(Photo: Reed Harmon/WSCN)
Arizona State football coach Herm Edwards took the podium Wednesday afternoon in Hollywood for Pac-12 Media Day.
A successful season would be an understatement for ASU and now second-year head coach Edwards. With national attention brewing in Tempe before the start of his inaugural 2018 season, Edwards took the attention and achieved more than the school – and its fans — anticipated.
A pair of Top-25 teams was taken down in Sun Devil Stadium, and the Devils also defeated UCLA, Arizona, and USC – the first time in program history that a first-year head coach has beaten all three teams and competed in a bowl game.
With first-year successes for Edwards and the Devils, his second year supplies more pressure.
After being selected sixth last year in the preseason polls, ASU has now been picked third in the Pac-12 South – a certain rise of expectation amongst the Pac-12.
“I don’t get into polls, I just get into coaching the football team,” Edwards said. “There has to be consistency, but there also has to be depth in your roster, and that’s what we have to do, and I think we’ve done a pretty good job this year in recruiting, and that’s critical for any program is how you build it, and we’re in the process of doing that.”
A year of digesting the nuances Edwards brings to the locker room and field has allowed the returning players and staff to strengthen their unity.
Season two supplies comfort and stability.
“I think the players more than anything, as well as the coaches, they’ve kind of got to feel who I am,” Edwards said. “They know my hot buttons. They know what not to press, and that’s important. I think that I’ve earned their respect.”
A new season is accompanied by new players — meaning the exit of some key veteran presence.
“We’re going to be very young, but that was part of it,” Edwards said. “That’s why I sit here today, is that we were going to build a program, and there’s going to be a lot of young players…that first group of guys that played last year are really kind of the emphasis of the youth that we’re moving to, and I think this year the guys will witness a lot of other young players.”
No matter who steps onto the practice field in Tempe, or Sun Devil Stadium, or team meetings, there are no surprises from Edwards.
The veterans know what to expect.
“I’m pretty consistent in what I do every day, and there’s a reason for that,” Edwards said. “I think we all search for consistency. Regardless if you like it or not, you know what to expect…I’ve earned that trust from them.”
This year’s ASU squad is highlighted by junior running back, Eno Benjamin. After having one of the most successful seasons for a running back in program history (1,642 rushing yards, 16 total touchdowns), the Devils look to build off his sophomore season.
Though the game has transcended into a passing league, Edwards is taking a stand on the way successful football is played – through the trenches.
“Run game travels, good defense travels,” Edwards said. “Just put it in a suitcase and go. You can’t stop people from running the ball if they really want to run it.”
Benjamin set the ASU record for most carries in a season (300), and Edwards plans to take advantage of his preseason All-Pac-12 First Team back – especially with uncertainty at the quarterback position.
“Some of these schools throw 90 passes and that’s great, but I think at the end when the opponents are matched evenly, it’s the team that can run the ball that’s going to win,” Edwards said. “It just works out that way.”
ASU will take its annual trip to Camp Tontozona from Aug. 5-10.
The new season kicks off at 7 p.m. Aug. 29 at home versus Kent State and Edwards continues to possess the same motto and mindset.
“It’s about competition… and then preparation,” Edwards said. “There’s a preparation part of it that’s not fun because there’s no one in the stands and no one is cheering for you. You prepare more for a football game than any other sport because you actually practice and prepare more than you play. All the preparation, all the spring ball… now it’s going to be hot, 115 degrees, they’ve got to go practice, and are you willing to do that? And if you are, you become a better player; and if you do it as a whole, you become a better team. And that’s what I’m all about, about preparation. That’s critical.”
