ASU Football: Sun Devils under investigation by NCAA for recruiting violations, reports say

(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)

Arizona State Football is under investigation by the NCAA for recruiting violations dating back to March 2020, according to multiple reports on Wednesday.

The violations, first reported by Doug Haller of The Athletic, involve allowing visits by high school recruits during the NCAA’s blockage – or so-called “dead period” – of such activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the dead period, which lasted from March of 2020 until June 1, 2021, recruits were allowed to visit college campuses on their own, but could have no physical, in-person contact with members of the university’s athletic department, on-campus or off it. Communication between athletic department members and recruits was only allowed virtually.

ASU, according to Haller and Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel, broke those rules.

“ASU can confirm the NCAA is conducting an investigation regarding allegations related to our football program,” Arizona State vice president of media relations and strategic communications Katie Paquet said in a statement to The Athletic. “In accordance with NCAA bylaws, the university cannot provide further comment at this time.”

Haller’s report mentioned that potential consequences of the investigation has those on ASU’s staff concerned about their jobs being lost.

ASU’s head coach Herm Edwards, who Thamel reported illegally met with recruits, is scheduled to enter his fourth season at the helm of the Sun Devils, while associate head coach, recruiting coordinator and defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce – a key factor in improving ASU’s recruiting classes during the Edwards’ era, is also supposed to enter his fourth year on the Sun Devils’ staff.

Pierce was a candidate for the head coaching job at Arizona – his alma mater – this past offseason, but the gig went to former New England Patriots assistant coach Jedd Fisch and saw Pierce receive a promotion and raise from ASU.

Thamel’s report says that 30-plus recruits took visits at ASU during the dead period, and that players and their families were shown around campus at nighttime. It also mentioned that Pierce “fostered an in or out culture” among coaches on the staff, and that some were uncomfortable with Pierce’s “aggressive tactics,” and reports that a source told him that Pierce was “not nice to the people who are good people.”

However, Thamel’s story did not directly implicate Pierce in any misdoings with recruiting.

Thamel highlighted that former offensive line coach Dave Christensen and assistant coach Kevin Mawae are no longer on the staff, with Christensen retiring and Mawae taking a job with the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts earlier in 2021, and that a Twitter exchange between the two, part of which has been deleted, could have hinted at the upcoming investigations by the NCAA.

Also mentioned was the willingness of former members of ASU’s staff to contribute to the NCAA’s investigation by virtue of directing investigators to potentially implicating evidence in the case.

Additionally, Thamel spoke on-record with Stanford Football head coach David Shaw and Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick, who both offered their disdain for the allegations against ASU.

“It’s a disrespectful thing to do,” Shaw told Yahoo Sports. “That doesn’t sound overly harsh. But for me being a lifer in this profession and a coach’s kid, I believe in respecting our profession and respecting the other people in the profession. Doing things that you’re not supposed to do just to gain an advantage, I take offense to that.”

The Sun Devils are coming off of a 2020 season in which three games were cancelled due to COVID-19 issues within the program, which included Edwards testing positive for the virus. ASU finished the season 2-2 and declined any invitation for a bowl game appearance.