or defense, the back end, quarterback, running backs. They got athletes. Going into that game, I said, “This is going to be really good for us.” Because I knew they were fast. I was in Florida. I was in Tampa. I know the history. Their speed on both sides jumped out on film. How do we play against that? That was my curiosity. Where are we with that? Because in our conference, USC is always going to have some guys, and Oregon is going to have some guys, so I thought this would be interesting. And we were fine. It was OK. But then I looked inside, and I watched the national championship game. The perimeters — everybody’s kind of running around real fast. It was the big guys (we’re lacking). For us as a program on both sides of the ball, it’s the interior. We’re getting our skill guys.
You did not inherit a great situation on the offensive line, which forced you to play young guys before they were physically ready. Do you feel like you’re making progress there?
Yes, and this will be a big spring for some of them. For guys like (sophomore tackle Ralph) Frias, they’re getting into their third year now, so they need to, worst-case scenario, be No. 2. And then the freshmen you’re bringing in, they become a year-and-a-half away from being a 2 and then a 1. This year will go by and then the next year, hopefully, we’re caught up because the depth of offensive linemen we did not have. That’s why we still have to go out and get some veteran guys.
You’ve added one graduate transfer in Texas A&M’s Kellen Diesch. Would you like to bring in more?
We have our eyes on a couple guys, but we’re so early in the spring (with practice), that once we’re done other teams will start, and something will pop up.
What’s next for Jayden Daniels?
I was messing with him because he comes in here every day. I said, “Hey, this is what I want to see this year: How are you going to play with the ball? Guess what? You did good. Now it opens up.” If we can protect him, we open up the offense. I said, “It’s your offense now. We’re going to build it around you.” I told (new offensive coordinator Zak Hill): “Coach, it’s his offense.” Whatever we can do to allow him to have success, we got to do. We got to build around this dude. And we got to protect him. Now I don’t want you writing, “Coach is going to throw it a million times a game!” No. But it’s different. You’ll see at (spring) practice. Schematically, personnel-wise, what we do, it’ll be different. Some two tight ends. Sometimes three tight ends. A fullback. A lot of shifts, a lot of motions to create a box in our favor. Either way. If it’s a light box, we run. Heavy box, you can’t cover these guys.
You’ve had to play a lot of true freshmen. That’s great for recruiting, but it puts you at a disadvantage at certain spots on the field. How much longer will you have to do this?
We’ll have to do it at a few positions, but it’s getting to the point now that by next year, we should be done. Because we only have — and this is crazy — nine seniors next year.
Entering last season, Daniels had veteran play-makers around him. Next season, it will be the opposite. You have two freshman running backs and four freshman receivers who could play significant roles.
It’s different. They’re going to be young. (Receiver) Frank (Darby’s) coming back, which is good. It’s funny that position — it’s N’Keal (Harry), then (Brandon) Aiuyk — and Frank is thinking, “Now, it’s me.” And I told him, “It is you.” That’s how it works here. That position gets turned over to the next guy. And all the receivers know. What’s kind of funny about this offense, though, because it’s so multi-dimensional, it’ll be interesting who Jayden decides to throw the ball to. I know he’ll throw it to Frank, especially vertically. He’ll throw it to Frank because Frank has a knack for running vertically, getting open and jumping. But it will be interesting to watch him in this offense because he’s like a kid in a candy store right now.
After Danny Gonzales left for New Mexico, you promoted cornerbacks coach Tony White to defensive coordinator. How was that transition?
Smooth. He was ready. (Linebackers coach Antonio Pierce) was probably ready, too, but AP, to me, is on a different track.
How so?
He’s assistant head coach. It just ain’t a title. I told him: “I can’t do this forever so you’re the assistant head coach. Everything I do, you got your hands on.” I’m doing this for a reason. We do this right, and all of a sudden it’s easy. I want him to learn how to be a head coach. That’s what Tony Dungy did to me. He said, “Man, don’t get bogged down with that coordinator stuff — learn how to be a head coach.” I became a head coach and I was never a coordinator. Some people think you have to be a coordinator. No, you don’t. Being a head coach is different than being a coordinator. That’s what I did in Tampa for five years. Assistant head coach. I was involved in everything a head coach does. Everything. And I learned how to be one.
Pierce could jump to the NFL. According to reports, teams are interested.
Here’s what’s crazy about the NFL. I said, “AP, let me ask you a question. Approximately this year there are 20 jobs of authority — head coach, offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator. One minority guy got hired. I said, “That is a dead-end street, man.” And the owners, they don’t care. … I said, “You do the math. You got a better shot here in college football. Make your hay then go to pro football.” That’s just me being realistic, and I say that from a seat that has done it. Me and (special adviser and former NFL head coach) Marvin (Lewis) talk about it all the time.
How disappointing is that?
It’s embarrassing. It’s to the point where it’s like, “Come on, man.” And I’m not about, “The guy’s a minority so we got to hire him.” No, give people an opportunity regardless of who they are. Get off this minority thing, man. People ask: “How do you feel when you’re the first …” I said: “I’ve been the first everywhere I’ve been. I don’t want to talk about that no more. Why am I talking about that? Me and Tony laugh. We came into the league in 1977 together. There were seven black coaches — total — in the whole league. I’m dating myself, but I tell guys, “You have no idea. There were certain positions you weren’t going to play.” That was in 1977 — not 1957! They never told you that, but for some reason, it was like, “Nah, he changed positions.” Really? 1977! So I sit and I look at this and I think, “This is embarrassing.”
What will change with White running the defense?
If you watched us in the last game, we were a little more of a four-man (front). It could be headed that way a little bit with the guys we’re getting. We still could do a 3-3-5, and we’ll still have five defensive backs, but it will be how we orchestrate it. We have some young guys coming in that will compete for playing time. There’s a couple freshmen last season that didn’t play a lot, like the Markham twins, (Keon and Kejuan). They need to have a surge in the spring because we need them to play. We have some young corners. We’ll lose Chase (Lucas) and we’ll lose (Jack Jones) so we have to be in search of — in the 2021 class, I want bigger guys. I want guys that are 6-foot, 6-foot-1.
You recently agreed to a contract extension that will run through the 2024 season. That will take you through your 70th birthday.
It’s funny you say that. When you look at Nick Saban (68) and these other guys, they’re older than me. No one would question Nick. And no one questions any of these college basketball coaches. When I have to walk up those stairs that I walk up every morning at 4 a.m., if I would ever walk up the stairs and it wasn’t fun when I opened the door and walked in here, I’m going to turn around and go home. That hasn’t happened. I am enjoying this, and I’m just humbled to have the opportunity to continue to build this thing.
