Arizona State Football

Herm Edwards is set to coach the Arizona State Sun Devils through at least the 2024 season.

The school announced its decision to extend Edwards' contract two years on Monday, which means it runs through the 2024 season. Vice president for athletics Ray Anderson provided more context to the decision: 

"We are pleased to announce this two-year contract extension for Head Football Coach Herm Edwards. Dr. Michael Crow (ASU President) and I are extremely encouraged with the overall direction of the football program under Coach Edwards and his staff.  They have built a foundation that is recruiting at unprecedented levels and we must ensure the continuation of that effort. This five-year commitment to Coach Edwards will demonstrate to prospective student-athletes and their parents the long-term commitment the University has toward his valued leadership."

Arizona State hired Edwards prior to the 2018 season in something of a surprise move seeing how he had never been a head coach at the collegiate level.

However, he had plenty of experience coaching from his days leading the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs. He reached the playoffs four times in eight years as an NFL head coach and was an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Chiefs and San Jose State in the past as well.

In two seasons with the Sun Devils, Edwards has a 15-11 record with appearances in the Las Vegas Bowl and Sun Bowl. This season's Sun Bowl win over Florida State marked the program's first postseason win since the 2014 campaign when Todd Graham was the head coach.

Arizona State improved from 7-6 in Edwards' first year to 8-5 this past year and made national waves with a victory over the Oregon Ducks that helped shape the College Football Playoff.

Anderson pointed to the recruiting efforts in his statement, and Edwards brought in the 28th-ranked class in the country for the 2019 cycle, per 247Sports' composite rankings. The Sun Devils are 24th in the 2020 rankings and already have a 4-star prospect for 2021.

Edwards now has additional contract security as he looks to parlay those recruiting successes into continued improvement on the field.

Chad Johnson Jr. is now officially a member of the Arizona State recruiting class after signing his letter of intent Wednesday.

Sooo.. I signed some type of paper on my phone and I believe I made it official. Can someone make sure for me 🤔#ForksUp

— Chad (@chadjohnsonjrr) December 18, 2019

Welcome to Tempe, @chadjohnsonll 😈#2020Vision 👀 pic.twitter.com/60k7gC60il

— Sun Devil Football (@ASUFootball) December 18, 2019

His father, former NFL star Chad Johnson, also provided his thoughts on the move:

https://twitter.com/ochocinco/status/1207388506441404417

The younger Johnson is a 4-star recruit, considered the No. 60 receiver in the class by 247Sports. He initially committed to Arizona State in October 2018 and kept his word more than a year later to head coach Herm Edwards.

Edwards, who spent the majority of his coaching career in the NFL, has led the Sun Devils to a bowl game for the second straight season in 2019.

Additionally, former Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis is currently a special advisor to the football team, further extending the relationship to the Johnson family.

Chad Johnson spent 11 years in the NFL, eight of those seasons playing under Lewis.

With the newest signing one of five 4-star recruits already signed in the 2020 class, Arizona State is on its way toward contending in the Pac-12.

Highly touted wide receiver Johnny Wilson flipped his commitment from Oregon to Arizona State on Wednesday.

ASU made the announcement in the following video:

Welcome to Tempe, @jjohnnywilson 😈 pic.twitter.com/cUXv5XgwBA

— Sun Devil Football (@ASUFootball) December 18, 2019

Wilson is the No. 16 wideout and No. 89 player overall in the 2020 recruiting class, per 247Sports' composite rankings. A native of Calabasas, California, he's also the 11th-best player from his home state.

He announced his commitment to the Ducks in July but decided to join the Sun Devils and head coach Herm Edwards instead.

Wilson was a prolific receiver through his first three years at Calabasas High School. According to MaxPreps, he caught 141 passes for 2,274 yards and 35 touchdowns in 37 games.

Speaking with colleague Josh Newberg in August 2018, 247Sports' Greg Biggins offered this assessment of Wilson: "Wilson is the top WR out West in the 2020 class and a top 25 player nationally. He's a big kid who can run, strong hands, very good body control and when healthy, can be a dominant player. He was banged up a lot this past offseason but looks good now, should have big junior year."

Although Wilson missed some time as a junior due to injury, it did little to hurt his stock.

Biggins alluded to Wilson's frame. At 6'6" and 224 pounds, he presents obvious problems for opposing defensive backs. Defenders don't have much of a counter when Wilson is able to get up and high-point the ball. That will make him an obvious target in the red zone right away for Oregon if he's inserted into the offense.

Along with that, Wilson is a reliable pass-catcher on shorter throws, and he has the agility to make would-be tacklers miss in tight spaces. The extra yards he'll fight for add up over the course of a game.

Arizona State is 14-11 in its two seasons under Edwards, and the Sun Devils are guaranteed their third straight winning season overall in 2019.

ASU has struggled at times offensively this season, however, as they are just 94th in the nation in points per game.

The continued development of freshman quarterback Jayden Daniels will help in that regard after he threw 17 touchdowns and just two interceptions this season, and the arrival of Wilson will give him a big, athletic target in 2020.

With leading receiver Brandon Aiyuk set to graduate and join the NFL, Wilson has a legitimate chance to be a big-time factor as a freshman.  

Arizona State's coaching staff already has some NFL flavor, and there reportedly could be another former head coach from the professional ranks joining the mix. 

According to Bruce Feldman of The Athletic, former Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson "has emerged as a strong candidate" to join the Pac-12 program as an offensive coordinator. Former Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis, who worked with Jackson at the NFL level, is already a special adviser to Sun Devils football.

This comes after Devils Digest noted head coach Herm Edwards, who was also a coach in the NFL, announced he will not retain offensive coordinator Rob Likens, tight ends coach Donnie Yantis and wide receivers coach Charlie Fisher on the staff.

Arizona State was solid but unspectacular during the 2019 regular season, finishing with a 7-5 record that included high points such as wins over Oregon, Michigan State and archrival Arizona and low points such as a four-game losing streak after a 5-1 start.

The offense was inconsistent on its way to 25.2 points per game but was also operating with a freshman quarterback in Jayden Daniels against defenses that often stacked the box to deal with running back Eno Benjamin.

Jackson did not experience much success as a head coach, going 11-44-1 with the Browns and Oakland Raiders. He never reached the playoffs or finished a season with a winning record and was infamously in charge of the Browns when they went 0-16 during the 2017 campaign.

However, he was successful in an offensive coordinator role with the Bengals under Lewis in 2014 and 2015. The team made the playoffs both years and featured an offense that finished seventh in the league in scoring in 2015 with playmakers such as Andy Dalton, A.J. Green, Jeremy Hill, Marvin Jones and Tyler Eifert.

Jackson would be an unconventional choice for the Sun Devils given his lack of recent experience in the college game, but he is familiar with the Pac-12 and was an assistant coach for programs such as USC, California and Arizona State in the 1990s.

This would mark a return to the Sun Devils for a seasoned veteran who has shown the ability to succeed as an offensive coordinator in the past.

Herm Edwards is going to be working with lead blockers and lede paragraphs at Arizona State. 

On Thursday, the Pac-12 school issued a press release that revealed Edwards is joining the faculty of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in addition to his responsibilities as the head football coach.

He will be a professor of practice who serves as a guest lecturer and facilitates discussions about sports and the media.

"I am humbled and honored by this incredible opportunity," Edwards said. "As coaches, we are teachers first and foremost. I am looking forward to sharing the knowledge I have accumulated as a player, coach and member of the working media with the students at the Cronkite School."

While Edwards was an NFL coach for eight years with the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs and is entering his second season at the helm for the Sun Devils, he does have experience in sports media.

He worked for ESPN from 2009 to 2017 and appeared across a number of platforms for the network.

What's more, the school's press release noted he was honored by the Football Writers Association of America as the Super 11 Coach of the Year for his willingness to work with journalists who cover Sun Devils football.

Arizona State hired former Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis as a special advisor for the football program, the school announced Tuesday. 

Sun Devils head coach Herm Edwards discussed Lewis' arrival:

"Marvin Lewis is one of the most respected minds in our game. Whether as the winningest coach in the franchise history of the Cincinnati Bengals, or the architect of one the greatest defenses in NFL history, the 2000 Baltimore Ravens, Marvin has succeeded everywhere he has been and he has done it the right way. His passion for teaching will be an incredible benefit not only for our coaches, but also for the young men we are responsible for as students and athletes."

ESPN's Matt Barrie reported Lewis will "analyze film of opponents to contribute to game strategy" and head up special projects in his new role.

This move continues Arizona State's trend of turning to former players and coaches with vast NFL experience.

ASU staff with major NFL ties:

HC -Herm Edwards, former NFL coach

Advisor - Marvin Lewis, NFL coach

Analyst - Kevin Mawae, Pro Football HOFer

LB coach - Antonio Pierce - Super Bowl champ, Pro Bowler

ST coach - Shawn Slocum, NFL assistant

Analyst - Derek Hagan, NFL receiver

— Doug Haller (@DougHaller) May 28, 2019

Name a Better Staff!!!

NFL pedigree from Top -Down #Hermism

— Antonio Pierce (@AntonioPierce) May 28, 2019

The Sun Devils made their intentions clear when they brought Edwards aboard in December 2017, despite the fact he hadn't coached on the college level since 1989. The school's press release touted the football program was instituting a new leadership model, "similar to an NFL approach using a general manager structure."

The strategy didn't produce immediate results. Arizona State went 7-6 in 2018, matching its record from the season before. But the Sun Devils are obviously taking the long view and weren't going to rethink their approach after one year.

Lewis spent 16 seasons as the Bengals' head coach, leading them to the playoffs on seven occasions. He departed as the franchise's all-time winningest coach, compiling a 131-122-3 record.

Before taking this job, Lewis had a previous connection with Arizona State athletic director Ray Anderson. Anderson represented Lewis during his time as a sports agent.

Arizona State wide receiver N'Keal Harry announced Monday his intention to enter the 2019 NFL draft, wherein he could be the top player off the board at his position.

Thanks for everything🙏🏾 #SunDevilForLife pic.twitter.com/PsIoYkWAyz

— Keal (@NkealHarry15) November 26, 2018

The junior recorded 73 receptions for 1,088 yards and nine touchdowns this season. He is the No. 28 player on the big board of Bleacher Report's Matt Miller.

Listed at 6'4" and 213 pounds, Harry has the elite size necessary to be a threat in the red zone and flashed some big-play ability in the last two years.

"When you're that big and that fast ... that really is a different dynamic," Oregon coach Mario Cristobal said, per the Oregonian's James Crepea. "It's a different type of athlete that tackling that is a lot harder. Getting hands on someone like that is a lot harder. Trying to play to the ball when the ball is high and he's trying to high-point, it's a lot more difficult. Then I think what he doesn't get enough credit for is how he blocks on the perimeter. He'll get after you like a big tight end would."

Given the importance of elite receivers, Harry is a first-round lock and could ascend into the top 10 if he performs well in individual drills at the NFL Scouting Combine. He doesn't have the type of jaw-dropping production that got Amari Cooper into the top five or Calvin Johnson's physical skills, but Harry's a good prospect who doesn't have many weaknesses.

Plenty of the teams drafting near the bottom of the first round need a receiver. If Harry bulks up to 220 pounds and stars at the combine, he should be the top guy off the board.

Arizona State is adding a receiver with impressive pedigree after Chad Johnson Jr. announced his commitment to the school Monday on Twitter:

Mom , we’re going to Tempe. #COMMITTED pic.twitter.com/jA7hnU14SE

— Chad (@chadjohnsonjrr) October 29, 2018

The son of former NFL star Chad Johnson, the 2020 prospect is considered a 4-star recruit and the No. 31 receiver in the country, according to 247Sports. While his father's alma mater, Oregon State, provided a scholarship offer, Chad Jr. instead wanted to go to a different Pac-12 school.

While the name will get the most attention, the younger Johnson has plenty of skill on his own to earn this scholarship and a spot on the team.

At 6'2", 180 pounds, the receiver has good size for the position and already knows how to use his body to his advantage. He is capable of winning jump balls over smaller defenders, making him a real threat in the red zone.

This skill set also makes him a quality deep target despite lacking elite speed.

Perhaps most importantly, Johnson also doesn't have the same type of off-field drama that came with his father's play.

"For me right now, to be doing all that talking and stuff, I'm not there yet," he said last March, per Adam Gorney of Rivals.com. "I just keep my mouth shut and not change my number to a Spanish number. I'm just being me and playing my game."

Arizona State is currently 4-4 in its first year under new head coach Herm Edwards, but the team has shown it can utilize top receivers, with N'Keal Harry off to a big start to the season. It will still be two years before Johnson steps on campus, but he clearly likes what he has seen from the program so far.

TEMPE, Ariz. — It's the first day of his first fall camp as Arizona State's head coach, and Herm Edwards is preaching life in its truest and purest form. Football is just the facilitator.

"Don't let anyone's perception become your reality," Edwards says, his voice booming through the oversized team meeting room while 100-plus players hang on his every word.          

Then he says it again, because you might have been listening, but did you really hear it? Those final three words linger just a bit longer the second time, each underscored with a thump of Edwards' open palm on a lectern.

Become. Your. Reality.

The moment is flooded in irony.

Edwards' message is aimed at a team that was voted the worst in the Pac-12's South division a week earlier. Nine months ago, Edwards himself was called the worst hire of the college football offseason by just about everyone outside the desert—a dubious honor of perception.

He might as well have used the motivation on himself.

"The negative person always has the loudest horn," Edwards preaches.

More unintentional irony from a man who had been a television analyst for years before taking this job, occupying a seat gifted to broken-down players or coaches who didn't make it.

You know the rundown on Edwards by now. Out of the NFL for years. Hasn't coached college football in decades. Has never been a collegiate head coach. Until now.

One preseason magazine boldly proclaimed under the headline "Herm Edwards" the question: "Why?"

Everyone wants an answer, and the answers are all here in the Book of Herm. Open your ears and hear, everyone. Don't listen, hear.

"You think that stuff affects me? My dad fought in World War II and the Korean War, and my mom was his German wife," Edwards tells Bleacher Report. "There was right and wrong when I grew up, and no gray area. You knew where you stood. My mom and dad got married in the 1950s, and in the 1960s, we can't go to the South. We. Can't. Go."

He slaps his hand on the oak table in his office with each of those last three words and turns to face the question head on. Edwards chews up doubters, just like he did as an undrafted college player who spent nine years as a star cornerback with the Philadelphia Eagles.

"The stuff I've been through, that I've witnessed with my own eyes?" Edwards says. "You can't break me. You cannot break my will. I won't allow you to do that. That ain't even a factor in this. Don't even go there."

He's 64 years old, and there might be a handful of 60-somethings on the planet in better shape. His washboard abs look like railroad ties, and he can still run a sub-5.0 time in the 40.

He doesn't drink. Doesn't smoke. Doesn't curse.

You want to doubt him? Let him sit down and take you through the Book of Herm to prove to you, point by point, that his reality means more than your perception. Every. Single. Day.

---

How do you use a pro model with a college system?

When Arizona State vice president of athletics Ray Anderson announced in late November that he was giving former coach Todd Graham $12 million not to coach anymore and quickly hired his best friend to replace him, the offseason of "you've got to be kidding me" began.

At the time, Anderson said ASU would run under a "New Leadership Model" similar to an NFL model. And college football purists lost their collective minds. What he should've said was the days of one coach having complete control of the program—recruiting, coaching, uniforms, equipment, travel plans, etc.—are over.

"Everyone has their place," Anderson says now. "Everyone knows their place."

That's the philosophy not because it's how Edwards did it in the NFL with the Jets and Chiefs, but because—hold onto your hat, college football junkies—it's how successful college teams operate, too. Hear the Book of Herm:

"You're skeptical of the pro model? Why are you skeptical of it? Everybody is doing it," Edwards says. "You think Nick Saban doesn't have a pro model down there, for God's sake? Dabo Swinney isn't running a pro model? How about Ohio State or Georgia or Stanford? What are we talking about here? Stop it! Those guys are winning championships running pro models!

"All of these kids want to be professional football players. So we said, 'We're doing the pro model.' We set it up. You have to build a winning DNA, then you get players and it works—as long as you know you have a plan and you don't panic and listen to someone else's plan. This is what we're doing, and we ain't deviating, man. Someone says, 'That's out of the box.' Well, whose box? This is what we do. Who made up those rules, anyway? We're not trying to do it, we're going to do it.

"There's a belief. That's what programs try to build. That's why I marvel at Stanford. You just watch how they play. There's a style to them. We don't care about all the rest of you. They just run you over and beat you to a pulp. And it goes unannounced, and it's not even pretty. You say it's boring football, but they just keep winning."

---

How can a 64-year-old who hasn't coached in college since 1989 recruit 18-year-old high schoolers?

Graham was fired because, among other things, he struggled to win recruiting battles. In his last two years, he landed 11 recruits from the state of California, a vital recruiting base that has produced some of ASU's greatest players.

In the first year with Edwards, the Sun Devils landed 12 players from California, including junior college All-American receiver Brandon Aiyuk (who Alabama wanted late) and coveted junior college cornerback Terin Adams. Despite starting with a new staff in December, Arizona State finished with a recruiting class that 247Sports ranked 36th in the nation.

"When he speaks, I view it as him speaking on a different level," Adams says. "He knows football and life. He just speaks greatness naturally, and when he speaks, it's whatever he says, goes. I don't think I've ever felt like that."

They have it all at Arizona State: a $300 million stadium renovation that includes a 120,000-square-foot football-only facility as impressive as any in the nation. Only Washington in the Pac-12 has comparable facilities.

The last piece of the equation was the salesman. The pitch. The book of Herm:

"Some people say, 'He can't relate.' Come on. I can't relate to people? Me? You're throwing me in the henhouse, man," Edwards says. "I can't recruit? Really? If there's one thing I know, it's people. I can get along with anybody. I walk in a house, and guess what? People know who I am when I walk in their home. All the neighbors know I'm coming, and they come over. They don't even have kids; they just want to meet the coach.

"There's nothing magical about it: You have to have players. Players. Win. Games. The better the player, the greater the margin of error. Good players bail you out on a bad call or a bad situation. Bill Walsh ran that West Coast offense with the 49ers in his first year, and they can't win a game. They have that slant play, and they'd throw it and get five yards.

"Now they draft Joe Montana, and they get Jerry Rice. Same offense, same slant. Now all of a sudden, Montana is throwing that thing right on Rice's chest, and Rice is taking it 80 yards for a touchdown. Same play. Everyone knows it's coming. No one can stop it. That's what great players do for you. Alabama? Great players. Clemson? Great players. Now, can you coach them and get them in position to maximize their talent? The great programs do that."

---

Edwards was last on the sideline in 2008. Everything has changed. The offenses are so far ahead of the defenses, yet the defensive-minded coach is jumping back in?

Danny Gonzales got the call out of the blue during San Diego State's bowl preparation. Edwards wanted to talk to him about being his defensive coordinator.

So Gonzeles left Dallas after practice, flew into Phoenix at 9 p.m., went to the ASU football facility in Tempe and talked ball with Edwards until 2:30 in the morning.

"He offered me the job after five hours," Gonzales says.

Now, on the first day of fall camp, Edwards walks into the defense meeting room with a piece of paper. Staring back at Gonzales and his players is the ugly truth.

In the past three years, ASU has given up an average of 35.4 points per game and 9.8 in the fourth quarter alone. The Sun Devils gave up 127 pass plays of 25 yards or more (explosion plays) and another 41 run plays of 25 yards or more. The defense gave up 160 touchdowns.

The coach who the game has seemingly passed by has one fundamental response: You have to know how to miss a tackle.

And the next chapter in the Book of Herm is revealed.

"We hired Gary Lane, who was a rugby club coach here for a long time, to teach cheek-to-cheek tackling: your (face) cheek to his (rear end) cheek. They step into your crotch and the shoulder is in the gut. Oh, we're in; we're teaching it now. Every defense is predicated on turning the ball back to get help. If I'm a cornerback and the play is outside, I'm tracking that runner's outside hip. If I miss and he goes inside, there are eight guys chasing to get him. But if I try and tackle on the inside hip and miss, well, there's one of your explosion plays. There. It. Is.

"Knowing how to miss a tackle is more important than tackling. One guy is not making every tackle. Look, if it were just tackling, then we're good to go. But it's not. When you're on a team like that, giving up numbers like that, how are the other players holding each other accountable?

"When I was in Tampa [as an assistant coach in the late '90s], oh my God, if you missed a tackle, [Warren] Sapp and [John] Lynch and [Derrick] Brooks would be in your face like, 'Hey, man, what are you doing?' It isn't tolerated. You see Arizona State on the schedule the last three years, and if you're a player, you're thinking, 'This is a stat game.' You're someone's homecoming opponent. You're walking through campus and someone says, 'Don't you play football?' And you say, 'Yeah, but I'm on offense.' I'm looking at the defense, telling them this, and now I'm getting a little angry. You cannot tolerate this. You can never feel good about this. No one ever told them this."

---

How does he learn and adapt to the vast differences between coaching college players out of high school and grown men in the NFL?

Edwards looks back 28 years ago, and nothing has changed. That's right, nothing.

He began his NFL career in 1990 as a scout with the Chiefs, a staff that included some of the game's heavy hitters: Marty Schottenheimer, Tony Dungy, Bill Cowher and Bruce Arians.

It is here where Edwards first learned of The Stance.

When Dungy worked for Chuck Noll with the Steelers, Noll would tell each of his assistants on the first day of practice to get his players in a football stance. Every position has a base stance, and every player got in that stance before anything happened. Terry Bradshaw, Jack Lambert, Mike Webster, all of them.

"I saw Mean Joe Greene get in the stance," Dungy says.

Translation: Football is football, no matter where you play it. If you don't know the fundamentals, you're lost on the field.

So, Edwards got a sheet of paper and had the steps to get into a stance on one side and the basics of the football field on the other. The size of the field, the distance between hash marks, the distance from the hash to the near sideline and far sideline. Even the size of the numbers.

Why? Because when it's 3rd-and-9 late in the fourth quarter, the road crowd is ringing in your ears and you can't hear yourself think, the Book of Herm has you covered:

"I put it in their locker. Know the dimensions of the field. They looked at me like I was crazy. First thing I gave them. You gotta know the game. I'm a cornerback, and the ball is on the hash. To throw an out from the far hash to the sideline, it's 35 yards. Know the quarterback. If he has a popgun arm, you're not even worrying about that throw. You're playing all cut-ins. There are only so many options. Discount the options and put the odds on your side. It's coaching, man!

"Heck, maybe it's me; maybe I'm all screwed up. But I learned football that way. And for some reason, we've gotten away from it. You block and tackle, run the ball, throw the ball and you kick it. But what has happened is athletes are so good, they think, well, let's just get our best athletes on the field and go play. Until you meet someone who has the same athletes or better. Now you've got a problem.

"That happens in pro football. Guys come in with a lot of talent, but if they're fundamentally sloppy and they don't learn it, their age catches them and they're out of the league without a long career. Guys that have long careers, they're fundamentally sound; age catches up to them, but they're a smart player and they continue to play because they know the game. They. Know. The. Game.

"Some guys get caught up in the system. Listen, the players are the system. The players will dictate what we have to do. I can do whatever; just give me the players. That's your job as a coach. You can't play for them, but when they walk on the field, that's your resume going out on that field."

---

How can a guy so far removed from the game be the face of a college program?

Kevin Mawae is talking about the day that left a hole in his soul, the moment that still brings this mountain of a man and surefire NFL Hall of Famer to uncontrollable tears.

The day life changed for everyone, September 11, 2001, is the day Mawae realized what kind of man he played for with the Jets. Edwards was in his first season as the Jets head coach, his first head-coaching job after never being a coordinator—all in the 24/7 fishbowl that is New York City.

The planes hit the World Trade Center on Tuesday, the off day for NFL players, and everything—including the sporting behemoth that is the NFL—was frozen in the unknown. A day later, the Jets tried to practice, and Edwards stopped it after 30 minutes.

He told Mawae and the team to figure out what they wanted to do on Sunday—play or not—and he'd inform the league and ownership.

The player who spent Sundays mauling defensive linemen for 16 years, who now works for Edwards as an offensive analyst, leans back in his chair at the ASU football complex and covers his eyes as those awful feelings become fresh again.

"The Friday after the attacks, we go down to Ground Zero to help," Mawae recalls. "Firefighters were in that hole for two straight weeks because their brothers were buried alive. They were taking debris, bucket by bucket for days upon days. They'd stop, and everything would get quiet, and you'd know they just found another body. Just unimaginable."

The Jets were blown out by the Colts in Week 1, and the coach who already had zero capital was told by his team captain that they voted not to play.

In the Book of Herm, there's a right way and a wrong way.

There is no in-between.

"We practiced at Hofstra, and there's a train station near the facility. That station was full, day and night, for three weeks. People left for work the morning of 9/11 and never returned," Edwards says. "The team told me their decision, and I called the commissioner and said, 'Mr. Tagliabue, I don't know where the league stands on playing, but I want to tell you the Jets will not play Sunday.' Then I called our owner, Woody Johnson, and I said, 'Mr. Johnson, I want you to know the Jets aren't playing Sunday.' He said, 'What does that mean?' I said, 'It means we're 0-2.'

"That was the proudest moment of my coaching career.

"I talk to our guys all the time about life lessons. They have shirts that say 'Words and Actions.' Do they match up? That's all I care about. If you're not going to do it, don't say it. That's what we do as men. Male by birth, men by choice. I tell our guys the only thing I have is my integrity, and that means more to me than anything. Integrity is my referee.

"I was in a [television] seat and could've stayed there as long as I wanted to stay. But I wasn't making a difference, man. I can touch the players now. I. Can. Touch. Them."

Football is just the facilitator. For Edwards, that's reality now, not just perception.

                      

Matt Hayes covers college football for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @MattHayesCFB.

Blake Barnett will transfer from Arizona State and plans to visit with the South Florida Bulls, Fox Sports' Bruce Feldman reported Wednesday.

Barnett spent one season with the Sun Devils after transferring from Alabama. He appeared in two games as a member of the Sun Devils, going 3-of-5 for 40 yards and an interception.

Barnett was once among the most highly touted quarterbacks in the country. He was the No. 2 pro-style QB in the 2015 recruiting class, according to 247Sports' composite rankings. After redshirting in 2015, he was unable to beat out Jalen Hurts for the Crimson Tide's starting job.

Barnett announced his plans to transfer in September 2016 and wound up at Palomar College before moving to Arizona State. He was once again a backup in 2017, as Manny Wilkins didn't relinquish his role as the starter.

Feldman noted Barnett has two years of eligibility remaining, so there's still time to get his college career back on track. And as a graduate transfer, he'd be available to play right away.

South Florida makes sense as a potential destination for Barnett. The Bulls have to replace Quinton Flowers, who led the team in passing (2,911 yards) and rushing (1,078 yards). And since Flowers was the starter for three years, USF is without a clear replacement.

Brett Kean, who's going to be a junior in 2018, might have the inside track, but he has attempted just 37 passes over the past two years. Were he to join the Bulls, Barnett should have a good shot at becoming the Week 1 starter.