TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
Former NFL football coach Herm Edwards appears headed to Tempe to become the next head coach at Arizona State. An announcement could be made early next week.
Arizona State is poised to hire former NFL coach Herm Edwards as its new football coach provided school President Michael Crow agrees with the selection.
Crow is returning from a trip to Asia and will meet with Edwards and ASU Vice President for Athletics Ray Anderson over the weekend. If all goes well, an announcement could be made early next week.
It’s been less than a week since ASU’s decision not to retain Todd Graham, but Edwards’ acceleration from an Anderson adviser to presumptive top candidate speaks to the close relationship between the two long-time friends. When Anderson was an agent, before working as an NFL executive, he represented Edwards.
Indications on Wednesday, as Edwards made the rounds on national and local sports talk radio, was that he would be offered the job unless Crow vetoes the move because of negative feedback from key boosters. The fact that Edwards never was a head coach on the college level, or coached at all since 2008, are concerns for some in the ASU community.
Edwards acknowledged that he is interviewing with ASU, and there was nothing to suggest his media tour was designed to misdirect the public in order to hide another candidate.
“I’ve gotten a lot of calls in my career here on television (as an analyst), answered them and said no thank you,” Edwards said on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “This is one that there is a connection with the AD there, Ray Anderson and myself, that I owe him to come down there and speak. That’s where it’s at.”
A source close to ASU described Edwards as “itching to get into coaching again” and anxious to work with Anderson.
Edwards, 63, was 5474 in the his NFL head coaching career with the New York Jets (2001-05) and Kansas City Chiefs (2006-08). He played in the NFL from 1977-86 and was an assistant coach at San Jose State (1987-89) before moving into pro coaching.
Edwards has not coached since being fired by the Chiefs, working since 2009 as an ESPN analyst.
“Sometimes people assume because you’re on television that you’re not coaching football,” Edwards said on Arizona Sports. “Because you’re talking about football, you’re analyzing football. I’ve seen a lot of college campuses, teams I’ve spoken team, I coached Under Armour All-American game for eight years. So there’s a connection there with me and players.”
Edwards also addressed his interest in the ASU coaching position on ESPN SportsCenter on Wednesday.
“This is a place where, Ray Anderson is there, I know the man,” he said. “We have the same kind of philosophy on things we want to do. So I’m going to go down there and have a conversation.”
During a news conference Sunday to announce the firing of ASU coach Todd Graham, Anderson said he preferred a coach with headcoaching experience. He also said he wanted the new hire to embrace the possibility of retaining offensive coordinator Billy Napier and defensive coordinator Phil Bennett.
Will he get back into coaching?
“It has to be the right fit,” Edwards said on SportsCenter. “Coaching is about fits.”
ASU on Sunday fired Graham just hours after the Sun Devils defeated rival Arizona to finish 7-5 and 6-3 in the Pac-12. The move will cost ASU more than $12 million, Graham’s buyout that covers the rest of his contract.
At the news conference, Anderson said he will lean on his relationships in the profession to help select ASU’s next coach. Several sources told azcentral sports that Edwards, along with former NFL coach Tony Dungy, is among them, but he wasn’t believed to be a candidate until recently.
Edwards has coached for several years at the Under Armour All-American game. He talked about that on SportsCenter Wednesday.
“Believe it or not, that is one of the funnest weeks I have,” Edwards said. “Every year, I look forward to coaching that game. Why? It’s young, talented players to come out of high school.”