ASU Football: ‘New Leadership Model’ off to a rocky start

(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)

Ray Anderson’s plan isn’t working.

Firing Todd Graham was supposed to alleviate the perceived uncertainty that Anderson saw in this program’s future. Instead, the last two weeks have done nothing but put that future in further jeopardy at every turn.

“It’s not a situation where we’re going to have to clean house and start all over,” Anderson said at the press conference announcing Graham’s firing. “Manny Wilkins does not need a fourth coordinator in four years. That will not be our direction.”

Well, Ray, now it is your direction.

Offensive coordinator Billy Napier was named head coach at Louisiana Lafayette on Friday, just three days after defensive coordinator Phil Bennett announced he wouldn’t be returning due to personal reasons. ASU lost both of the coordinators it hoped to keep after installing Herm Edwards as its “CEO.”

That, unfortunately for the Sun Devils, is the nature of the business world. There’s always a better opportunity somewhere else. ASU failed to prevent Napier from seeking out and signing up for a better opportunity. The loss of Bennett is more understandable, but we don’t know how much his close relationship with Graham played a factor in his decision to leave.

Since Graham’s firing, ASU has lost five of its 15 commitments from the 2018 recruiting class. Edwards has been spotted on the recruiting trail wearing an ESPN polo instead of ASU gear, putting up the pitchfork in photos to cover up the logo of his most recent employer.

Losing Napier and Bennett will undoubtedly have a negative effect on ASU’s ability to retain and pursue recruits. The Sun Devils are without an offensive or defensive coordinator with five days until the early signing period begins. This is an unprecedented level of uncertainty that could prove disastrous by the end of December, especially if Edwards can’t secure new assistants in the next week.

Anderson’s misguided decision to hire Edwards is already blowing up in his face. It hasn’t even been two weeks and ASU football is already in a worse place than Todd Graham left it. The unease of Sun Devil fans bears stark contrast to the hope and elation they felt after capturing the Territorial Cup on Graham’s final day as coach.

The success of ASU men’s basketball has provided plenty of cover fire for Anderson and company as the football program begins to unravel. Bobby Hurley’s team is No. 5 in the nation and riding high after an upset over Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse.

Oddly enough, Sun Devil Athletics is beginning to look a lot like Kansas, whether Anderson intended that or not. Basketball is nationally relevant while football — despite a significant monetary investment — is teetering on the brink of irrelevance.

ASU isn’t Kansas just yet. Basketball is far from calling itself a blue blood and football hasn’t collapsed into itself as it has in Lawrence. Anderson, using whatever corporate speech he deems necessary, will find a way to rationalize the uncertainty ASU football now faces, even if it makes him sound like a hypocrite.

The messy truth is this: ASU is closer to being a non-factor on the national stage than it is to Anderson’s lofty goals. It was hard enough for the Sun Devils to reach contender status with the limitations they already faced. That list of limitations has only grown in the early days of the Herm Edwards era.

“I’m on the train, and I’m gonna ride it. I will ride this train until it stops — it’s not gonna stop,” Edwards said at his introductory press conference. “If you want to board on a little bit later, we’ve got a seat for you.

“Might not be comfortable, but you’ll have a seat.”

As badly as Anderson wanted them on board, Napier and Bennett were never on the train. They saw a better way to get to their desired destination, one with far more comfortable seats.

Trains are an increasingly obsolete mode of transportation, anyway. ASU better hope its football program doesn’t follow a similar track.

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