Herm Edwards went 26-20 in five years at Arizona State. There was an NCAA investigation into the school’s recruiting practices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Arizona State was humiliated in the eyes of the nation because it was not only dragged into scandal, but also because it didn’t even get anything for its wayward activity which has drawn the ire of the NCAA and is about to drag the program downward. No Pac-12 championship, no New Year’s Six bowl, no 10-win season. Arizona State got caught without having achieved something first.
Now, Herm is gone, and the program is trying to move forward with its season under interim coach Shaun Aguano. The Sun Devils are conducting a coaching search, which apparently will continue under current athletic director Ray Anderson, who has not been fired by school president Michael Crow. It’s a complicated, tangled situation in Tempe, primarily because the NCAA hasn’t yet handed down punishments.
How will Arizona State move forward?
At the Wilner Hotline, college football recruiting analyst Brandon Huffman of 247Sports spoke with a few of the commits:
— RL Miller, a three-star linebacker from Sacred Heart Prep in San Francisco, said he’s hoping ASU hires from within the program and, if that’s the case, he’ll stick with his commitment.
— Another commit, three-star quarterback Israel Carter from Corona, California, said that he remains loyal and isn’t planning to leave at all.
— Three-star linebacker Xe’ree Alexander, from Burien, Washington, said he remains committed, but he does have some questions about (position) coach Chris Claiborne and whether he’ll be retained.Alexander is an interesting one to watch. His older brother, Junior, a receiver, signed with ASU in the 2021 class with assistant Prentice Gill as the primary recruiter. By the time Alexander got to campus, Gill had been placed on administrative leave. Alexander played as a true freshman, then transferred home to Washington.
After Days of HBCU Premier Sports Receiving endless negative tweets from Arizona State Football fans and certain media groups. The Intel we received from our Sources in Tempe AZ with the firing of Coach Edwards is now being confirmed nationally pic.twitter.com/2x6A8fnPJb
— HBCU Premier Sports (@HBCUSports1) September 23, 2022
Arizona State had the lowest-rated class in the Pac-12 at the time of Edwards’ departure and was among the lowest in the country for Power Five schools: No. 92 in the 247Sports database behind the likes of Liberty, Georgia Southern, Ball State and Rice.
Arizona State only has six commitments in the class of ’23, and none of them are from the state of Arizona which has been a problem for both the Wildcats (Univ of Arizona) and Arizona State as well.
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