ASU Football: Herm Edwards to return as Sun Devils’ coach in 2022

(Photo: Dom Contini/WCSN)

The news spread before Arizona State Football head coach Herm Edwards could address it himself.

As ASU defensive/recruiting coordinator Antonio Pierce and redshirt senior cornerback Jack Jones spoke in the hallway behind the media room at Sun Devil Stadium after ASU’s 38-15 win over rival Arizona in the 95th Territorial Cup, redshirt senior cornerback Chase Lucas and others did the same in the designated space.

Turns out, they spoke the same words.

“[ASU Vice President for University Athletics] Ray Anderson just told us that in the future, Herm Edwards is going to be our coach,” Lucas said. “Despite all that BS that ya’ll are hearing now, Herm Edwards is the coach.”

Meanwhile, Pierce screamed, “Herm is back next year, word on the street! Go ahead and print that sh*t, I’m out!”

Jones then followed up: “Herm ain’t going nowhere.”

The smoke around Edwards’ job security at ASU had thickened in recent weeks.

During the 2021 season, constant penalties, turnovers and a seemingly unprecedented amount of mental lapses contributed heavily to the Sun Devils’ inability to live up to the expectations set not only for this season, but the ones Edwards was hired in 2017 to meet.

Despite an 8-4 record to finish the regular season, an ongoing investigation into the program’s conduct by the NCAA and the embarrassing fashion that the Sun Devils’ losses have occurred in this year had some believing that the Edwards era was due for an abrupt end.

“I had no plans on leaving,” Edwards said. “I think it was nice of Ray [Anderson] and [ASU President Dr. Michael] Crow and them, both being there and showing their support of what we’re trying to do here. It’s nice when the players react the way they reacted. They appreciate the things we are trying to do here. It was nice of those men to say that.”

Edwards detailed his thought process as news of the NCAA investigation broke earlier this year, and said it never affected his mindset about the job.

“I told [ASU senior associate athletic director, media relations] Mark [Brand] a long time ago when I took this job – there’s an elevator you can go up where I go up into the stadium – but I take the stairs,” Edwards said. “I told him, ‘the day I don’t have the energy to walk up those stairs, I’m going to walk back down and I’m done’

“I’ll walk again tonight. I’m the coach. I’m going to be the coach.”

That said, Edwards acknowledges that his performance through almost four years at the helm isn’t where he nor the university wants it to be.

“We’ve been to some bowl games, but not the ones we’ve liked to be in,” he said. “We want to be in that championship game and win the Pac-12 Conference’s Southern Division. That was always our goal. We fell a little short [this year].”

WCSN’s Jonah Krell contributed to this report