Herm Edwards slammed for hypocritical comments after Arizona State football's bowl ban
Some old comments from former Arizona State football coach Herm Edwards have resurfaced on social media in the wake of ASU's postseason bowl ban.
And the comments have fired up Sun Devils fans, who are irate at how new coach Kenny Dillingham and his players — who had nothing to do with the recruiting allegations and investigations surrounding the Arizona State program — are being punished for it.
The comments?
In 2017, Edwards, then an analyst for ESPN, said this about a scandal involving the University of Louisville football program.
"When the head coach says I didn't know, I'm like, no, no, no, that's your job to know," Edwards said on ESPN. "Your name is on this program. The assistant coaches, they come and go. Your name is on the program. That becomes your legacy."
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Herm Edwards weighs in on the Louisville scandal: pic.twitter.com/Mo70NPGip2
— ESPN (@espn) September 28, 2017
Those comments were very different from some comments Edwards made on Arizona Sports' 98.7 FM in February 2022.
On the Bickley and Marotta Show, Edwards said he doesn't "micromanage" and that you have to "trust" people when asked if his loyalty had potentially been taken advantage of by previous members of his coaching staff.
He said: "I feel this way, that when you delegate responsibility you have to trust people. I live in a world like that. I grew up this way. I don't micromanage people. I understand what is going on for the most part, but at the end of the day, football is about trust, by the way. This game is built on trust. … People in the circle you've got to trust each other that they are going to do their job. If they don't, you can't run the play. It doesn't function that way ... Sports is all about trust. It's about the people that you trust that are going to do their jobs correctly and in the right way."
But wasn't it your name on the program as the head coach, Herm Edwards, not your assistants?
Edwards was eventually fired by Arizona State last season and returned to his job as an analyst at ESPN.
Arizona State hired Dillingham as the new coach after last season.
Arizona State athletic director Ray Anderson announced that the Sun Devils were self-imposing a bowl ban for this season on Sunday, which earned the program a lot of criticism from media members, who wanted to know why ASU didn't impose the bowl ban last season, but that is an entirely different story.
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Social media slams former ASU coach Herm Edwards for apparent hypocrisy with Louisville comments:
All Ray Anderson had to do was listen to what Herm Edwards himself said in 2017
pic.twitter.com/MEojVsLTXN— Chris Karpman (@ChrisKarpman) August 28, 2023
Maybe someone should send this to @MattBarrieESPN & they can play this on Herms next segment when he talks about leadership & execution! Complicit along with his guy @SunDevilRay23 in destroying this program. But they don't care. $$$ keeping them both warm at night. #Pathetic https://t.co/T52SbrCzx0
— Kevin Ray (@kray1voice) August 28, 2023
@espn, @ChrisKarpman ESPN…wanna ask Herm Edwards opinion about this? It happened on his watch? Remember the comments he made about Rick Patino and the Louisville scandal? He wrecked ASU football and left with big $$ from his contract and came right back to you at ESPN. https://t.co/CFgJDz0pBl
— Chuck 🟧 (@asusundevils99) August 28, 2023
Exactly Herm, own it!
— Spike Lawrence (@SpikeLawrence2) August 29, 2023
Maybe you should give back the $4,000,000 to ASU Football
— Spike Lawrence (@SpikeLawrence2) August 29, 2023
His contract said as much, and yet Ray made sure he got paid out instead of terminated for cause.
— ASU_SuperFan (FIRE RAY!) (@ASU_SuperFan) August 28, 2023
Dude never manned up and took any responsibility. Used to like him but can’t stand to hear or see him anymore. Basically stole💰from ASU in his last sham season and the AD helped him do it.😣
— ASUBob’88 (@LozierBob) August 28, 2023
Yet he and Ray single-handedly destroyed a program built on the backs of alumni players they DON’T even take care of. I called this back when RA was hired and Graham ousted.
— mommafrabs (@angelfrabs) August 28, 2023
@HermEdwards Should do the right thing and return all the buy-out money.
— Officer Omnibot (@OfficerOmnibot) August 28, 2023
💯
— Rob Maggs (@MaggsInPhx) August 28, 2023
👏
— Brock Osweiler (@bosweiler17) August 28, 2023
Yikes...this one didn't age well did it?
— Greg (@GregH_9) August 28, 2023
He’s a do as I say not as I do person and he’s ruined a college program that I love. This is a top down failure of epic proportions
— deviljrod73 (@deviljrod73) August 28, 2023
So sad and diabolical.
— Rosendo Mendez (@saso76) August 28, 2023
In retrospect, how do you feel about Edwards' comments?
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Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona State football fans slam Herm Edwards for hypocritical comment