Edwards uses novel approach with freshmen
ASU rookies get quality time with coach at developmental practices
Coach Herm Edwards wants to transform Arizona State into the type of program that other schools take aim at.
“Eventually, you always want to be in a big game,” he said. “When you become a winning team, and you win a lot, every game is a big game. … It’s not just, ‘You play this school.’ No. They play you. We’re trying to accomplish that. Hopefully, one day we will accomplish that.”
It’s going to be a process, and it won’t be easy in the Pac-12. ASU doesn’t have the tradition of USC. The fan base hasn’t been as engaged as Washington. And the program hasn’t had the recent success of Oregon.
What ASU does have, however, is a well-connected head coach who refuses to acknowledge limitations and boasts a “why not us?” attitude that’s led to him exhorting teenagers and graduate assistants on Sunday nights at a developmental practice for scout teamers that observers consider unique in many ways.
“I’m the only coach over here,” he said. “All the rest of the coaches are, obviously, getting ready for next week’s game. But, I said, ‘It’s important to me, guys. This is how you learn how to play the game of football.’ ”
‘This is our deal’
Every week, about two dozen youngsters, mostly freshmen, work out in front of a handful of graduate assistants who aspire to be full-time coaches. The rookies run the Sun Devils’ offense and defense, a key learning opportunity since they typically just approximate the systems of ASU’s weekly opponents off cue cards.
Supervising the whole thing is Edwards, the guy known for telling the nation “You play to win the game!” — a clip that remains in heavy rotation on the television and radio spots of “The Worldwide Leader,” as Edwards calls ESPN, his longtime former employer.
He came up with the idea for development days months ago.
“It was the first thing I thought of,” he said.
Edwards had his compliance team make sure the workouts were legal, then he started to shape his vision.
Initially, he wanted it to be a live scrimmage, something of a rookie game that would reward youngsters for their hard work all week.
He doesn’t have the depth for that, yet. But one day he might. He’s building.
For now, he spends his Sundays shouting at a small group of guys who wouldn’t get within shouting distance of the head man at other programs.
“After the first week they were thanking me,” he said.
College football lifers have told him, “Coach, nobody does this. I say, ‘This is what we do. This is our deal.’ ”
‘Just long enough’
As an analyst, Edwards spent time observing other programs, building a reserve of ideas about what worked and what didn’t.
He’s not sure why developmental days aren’t more common, but he said the logic behind the concept is simple.
“I said, ‘Well, how do you develop a guy?’ … OK, basically they hold the cards all day. They lift weights,” he said. “But how do they know the system? They don’t have enough time.”
Scout-team years are lost years for many players. They don’t learn the details of an offense or defense. They don’t know when to convert routes or how to trade off coverage assignments. Running plays that a coach holds up on a card doesn’t allow for mental repetitions, either.
Aside from that, Thursdays through Mondays are down times for scoutteam players. Friday is for film and walkthrough. Saturday is a game. Sunday is film review and conditioning. And Monday is off.
Edwards’ rookie workouts are short, only about 40 minutes.
“It’s just long enough,” Edwards said. “… It keeps them in check a little bit, too. Four days off? Oh, man.”
It also helps assistants on the lowest rungs.
“If you’re a (graduate assistant),” Edwards said, “and you want to coach, OK. Lemme see how you coach ’em. And I help ’em. I tell ’em. I want this today. I want that today.”
Then, he said, “I just sit back. I just watch. And they know I’m watching them, too.”
Edwards, of course, does a little more than watch.
During a goal-line segment, he instructed the defensive backs in the finer points of his famous Cover 2.
“Get outside! Get outside! Stay outside!” he yelled while pointing and gesturing. “That’s your guy!”
Edwards has his eyes on a few players who should be able to contribute as soon as next season.
For now, ASU has to focus on the present. Mathematically, the Sun Devils still could win the Pac-12, and if they just go 2-2 in their last four, they can qualify for a bowl game.
But for a little while every Sunday, Edwards keeps his eyes on the future.
“That’s all it is,” he said. “It’s a developmental deal.”