Is Herm Edwards Among Worst Coaching Hires Ever?

The Arizona State Sun Devils are facing an illuminating future under Kenny Dillingham at this current juncture.

It wasn't always that way.

Herm Edwards is infamous in the history of the Sun Devil program for numerous reasons, and has continued to be considered one of the strangest coaching hires in recent college football memory.

Edwards was once again mentioned in this conversation - as John Talty of CBS Sports ranked the 25 worst collegiate football hires of the century - the major criteria is below.

• Did the hire make sense in the first place?
• Did the coach's predecessor have success? 
• Does the program have the resources to win?
• Why didn't it work?

Edwards was part of the group that just missed the cut - while there are coaches that posted worse records, he arguably did as much damage to the Sun Devil program compared to any other coach elsewhere.

Now, let's take a look at the criteria.

Did the hire make sense? It depends on the angle that is taken on that question. Some would argue it made sense in the way that former AD Ray Anderson framed the hire as following a 'pro model,' while others would argue that hiring a head coach that hadn't coached in college in decades was always an err in judgement.

Did the coach's predecessor have success? Yes, Todd Graham went 28-12 across his first three seasons before struggling over his final three - largely due to a stagnant recruiting effort and trusting the wrong coaches. However, Graham did prove that winning is still attainable in Tempe.

Does the program have the resources to win? As seen over the last year, the resounding answer should be yes. Arizona State has been labeled as a 'sleeping giant' for decades to this point in large part due to location, history, and other factors that could be of intrigue to recruits.

Edwards' departure was as messy as any other head coach in recent memory - an underachieving 2021 season followed up with a humiliating start to 2022 coupled with the recruiting scandal resulted in a totally disgraceful exit.

All in all, the Edwards hire could be considered among the worst in recent memory.

Read more on Sam Leavitt's potential 'Heisman moment' games in 2025 here, and the case for Arizona State being a top offense this season here.

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