Mark May: ASU AD Ray Anderson knows, trusts Herm Edwards

The development of NFL analyst Herm Edwards potentially becoming the next Arizona State football coach has caused an uproar — good and bad — and to say this possible move was a shock is an understatement.

College football insider Mark May doesn’t mind the move and tries to make sense of the possible hire. The analyst believes that the decision on Edwards could potentially be rooted on trust between the former coach and ASU Vice President of University Athletics Ray Anderson.

“Either go with somebody that is really good or the best that you could get,” May said on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station’s Burns & Gambo. “If you can’t get the best then you go with what your gut says and go with somebody you could trust.

“He knew Herm for a long time and he represented Herm as an agent when he was an agent. He knows him and he trusts him.  Maybe he’s going off a trust factor.”

The possible news of the familiar ESPN face making his way back to the sidelines sent shockwaves through the sports world.

The news even stunned May himself, who had been a former colleague of Edwards at ESPN.

“I was surprised because I know the last 10 years or so he’s been contacted by NFL and collegiate teams,” May said. “I’ve asked him about it and he’s turned them down. He’s never even gone to an interview.

“For him to take a stand where’s he going to say at this point in time in his life, ‘you know what I’m going to take this interview.’ That means something.”

Edwards was never a head coach at the college level, but as an NFL head coach, he had a 54-74 record with the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs. In eight seasons he had four winning seasons and has not coached since 2008.

Although Edwards lacks experience running a program, the common argument to why the Edwards hire would do wonders for ASU would be his ability to recruit.

“When these high school kids have a chance to see you on ESPN all the time and see you at the Under Armour High School All-American game. They know and they all relate to that,” May said. “Obviously, parents can relate to him, because they know (Edwards) if they are sports-minded and if their kids are in sports. because obviously they are most likely watching ESPN so they know who he is. At least that recognition is there.” 

In the last three recruiting classes, ASU has not had a five-star recruit and has had 20 four-star recruits.

According to Rivals’ recruiting rankings, the Sun Devils have slid every year in their recruiting rankings since 2014. ASU was ranked 21st in 2014 and for the 2018 class, they rank 59th.