Almost exactly a year ago, Arizona State announced the hiring of former Jets and Chiefs head coach, and then-ESPN analyst/motivational speaker, Herm Edwards to replace Todd Graham as its head football coach. The hire seemed like an odd fit—Edwards hadn’t coached anywhere in a decade, and he compiled a putrid 6–26 record over his last two seasons roaming an NFL sideline. On top of that, modern-day Pac-12 football is almost unrecognizable compared to the early-2000s NFL, when Edwards had most of his success.
Moreover, it seemed like a generational mismatch. Edwards’s reputation as a no-nonsense disciplinarian could clash with the teenagers he was set to mentor.