Herm Edwards explains why assistant departures, transfer portal impact is not alarming
It’s been a tumultuous offseason for Herm Edwards and Arizona State. The program saw multiple assistants leave the program and quarterback Jayden Daniels headed to LSU via the transfer portal.
But Edwards doesn’t sound too worried about all the turnover. He spoke about that on SiriusXM with Guy Haberman and Ryan Leaf this week.
Edwards said changes are part of the game each year, whether it’s coaches departing or players transferring. He noted his team’s focus as a reason why it’s not necessarily a big deal.
“I just think it’s a culture that we’ve built there,” Edwards said. “Coaches leave all the time. That’s just part of it. They advance and they go. That’s what they do. … Our first year, Danny Gonzalez and our secondary coach both left. Danny became a head coach after only two years. Our secondary coach is at Syracuse right now, Coach [Tony] White is the coordinator. I’ve never had a whole staff stay over two years. They just leave, and that’s OK because you want to advance guys.
“So players are used to that and I think they’re used to this. We don’t get involved in all the outside noise. We don’t. It’s a pretty focused group, and it’s got a great leadership group of about 10 guys that really have an influence on this football team. We’re solid. We really are. It’s a fun group to be around. We appreciate each other, we respect each other and we just go about our business.”
Inside the turnover within the Arizona State program
Arizona State offensive coordinator Zak Hill was among the coaches to leave the program after an NCAA review, according to multiple reports. DevilsDigest of Rivals first reported the news.
Hill resigned after an NCAA investigation into alleged recruiting violations. The results of the investigation led to Hill’s resignation, according to Devils Digest.
Three other Arizona State assistants — wide receivers coach Prentice Gill, secondary coach Chris Hawkins and tight ends coach Adam Breneman — are also reportedly no longer with the program. They were previously placed on administrative leave in August 2021.
In addition to those departures, Daniels entered the portal in February. He completed 62.4% of his passes for 6,025 yards and 32 touchdowns in 29 games over three years with Arizona State. In 2021, he led the Pac-12 in completion percentage before transferring out.
But Edwards is reportedly kicking the tires on finding Daniels’ replacement, and he could be looking to Daniels’ current conference. Former Florida quarterback Emory Jones is reportedly planning to visit Arizona State as he weighs his options in the portal.