ASU Football: Edwards embraces coaching grind heading into short week

(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)

When Arizona State Football head coach Herm Edwards made the transition from the television studio to the football field in 2017, he knew what he was getting himself back into. Long nights, sudden adjustments and always looking ahead to the next game.

In Monday’s press conference, Edwards took the media inside his mentality as a coach and his night after now-No. 22 ranked ASU’s 42-23 win over then-No. 20 UCLA.

On the plane ride back to Arizona, Edwards was already preparing for the Sun Devils’ upcoming matchup against Stanford, which beat No. 3 Oregon last Saturday. It is a quick transition as the game will be played on Friday.

Edwards arrived in Tempe at 3 a.m, and didn’t leave the office until around 4-4:30 a.m. He made sure his daughters, wife and dog were sleeping at home and drove back to Sun Devil Stadium at 5:30 a.m.

“That’s what you do,” Edwards said. “It’s not just me, all coaches do that. I’m just glad I still have energy. That’s the important part. And you have energy when you win a game, you have this energy about yourself, you’re excited. You want to make sure you give your players information when you come in here today.”

The shortened week means a lack of sleep again, and Edwards praised his coaching staff for being able to form a game plan under the conditions.

One coach, offensive coordinator Zak Hill, forced the Sun Devils into a different kind of workaround last week against UCLA, with Hill having thrown out his back as he was packing for the trip. He had to get treatment while in Los Angeles and ultimately decided to call plays from the press box instead of on the field.

“We had to change everything we’d done before,” Edwards said. “(Interim assistant coach) Trey [Anderson] did a nice job. I had to be a little bit more involved speaking with (junior quarterback) Jayden [Daniels].”

With a successful offensive game plan, Edwards joked to Hill that his back “can stay hurt if you want.” The offensive coordinator will likely be coaching from the press box from now on, Edwards noted.

As the Sun Devils prepare to play a second consecutive pivotal matchup, Edwards revealed his philosophy for approaching these types of games. Since his high school playing days, he has learned that treating each game as a “big game” helps ease the players’ minds away from having to live up to a certain standard set by a matchup.

“It’s funny, when you’re in the arena there’s a different mindset you have to have than the folks that are outside the arena,” Edwards said. “If you always have that mindset that every game’s a big game, especially when you win, then when supposedly these other ‘bigger’ games – the game never gets bigger, it’s the same amount of time, it’s just [a] different place – but they all become, ‘Okay, I’ve done this before.’ It just becomes the world you live in.

“Once you understand that, and you look at it that way, then it’s just the game. And you just play it that way, and you’re comfortable in that environment. I always tell guys, ‘Just do what we do. Don’t change, just do what we do. And we’ll be okay.’”

With this mindset, Edwards is hoping for another game where the Sun Devils can keep their emotions in check and play passionate instead of emotional. He said that his team, specifically the younger players, are starting to handle the task and play team ball.

Following ASU’s win over UCLA, Edwards’ first reaction – as with any win – was relief. Then he immediately turned his attention to Stanford. It was his reasoning for saying his role as a head coach is “a funny proposition.”

Yet Edwards is not always strictly business. How does he have the urge and energy to stay focused on the late nights and manage the adjustments and responsibilities that a head coach must after the 10 years he wasn’t one? The answer is simply joy.

“Anytime I win a game I always sit back in the locker room after I talk to [the players] and I watch them,” Edwards said. “I just want to see the joy that they have. That makes me feel good, that they put in a lot of work that week – and the coaches as well – and they were able to win a game. That’s the joy I get.”