Herm Edwards turning new leaf for Arizona State on 1st day of spring ball

TEMPE — Herm Edwards and the Arizona State Sun Devils football team are looking to turn a new leaf in 2022.

On the first day of spring football, the head coach didn’t want to discuss the ongoing NCAA investigation that has seen a total of five coaches no longer with the program.

Two of those coaches include former offensive coordinator Zak Hill, and former defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator Antonio Pierce.

“I don’t listen to the noise,” Edwards said Tuesday of any distractions within the program as a result. “This is about spring football, about the coaches that are here and the players that are here. That’s just where I’m at with it and the way it is.”

The 67-year-old head coach added that there are 26 new faces, many of whom are battling for starting spots in key positions on both sides of the football. Arizona State is heading into the 2022 season looking to replace nine starters at quarterback, running back, offensive line, defensive line, linebacker and in the secondary.

“It’s kind of fun to watch the new guys that we have: offensive linemen, tight ends, running backs,” Edwards said. “Obviously the wide receiver group is a young group with some experience, not a lot.

“Defensive backs — a lot of those guys played last year. We anticipate the two safeties to be battling for positions as well. Linebacker position — we have some veterans coming back which is good. D-linemen, we brought in some D-linemen.”

One of those defensive linemen was former Miami DT Nesta Jade Silvera. However, Edwards added that the team will “probably” still look to go out and bring some more players in from the transfer portal following the conclusion of spring football.

“The portal is free agency in college football and it’ll ramp itself up again after spring ball,” he said. “We anticipate that, so we’ve saved a couple in our pocket to make sure we can go out and play in that market of free agency.”

But perhaps the biggest question mark for ASU fans is who will be taking the snaps Week 1 against NAU at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe on Sept. 1?

Paul Tyson — former Alabama quarterback and great-grandson of legendary Crimson Tide coach Paul “Bear” Bryant — is one option after transferring to Arizona State in January even before Jayden Daniels entered the transfer portal and reportedly committed to LSU.

“That’s kind of interesting when you start looking at all these different position groups and obviously the competition at a lot of the groups,” Edwards said. “Quarterback is obviously one to look at.”

“It’s only the first day obviously and you have to just see who can manage the offense,” he added. “One key is to not turn the ball over. … For the quarterback, it’s who can run the offense? How do you move the offense? It’s going to be fun to watch. We have some guys with some talent and we’ll just let it play out, see where it’s at.”

Edwards said Arizona State’s Achillies heel last year was turnovers and “non-competitive fouls,” which are penalties called when the ball isn’t in play — meaning false starts, offsides, encroachment, etc.

He was also asked if he was shocked by Daniels entering the transfer portal after coming out with a video of the QB declaring he was coming back to Tempe.

“We thank him for all he’s done here,” Edwards said. “He helped us win a lot of football games. I wish him much success.

“I have five other guys to figure out who the quarterback is. So that’s where that’s at.”

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