ASU Football: Herm Edwards: “It’s about us”

In spite of ASU football being selected to finish sixth in the Pac-12 South, head coach Herm Edwards says that the team will only focus on their own goals.

Herm Edwards, in Hollywood, in front of a microphone and camera. There aren’t a lot of better things you can group together.

The first-year Arizona State head coach, alongside quarterback Manny Wilkins and wide receiver N’Keal Harry, spoke for the first time at a Pac-12 Media Day Wednesday afternoon at the Hollywood & Highland Center in Los Angeles, California. And per usual, there weren’t a shortage of things to discuss.

Edwards opened up his individual press conference with some classic “Hermisms,” asking which camera he had to look into and imploring the reporters to ask questions without his judgment. But when things got going, that’s when his words began to stir some interest.

Prior to Edwards and his players arriving to the Pac-12 Media festivities, their team had been met with some criticism. A preseason media poll predicting the end-of-season ranks for each Pac-12 team had been released, and the Sun Devils didn’t get much love.

ASU was picked to finish last in the Pac-12 South, a message frustrating enough from people that cover you religiously. But even worse: the Sun Devils were the only team in their division to not receive a first place vote.

Granted, this could be the best thing to happen to the team. In four of the last seven seasons, the Sun Devils have outperformed their preseason expectations, including last season when they finished second in the division after being picked to finish fifth.

But this is no longer Todd Graham‘s football team. It’s Edwards’. So when he was asked the question about how he and the team reacted to their low expectations, he answered in his own manner.

"Somebody’s got to be first, somebody’s got to be sixth. It’s great. Doesn’t matterto me. We don’t go by polls. We’ve got our own aspirations. I told you at the press conference, we’re trying to win a Pac-12 Championship. So whatever people write, they can write what they want. That’s good. Hopefully no players are listening to that, because no coaches are listening to it."

Edwards also went on to say that the predictions wouldn’t become a talking point in the team’s internal discussions.

"I’m going to talk [only] about our expectations, and N’Keal [Harry] and the rest of these guys know it. It’s about us. It’s never about anybody else. When I took this job, I was quite forthright and said we’re trying to win a Pac-12 Championship. That is our goal."

Since Edwards became ASU’s head coach, he’s received his own fair share of criticism. Some of it has been warranted. He hasn’t coached football in 10 years, so it’s safe to question whether or not he’s fallen out of touch with the game. He also hasn’t coached at the collegiate level, a point that creates intrigue but also skepticism regarding how he can lead 18 to 22 year olds.

More from Devils in Detail

• Sun Devils Primer: Game 2 vs Oklahoma State
• Sun Devil Insight: Quarterback Room
• Arizona State Spotlight: Kenny Dillingham
• Arizona State 2023 Season Opener: Off To A Good Start
• Arizona State vs USC Prediction and Promo (Expect Offensive Fireworks)

On the other end, some of the criticism he’s faced has been unjust. Today was one of those moments.

In regards to Edwards’ comments, proponents of his “out-of-touch” theory would jump all over his words. Rather than applauding him for focusing on his team and keeping the players away from the outside noise, some would say that he’d be a fool for keeping the team away from things they’d see every day.

But let’s take a moment to reflect on sports history. When has committing to outside noise, good or bad, over the focus of a team ever been beneficial for anyone?

Sure, there are times when predictions like these are correct. In five of the last seven seasons, teams predicted to finish last in the Pac-12 South ended up there. Yet we don’t need to look any further than last season to see that buying into publicity can be a negative thing.

After leading the USC to a Rose Bowl title in 2016, USC sophomore QB Sam Darnold was the runaway favorite for the Heisman Trophy last season. He was on the front of practically every preseason magazine cover, and you couldn’t see or hear the words “college football” without running into an image or audio byte with Darnold’s name in it.

The early-season hype for the Trojans, however, didn’t initially become a reality. Darnold ended up matching his freshman season total of nine interceptions six games through his sophomore season. By the end of the year, the 21-year-old accounted for 22 total turnovers, and a team once destined for a national title suffered three demoralizing losses that had eclipsed their lofty goals.

Now, by no means was USC’s season a failure. The team still won the Pac-12 title and qualified for a New Year’s Six Bowl, finishing as the season with a No. 12 ranking in the AP Poll. Darnold was selected with the New York Jets with the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft.

But the results weren’t what their publicity had hyped them up to be. And in that sense, Darnold and USC had gotten away from focusing on what they needed to be.

So when Edwards says that ASU will hone in on their goals and their own expectations, that’s the very best team can do. At the end of the day, it’s not the media who goes out and makes tackles. It’s not the media who goes and completes passes or makes runs that exceed the first-down marker. That all comes down to the commitment of the players and the coaching staff.

Yes, Edwards may have his oddities that make him more of a television personality than a head coach. There is, however, no doubt about his strengths as a motivator and him being willing to do whatever it takes to help his team become successful as possible.

These words only speak volumes for a coach who has quite possibly seen it all.