Good evening Huddle,

Last home game in the non-confrence tonight, as the Sun Devils try to avenge a better loss to the Toreros last year

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havin a big game in the bowl vs Ohio

TFL and a PBU (bat down at the LOS) + other tackle

after not doing a ton this season

This is like '80s ASU. Probably not the brand of today but it's what a lot of people think it is.
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Mornin Mates...

Today's Topic = New Age Coaching

Former UCF coach, Gus Malzahn, just gave up his head coaching job at the school that paid him $5M for an OC job at Florida St that will pay him $1.5M...

He follows the former head coach at UCLA, Chip Kelly, who gave up his LA job that paid him about $6M to become the OC at Ohio St that pays him $2M...

Gus is 59 and Chip is 61 and both got tired of all of the added duties associated with coaching at the college level anymore...

As of a few years ago, there weren't any transfer portals that allows players to basically be free agents or NIL platforms used to pay players for the services...

And, now players have agents who represent them in their free agency and pay-for-play endeavors...

Which has raised the stress levels of coaches at all levels of college football, especially at the most visible head coaching level...

So, do you need to be a young person like Dilly in order to deal with all this chaos, drama and stress associated with every day of your coaching life..??

It's one thing to coach and quite another to have to be involved with fundraising and player agents and all the other sorts of things that don't seem to be involved in traditional coaching tasks...

And, what about fans and boosters who contribute to NIL collectives to help pay for these player services only to not see much of a return on their investments in many cases...

This is very sticky and tricky business that may work well for some of the better players out there but not so well for schools and their coaching staffs, it appears to me...

However, it did allow for Dilly and his staff to elevate the Sun Devil football program from a smoldering mess to a Big-12 championship level in only two years...

And, at the same time, a program that has had a lot of success in the Big-12 like the Oklahoma St Cowboys floundered this season maybe because their coach Mike Gundy age 57 couldn't buy into all of the hullabaloo associated with the new age of coaching...

Another casualty of all of this hullabaloo was Marshall that had to bow out of its bowl game against Army because its head coach took another job after the season and 36 players, many key players in their two deep roster, have decided to enter the transfer portal, which left the Thundering Herd without much thunder for a bowl game...

Thankfully, that doesn't appear to be an issue for our Sun Devils whose staff is currently not only preparing for the playoffs but trying to retain as many key players as possible for the 2025 season...

Speaking of the playoffs, I see where Texas is favored over Clemson by 11.5 points and, if they beat the Tigers, I wonder how many points they will be favored over our Devils in the Peach Bowl...

I'm glad that Dilly is only 34 and seems to have a handle on all this hullabaloo associated with New Age Coaching...

And, I'm glad that we have all had a bye week with which to fully appreciate what it took Dilly and his staff and team to accomplish so far this season...

So, do you have to be a young in order to succeed in the New Age of Coaching..??

G'day Mates and Go Devils!!!

If you are wondering how Tucson is taking ASU winning the Big-12 Football title? I can tell you they are not taking it well. Since Saturday, I have not seen 1 single person wearing rat gear. Yesterday I went to what is a pretty big gym, then later went to a Costco, followed by a big Pet store and a big Grocery Store as well as a Walgreens. I can tell you that in all of those places, I did not see a single person wearing rat gear, not one, none, zero, zilch, zippo, nada. They are just really hating life right now and do not want to run into any ASU folks while wearing their rat gear so they just don't wear it at all. The looks you get are priceless. It's a great time for the Devils faithful down here it Ratville!! Go Devils!!

On Wednesday morning, ASU exceeded the formidable level of energy from Monday’s session and significantly improved on its execution level from earlier this week. Here are our observations.

ATLANTA (Dec. 17, 2024) – Officials from the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation and Peach Bowl, Inc. have announced the finalists for the 2024 Dodd Trophy Presented by PNC Bank. Finalists include five of the nation’s top college football coaches who embody the award’s three pillars of scholarship, leadership and integrity, both on and off the field.



Considering The Dodd Trophy represents more than just a coach’s performance on the field, a coach in his first year, who has not had a full season to establish his own impact on APR and the local community, is not eligible to win.



This year’s finalists represent four different conferences and an independent institution, with coaches from the AAC, Big 12, Big Ten and SEC all being recognized.



These coaches have combined for a 55-8 record so far this season and have collectively won 227 games and five conference championships throughout their careers.



The 2024 Dodd Trophy Presented by PNC Bank Finalists:





This marks the first time all five coaches have been named Dodd Trophy finalists. Two of the finalists – Dillingham (Big 12) and Monken (AAC) – won their respective conference’s coach of the year awards this season, while Dillingham, Lanning and Monken also won their conference championships earlier this month.



“This year’s finalists truly represent the next generation of coaching greats for our sport considering four of the five selections have been head coaches for less than five years,” said Jim Terry, chairman of the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation. “Coach Dodd would have admired how these coaches have been able to establish success within their programs, both on and off the field, particularly so early in many of their head coaching careers.”



“In what has been a season to remember highlighted by the expansion of the College Football Playoff, these five coaches stood out among the rest,” said Gary Stokan, Peach Bowl, Inc. CEO and president. “This year’s finalists have succeeded at the highest level with their student-athletes on the football field, in the classroom and throughout their communities. We’re honored to recognize all that they have accomplished this season and congratulate them for epitomizing everything this award stands for through their unwavering commitment to scholarship, leadership and integrity.”



Finalists were selected by a panel consisting of all previous winners, national media, a member of the Dodd family and a College Football Hall of Fame member. The winner of the 2024 Dodd Trophy Presented by PNC Bank will be announced in Atlanta during bowl week at this year’s Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.

That's the question Mark Long and Eddie Pells of the AP ask about the winners vs losers from last year's transfer portal...

One big winner was QB Sam Leavitt who left Mich St to play at ASU and now has the Sun Devils playing for the national championship in the 12 team playoff system this year...

Two big losers, as former Sun Devils, are WR Elijhah Badger who jumped from ASU to Florida where he is now headed to the Gasparilla Bowl and DE B J Green who jumped to Colorado and will now be playing in the Alamo Bowl under coach Deion Sanders...

Do you think they would have remained Sun Devils if they had known Dilly would have guided them to a Big-12 championship that qualified them for the playoffs for a national championship this year..??

Badger had 37 receptions for 789 yards and four TDs at Florida, while Green had 30 tackles and 7.5 sacks at Colorado...

Another winner according to the article was WR Evan Stewart who went from TAMU to Oregon and posted this on social media "I saw it all coming my freshman year when I didn't get paid a dollar from A&M but 'sliced bread' had y'all thinking we was all millionaires"...

I'm not sure that someone like Evan Stewart would fit in with Dilly's culture at ASU but he had 48 receptions for 613 yards and five TDs for the Ducks this year and will be playing for the national championship in the coming weeks...

I don't think we are serving up nothing but 'sliced bread" at ASU under Dilly and his staff, but doubt we are matching what Oregon and some other schools are paying for top talent, either...

I can't wait until we have a portal auction in place where P-4 coaches can bid for football talent in a public setting...

The auctioneer might start things off like this...our next player, an offensive lineman, weighing in at 330 on a 6'5" frame, was a star at FCS Bad Boy U and the bidding starts at $250K...

Do I hear $250K, as a bunch of hands go up in the air, all at once, and the bidding war accelerates from there...

This New Age Era of college sports is very interesting and entertaining if you ask me......Go Devils!!!

What has to happen in tonight's games for ASU to fit into the top four teams (bye bracket)?

RB Raleek Bown and DL Anthonie Cooper, who have been sidelined due to their respective injuries, have been practicing but can NOT play in the Peach Bowl or any playoff game beyond that. Only players who took a non-medical redshirt can play in the Peach Bowl and beyond without losing their redshirt year.

With the unexpected success ASU is having on the football field, we can be fairly certain that teams from the Big Ten and SEC are going to be making calls to agents of ASU players this offseason to see if they can be tempted away from Tempe. Based mostly on player stats through today (Nov. 21), here are my guesses as to who will leave and who will stay:

1. Sam Leavitt - STAY
2. Kyson Brown - TRANSFER
3. Raleek Brown - STAY (next year's starter?)
4. Jordyn Tyson - TRANSFER (Texas school?)
5. Chamon Metayer - STAY
6. Myles Rowser - TRANSFER
7. Xavion Alford - TRANSFER
8. C.J. Fite - TRANSFER

Agree? Disagree? Who did I miss?

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Good evening Huddle,

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving meal.

Another formidable non-conference opponent awaits ASU tonight in Palm Springs. Follow us herfe and on Twitter for all the updates