Edwards: Sun Devils hope to name QB 2 weeks before the season

They say having multiple quarterbacks to choose from is a good problem to have, but for Arizona State football coach Herm Edwards, it is a problem nonetheless.

With three incoming freshman quarterbacks (Joey Yellen, Ethan Long, Jayden Daniels) and one returning junior quarterback (Dillon Sterling-Cole), Edwards said spring ball will help him evaluate all of them more and help him with his decision on who will become the starter.

“We are going to get the same amount of reps for the guys and evaluate them,” Edwards told Doug & Wolf on 98.7 Arizona’s Sports Station. “Everybody is trying to figure this thing out, even the players as well. It has been very competitive, which is good.”

Edwards said he hopes to name the starting the quarterback about two weeks before the first game of the season on Aug. 29.

Recruiting

After his first full season as the Sun Devils’ head coach, Edwards was tasked with arguably the most challenging part of college coaching: recruiting.

“It was a big time effort … All the coaches worked at it,” Edwards said. “[Recruiting coordinator Antonio Pierce and Director of player personnel Al Luginbill] did a marvelous job of picking some players.”

Edwards said the team’s success this season helped it recruit more talent from Arizona and beyond.

“When you go beat those two teams in LA, that’s big,” Edwards said.

Edwards felt that the those two wins helped them pull a few recruits away from those schools in Southern California and gain confidence in the program at ASU.

Early spring practices

Spring practices began for the Sun Devils on Feb. 5, the earliest starting date in program history.

Edwards said one of the advantages of starting spring ball early is the ability to deal with injuries.

“If you have any type of injury now, by training camp you’ll be ready to go,” Edwards said.

According to Edwards, starting early also could give them a little bit of an advantage when players from other schools decide to transfer after spring ball in March.

“We’ve had time now, in February, to evaluate our football team,” Edwards said. “We have two [scholarships] available left, and we know that there is going to be some grad transfers that are electing to leave after spring ball.”

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