The college football coaching carousel is rotating so furiously right now it's overwhelming to remember which head coach has decided to saddle with which program — not to mention other schools that are still looking to hire a new head honcho.
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Is Jim McElwain going to Oregon State? What about Jeff Brohm to Tennessee?
Herman Edwards to Arizona State?
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MCLAUGHLIN: ASU Recruits Unfazed by Todd Graham Hot Seat Talk
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Wait! Herm Edward might be the new leader of the Sun Devils?
Apparently the two sides are slated to chat about the opening left by the recently fired Todd Graham.
ESPN analyst Herm Edwards will be interviewing for the Arizona State head coaching job this weekend, he confirmed.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 28, 2017
The potential pairing seems odd at best and potentially disastrous at worst.
The biggest question to ask is how a man with minimal college coaching experience can be expected to take Arizona State to the next level. Other than three years at San Jose State from 1987-1989 as the team's defensive backs coach, Edwards has spent the rest of his coaching career in the NFL.
Moreover, Edwards hasn't roamed the sidelines since the Kansas City Chiefs let him go in 2008 after a horrendous 2-14 campaign. His career record in the pros is just 54-74, including 2-4 in playoff contests.
Then again, he did study under some of the greatest coaches in NFL history like Marty Schottenheimer and Tony Dungy.
Even the local media are suspicious of an Edwards-ASU marriage as are the fans whose voting this week in The Arizona Republic showed that they believe hiring him would be a massive mistake.
So what might he excel at?
There's no greater motivator and public speaker than Edwards, and there's reason to believe he will extract every ounce of talent from his players. You can just feel his passion for the game oozing out of every pore when he said this week:
When I got in this profession, as a young guy, as a college coach at San Jose State, I knew right then that I had a passion to do this, to touch people's lives, to develop young men in the game of football. We learn a lot of life lessons in how we play this great game, and I've been fortunate enough to be involved in it at every level.
You don't get character because you're successful; you build character because of the hardships you face. – Herman Edwards
— Coach Quotes (@CoachMotto) November 11, 2017
What about recruiting?
That same ability to persuade should serve him well as it did Jim Harbaugh when he left San Francisco for Michigan, but will the former Philadelphia Eagles' star have the same recognition and clout as Harbaugh did when he's sitting in the living room with recruits and their parents?
Ultimately, an Edwards-Sun Devils marriage seems misguided. It feels like ASU is trying to keep up with the UCLA's of the Pac-12 who clearly made an amazing splash by hiring Chip Kelly.
But just because the former defensive back has NFL coaching experience and is great on ESPN, it doesn't make much sense on paper for Edwards to set up camp in the Arizona desert.
