Did ASU football, coach Herm Edwards deserve scathing criticism from anonymous coaches?
Some anonymous coaches made some scathing remarks about Herm Edwards and the Arizona State football program in a college football preview for ASU earlier this week.
Were the comments warranted?
Maggie Gray and Andrew Perloff recently weighed in on their CBS Sports Radio show, Maggie and Perloff, and their thoughts might surprise some people.
They couldn't believe the extent of the comments criticizing ASU and Edwards.
Gray began the segment reading some of the comments from the coaches, which were cited in Athlon Magazine.
"This is the biggest dumpster fire in college football," the preview quoted one coach as saying about ASU. "It is absolutely mind blowing that Herm (Edwards) is still employed, at least in the mind of the college coaching community. Everyone knows it's a ticking time bomb, but no one knows if it's going off in a month or a year from now."
It continued: "They look like a mid-level SEC program when they get off the bus, and you start to see what they've been recruiting. Then you finish the game and it's like playing a MWC team. They're wildly inconsistent, they turn the ball over, they make mental errors, it's all stuff that screams no stability. We've played them when they're locked in and physical, and we've played them when they're just not interested in being there."
More: ASU football, Herm Edwards slammed by opposing coaches: 'Biggest dumpster fire'
VOTE: Did Herm Edwards and the #ASUfootball program deserve the scathing criticism they received from anonymous coaches? (What they said: https://t.co/tXIKRaMqAb) (Very different reaction: https://t.co/qCJdl5Ql9J) @azcentral #ASU #ForksUp
— azcentral sports (@azcsports) June 17, 2022
Gray's response to the criticism?
"I mean, damn, you really want to take a blow torch to a program," Gray said. "Sheesh, tell us what you really think. You can just say, these are anonymous quotes, it's kind of bush league not to put your name on it, stuff like that, but this caught my attention. To call it a 'dumpster fire' and that 'Herm Edwards should be fired immediately.' 'Mind blowing that he is still employed.'"
Perloff weighed in: "My question is, I understand that they have had some recruiting success, but what are the expectations for Arizona State? Hasn't Herm done fine there?"
Gray responded: "I didn't think they were that big."
Perloff replied: "I don't have Herm's record, isn't it usually like 9-5? Like, they are always sort of in the mix."
Gray answered: "This isn't about expectations. This paints a picture of like some kind of ashes are left where a college football program should be. Do you think that then this is just (an) ax to grind by other coaches? Like do they really see Herm Edwards and ASU as a threat? Why would you have to, you know, take out the big guns to try to cut them down in this sort of way"
Perloff then said: "That's what I found odd about this because … to be a dumpster fire you have to be a team with huge expectations, like USC. USC can and has been a dumpster fire. Arizona State is a mid-level Pac-12 team. How can you get the flames high enough to be a dumpster fire? It's more of a medium-size fire. Why would you bother to torch Herm Edwards? 99% of football fans don't even remember that he is out there coaching."
Gray concluded the segment saying: "It feels personal."
More: Herm Edwards, Ray Anderson set for huge bonuses because of Arizona State academic success
Why would anyone want to make such a scathing take-down of Herm Edwards and Arizona St. Football? pic.twitter.com/66jyBlyMtT
— Maggie and Perloff (@MaggieandPerl) June 14, 2022
Interestingly, Gray and Perloff didn't make one mention of perhaps the major reason opposing coaches are upset with Edwards and the state of the ASU football program: The investigation into recruiting improprieties surrounding the Sun Devil program that has resulted in a lot of turnover on the coaching staff and an exodus of players from the program.
Shocker, you got no clue
— Jim Henry (@NoNicknameNeede) June 16, 2022
The opposing coaches also said this in the Athlon preview:
"The Herm plan isn't terrible: Bring in the CEO head coach to work externally, and let talented assistants coach," it said. "But they didn't follow any of the rules. That model has to be adjusted from the NFL to college because there's way more ways to screw up here."
"This program has the best chance of a total implosion midseason because there's no consistency anywhere: not in the coaches, the head coach, or the roster. It's a waste. This program is always good on paper but fails to ever really win consistently, and this is another example of it."
More: Arizona State football's Herm Edwards plummets in college football Power 5 coach ranking
One of the absolute best things I read each year in college football is @AthlonSports scouting reports from opposing coaches.
Easily worth the $12.
Arizona St’s this year is straight 🔥!!! pic.twitter.com/CtRJOXsESU— Brad Powers (@BradPowers7) June 11, 2022
SunDevilSource.com's Chris Karpman offered a much different opinion than the CBS Sports Radio show this week in an interview on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.
“Actually not that surprised,” Karpman said on The Bickley and Marotta Show. “Covering college football for about 20 years now, you develop a lot of relationships with people who coach at other schools or go on to coach at other schools … last year and really subsequent to that is the most that I’ve heard from opposing coaches — people I haven’t even reached out to — (who) ask me what’s happening at ASU.”
He continued: “Why are they blowing this great opportunity they have to win the Pac-12 South, if not the conference? How come (former quarterback) Jayden Daniels has regressed so much?
“Those things were regularly ongoing features of me covering the team last year in terms of (what) people who were actually in the college coaching community had to say.
“To see that end up on Athlon, as harsh as it may be, isn’t that surprising. … I’m confident it is how a lot of coaches feel."
Many on social media seemed to side with Karpman's reaction over that of Gray and Perloff.
More: Arizona State football predicted to finish last in 2022 Pac-12 Conference projections
Herm Edwards has been a disaster. Worst coached team in college football by a mile.
— Connie Kilgarriff (@Con_Kilgarriff) June 11, 2022
Ouch, these words hurt (probably because they’re true).
— Dooby-Scoo (@ProudDevilAlum) June 12, 2022
Accurate
— Murray (@APM_Devil) June 12, 2022
spot the lie
— MLS Transfers (@MLSTransfers) June 12, 2022
That pretty much sums it up right there.
— Bradley MacLay (@bmaclay) June 12, 2022
I cannot disagree with a single thing written there.
I would simply add fire @SunDevilRay23 and @michaelcrow
You hear me @AZRegents?— JJ Ready (@Trader1Ready) June 12, 2022
What do you think: Did Herm Edwards and the Arizona State football program deserve to be torched by anonymous coaches in such a manner?
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Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Did Arizona State football, Herm Edwards deserve scathing criticism?