(Photo via Jake Seymour/WCSN)
After a humiliating loss to Eastern Michigan on Saturday night and “mutually agreeing” to part ways with former head coach Herm Edwards, Arizona State Football has named Shaun Aguano the interim head coach.
An emotional Aguano took the podium at Sun Devil Stadium’s press room, choking up while talking about what the promotion and program meant to him and tearing up when discussing the players on the roster. Aguano spent the previous four seasons as the running backs coach under Edwards, but before his stint in Tempe, Aguano spent 18 years at Chandler High School, compiling an 88-19 record in eight seasons as the head coach.
18 years later from his first season at Chandler, Aguano has accomplished a major goal of his – becoming a Division I head coach.
“It’s funny, about 15 years ago, I go to the Arizona Coaches Convention,” Aguano said. “And that first year, I sat about 40 rows back. And I heard a successful high school coach speak. Then I heard a Division I coach speak, who was a former high school [coach], and I always thought, ‘I want to be that guy.’ And every year I moved up for 15 years. And then I sat in the first row. And I told my wife, I said, ‘I think I can be that guy.’”
Aguano has allowed his players “24 hours to grieve” about the change at the helm but is now requiring his players to get “back to business.”
“Our kids and our coaches have been through a lot in the last 24 hours,” Aguano said. “My focus now is the next nine games and conference games. How do I inspire these guys to play fast physical football? That’s my number one, making sure that I take care of the kids, that’s the most important thing for me.”
A “player-led meeting” took place during the player’s mourning period, which Aguano believes went “very well,” adding that they are “all in.”
The situation that Aguano inherited is an unfortunate one. ASU is still under investigation by the NCAA for recruiting violations, which seems to be a never-ending revolving door, continuing to wreak havoc on the program.
Nonetheless, Aguano does have a coaching staff that appears to be supportive of him.
“I was very fortunate that three people on our staff yesterday pulled me into the office,” Aguano said. “And they came in, first of all, to congratulate me. Second of all, to let me know and give me knowledge of [having an interim head coach]. They’ve been through that process. This is what the interim coach did that was positive. This is what the interim coach didn’t do and hold his words right. And it was a negative consequence. So, I learned from that. I’m a lifelong learner. I’m a good listener. And so, I take that all into account. So, I wrote every single one of them down to make sure that I don’t make that mistake.
“I’m fortunate to have coaches on the staff who I truly call friends to give me that knowledge, too. So, do I lean on them? Yes, I do. Absolutely. … [head coach of sports performance] Joe Connolly was one of them. [defensive line coach] Robert Rodriguez was the other. [Special assistant to the head coach] Marvin [Lewis] was the other one. … But those were the three.”
Aguano made it known that he is an Arizona guy, attempting to connect with the people of Arizona and Sun Devil fans. He wants people to understand that this isn’t another job for him, but a dream job.
One of the aspects Aguano wants to implement into his era of Sun Devil Football is recruiting in-state athletes, something that many have been asking for. Currently, 34 players are from Arizona, but Aguano wants to emphasize those recruits.
“It all comes down to the recruiting aspect of it, having the right kids at Arizona State is number one,” Aguano said. “And my goal, and I’ve told this to our coaches today, on the recruiting basis, and I’ll be out there on Friday at the game, I will personally recruit Arizona kids. I know their coaches. I know what they are about. I know what the kids want. I’ve sat on the other side of them and what they’re sold against. I will personally recruit Arizona kids, and they have to be a good fit. They have to be athletic for us to win. We have to get kids that are at the same athletic ability as the teams that we’re going to face.
“The NIL and all of that stuff will play its part. I think that Arizona State has a plan to catch that up. But it all comes down to the kids that you have in your program. And we’ll start with Arizona.”
Aguano not only has the support from himself, the players, and the coaches but his family too.
“Holy crap, Dad,” Aguano explained his family’s reaction. “Our household last night felt exactly like when I got the head job at Chandler. That support, that uneasiness, that craziness that will come with it. It felt like that. And so last night at 9:30, all of our family got together at the table … But last night, it felt really good because everybody’s around it was loud like it should be. But the excitement in their voices and just them understanding that dreams can come true.”
The support Aguano has already received should serve him well, but he is now trying to get support from Sun Devil fans.
“I’m an Arizona guy. I’ve been here for 20 some years. I understand the landscape and what it means. My kids are born in Arizona. There’s not one coach that I think in the nation that loves Arizona and is in place at Arizona State that it will think can do a better job than I can. That’s just the way I always bet on myself … I think this means a lot for the cultures of Arizona and their dreams and inspiration for them. So I got a lot of my back, but hopefully, we can prove them that my success is achievable.”
