Arizona State Head Coach – Herm Edwards
Opening statement . . .
“Well obviously we’re excited about being here and can’t the Sun Bowl committee, all the venues that have hosted the teams, they’ve done a marvelous job. When you come to a bowl game you anticipate events for players and families and you guys have gone overboard to do that and make us all feel at home. I know the visiting coach and his wife, same thing, we’ve sat together a couple of dinners now and talked about the experience that the players receive at a bowl game. You can’t take a bowl game lightly in the sense that it’s a reward for what you’ve done during the season. You want players to enjoy it, but you also want them to concentrate on the task at hand. And it is about playing football, that’s why we’re here.
"The hardest thing probably in a bowl game, especially in this situation that both of us are in, 30 days have gone by before we actually play a football game. That’s a long time without playing a real game. So I think tomorrow you’ll see two teams that are very excited about playing. Even mentioned the weather conditions, it won’t matter, it won’t be a factor. Both teams are very well coached, we’ve watched these guys on tape, very talented. And I can say that I was with the Buccaneers and we had a lot of Buccaneer players that played for Florida State. (I’ve) been to a lot of coach Bowden’s practices, when coach was coaching there actually, with the Buccaneers. They have a rich history and as coach said they’re going through a transition period similar to what ASU is going through right now.
"All arrows for them will be pointing up, I think our arrows are slightly in the direction we’d like them to go. We have a young football team, 32 freshmen, true freshmen and redshirt freshmen that played for us this year. They did a pretty good job. When you look at our team next year we’ll only have nine seniors on our team, very young. So we need these type of experiences, playing against a team that is very talented, athletically, coached very well. This is another process of developing our program of young players, playing against a good team. So we anticipate a good football game tomorrow.”
On players sitting out bowl game to prepare for NFL . . .
“I think we lose sight of this, don’t forget that these players that are sitting out actually helped these teams get to the bowl games. Without them we’re not here, without our two players we’re not here, Benjamin and Aiyuk. Last year N’Keal sat, he was a first-round pick for the New England Patriots. I’ve been on both sides of it, I’ve been a former player, played in the league, coached in the league for 30 years, so I get it. Some people get all sideways, ‘Why doesn’t he play?’ it’s the way of the world, it’s what players do. You don’t disrespect them, you don’t get mad at them.
"I’m hoping they’ll show up for the game, stay on the sidelines. I know last year our guy didn’t play, N’Keal didn’t play he was on the sidelines. So we’re fine, and I know coach (Haggins) probably feels the same way about his guys, and that’s fine, that’s the way it is. I think sometimes we put all this pressure on these kids and it’s their life. You give them the information, it’s a part of growing up. They get to make a decision. Is it a big decision? It’s a big decision, but this is their life. Whatever they’ve done for you as a football player don’t lose sight of all the good things they’ve done to help you win. And we lose sight of that when they decide to say, ‘I might not play this game.’ If they won’t play, they won’t play, we’re good, somebody else will play. As long as play with 11 you’re OK.”
On bringing NFL model to ASU . . .
“It’s a process like anything, it’s kind of new for some college coaches because of our approach and how we do things, practice wise, how we look at recruiting players. The DNA, some of the things you do in the National Football League. Now, the only difference I would say in college compared to pro football is, and I’ve said it numerous times, in pro football you actually draft them. In college football we pick you, so there’s relationships that start at a very young age, you’re talking sophomores. You start courting these guys and there’s a lot of conversations.
"That’s what this thing really becomes, relationships with you and a coach, guys recruiting. Eighty percent of your life of college football you recruit. You’re a good coach if you got good players, you really are. Your lifeblood is players and you got to go recruit them. And you have to have a mechanism and how you want to go about doing it and then when they get to your campus most of these guys, I would say 80 percent of them if you ask them if they want to play on Sunday they’ll raise their hand. And if you have a mechanism in place to show them what it takes to play on Sundays you have a better chance that’s why Florida State will always have some gifted players. They have a history of players playing in the National Football League. They played for the Bucs, Derrick Brooks, Warrick Dunn just name a few that played for the Bucs team. They have a history of that. Arizona State has had a history of players that played in the National Football League as well so I just think when you have universities that give players a chance to go to the next level they look at you a little bit differently to be quite honest.”
On advantage of having former NFL players on staff. . .
“Definitely recruiting-wise, if you’re to walk into a room and guess what, Antonio Pierce is my linebackers coach, pretty good coach. Kevin Mawae is going to be the offensive line coach, pretty good coach. Darian Hagan, played in the National Football League as a wide receiver, pretty good coach. So I think when players see that and they can tell them what it takes to get to that level, they don’t talk about it, they’ve been about it, they’ve seen it. Marvin Lewis and myself have been in the National Football League together coaching and playing 56 years. You have a lot of experience.
"No coach has ever given a player talent. No coach in the history of coaching, any sport. God gives them the talent, you give them information, you give them knowledge. That’s what we do, we are knowledge providers. That is our task, give them knowledge. Their task is can they retain the knowledge? The retention of it, can they take the knowledge you give them in the classroom, on the football field, in practice, can they take it and apply it in the game? That’s what we, that’s what all coaches do. Coaches are teachers, no different than anyone else, we’re teachers. And you have great relationships in football, that’s why coach has been there for 26 years. He loves that university, it’s part of his DNA, it’s part of his family. Coaches all over the country are all tied together. We get to coach this great game of football that’s helped us all. And all we’re doing is giving back to the game that we love.”
On level of respect for FSU coach Haggins . . .
“In this game of football there’s transition, it happens. It happens with players in today’s world. Players are used to change. We recruit players now in high school that have actually gone to three high schools. So that’s just a matter of fact, and so as much as you may think that change affects them it’s kind of normal now, for coaches and players. People move around it’s just part of the deal. All the player wants to know is this, the coach that stands before me, can he help me become a better player. As a coach, we don’t only want to make them a better player, we want to make them better men. Because if we haven’t done that then we’ve failed.
"And that’s the Florida State program, I know that since my days in Tampa when coach Bowden was the coach. That’s in their DNA. That’s kind of our DNA. We want to help them become better men. They’re all not going to play in the National Football League. Two percent, that’s it. Life expectancy is 3.2 years, then you have to go out and get a real job. How is being a football player at Florida State or Arizona State going to help you when you into the real world. And those staffs, I know his staff and my staff, we believe in that. That’s kind of what we do besides just coaching football.”
Opening statement . . .
“Well obviously we’re excited about being here and can’t the Sun Bowl committee, all the venues that have hosted the teams, they’ve done a marvelous job. When you come to a bowl game you anticipate events for players and families and you guys have gone overboard to do that and make us all feel at home. I know the visiting coach and his wife, same thing, we’ve sat together a couple of dinners now and talked about the experience that the players receive at a bowl game. You can’t take a bowl game lightly in the sense that it’s a reward for what you’ve done during the season. You want players to enjoy it, but you also want them to concentrate on the task at hand. And it is about playing football, that’s why we’re here.
"The hardest thing probably in a bowl game, especially in this situation that both of us are in, 30 days have gone by before we actually play a football game. That’s a long time without playing a real game. So I think tomorrow you’ll see two teams that are very excited about playing. Even mentioned the weather conditions, it won’t matter, it won’t be a factor. Both teams are very well coached, we’ve watched these guys on tape, very talented. And I can say that I was with the Buccaneers and we had a lot of Buccaneer players that played for Florida State. (I’ve) been to a lot of coach Bowden’s practices, when coach was coaching there actually, with the Buccaneers. They have a rich history and as coach said they’re going through a transition period similar to what ASU is going through right now.
"All arrows for them will be pointing up, I think our arrows are slightly in the direction we’d like them to go. We have a young football team, 32 freshmen, true freshmen and redshirt freshmen that played for us this year. They did a pretty good job. When you look at our team next year we’ll only have nine seniors on our team, very young. So we need these type of experiences, playing against a team that is very talented, athletically, coached very well. This is another process of developing our program of young players, playing against a good team. So we anticipate a good football game tomorrow.”
On players sitting out bowl game to prepare for NFL . . .
“I think we lose sight of this, don’t forget that these players that are sitting out actually helped these teams get to the bowl games. Without them we’re not here, without our two players we’re not here, Benjamin and Aiyuk. Last year N’Keal sat, he was a first-round pick for the New England Patriots. I’ve been on both sides of it, I’ve been a former player, played in the league, coached in the league for 30 years, so I get it. Some people get all sideways, ‘Why doesn’t he play?’ it’s the way of the world, it’s what players do. You don’t disrespect them, you don’t get mad at them.
"I’m hoping they’ll show up for the game, stay on the sidelines. I know last year our guy didn’t play, N’Keal didn’t play he was on the sidelines. So we’re fine, and I know coach (Haggins) probably feels the same way about his guys, and that’s fine, that’s the way it is. I think sometimes we put all this pressure on these kids and it’s their life. You give them the information, it’s a part of growing up. They get to make a decision. Is it a big decision? It’s a big decision, but this is their life. Whatever they’ve done for you as a football player don’t lose sight of all the good things they’ve done to help you win. And we lose sight of that when they decide to say, ‘I might not play this game.’ If they won’t play, they won’t play, we’re good, somebody else will play. As long as play with 11 you’re OK.”
On bringing NFL model to ASU . . .
“It’s a process like anything, it’s kind of new for some college coaches because of our approach and how we do things, practice wise, how we look at recruiting players. The DNA, some of the things you do in the National Football League. Now, the only difference I would say in college compared to pro football is, and I’ve said it numerous times, in pro football you actually draft them. In college football we pick you, so there’s relationships that start at a very young age, you’re talking sophomores. You start courting these guys and there’s a lot of conversations.
"That’s what this thing really becomes, relationships with you and a coach, guys recruiting. Eighty percent of your life of college football you recruit. You’re a good coach if you got good players, you really are. Your lifeblood is players and you got to go recruit them. And you have to have a mechanism and how you want to go about doing it and then when they get to your campus most of these guys, I would say 80 percent of them if you ask them if they want to play on Sunday they’ll raise their hand. And if you have a mechanism in place to show them what it takes to play on Sundays you have a better chance that’s why Florida State will always have some gifted players. They have a history of players playing in the National Football League. They played for the Bucs, Derrick Brooks, Warrick Dunn just name a few that played for the Bucs team. They have a history of that. Arizona State has had a history of players that played in the National Football League as well so I just think when you have universities that give players a chance to go to the next level they look at you a little bit differently to be quite honest.”
On advantage of having former NFL players on staff. . .
“Definitely recruiting-wise, if you’re to walk into a room and guess what, Antonio Pierce is my linebackers coach, pretty good coach. Kevin Mawae is going to be the offensive line coach, pretty good coach. Darian Hagan, played in the National Football League as a wide receiver, pretty good coach. So I think when players see that and they can tell them what it takes to get to that level, they don’t talk about it, they’ve been about it, they’ve seen it. Marvin Lewis and myself have been in the National Football League together coaching and playing 56 years. You have a lot of experience.
"No coach has ever given a player talent. No coach in the history of coaching, any sport. God gives them the talent, you give them information, you give them knowledge. That’s what we do, we are knowledge providers. That is our task, give them knowledge. Their task is can they retain the knowledge? The retention of it, can they take the knowledge you give them in the classroom, on the football field, in practice, can they take it and apply it in the game? That’s what we, that’s what all coaches do. Coaches are teachers, no different than anyone else, we’re teachers. And you have great relationships in football, that’s why coach has been there for 26 years. He loves that university, it’s part of his DNA, it’s part of his family. Coaches all over the country are all tied together. We get to coach this great game of football that’s helped us all. And all we’re doing is giving back to the game that we love.”
On level of respect for FSU coach Haggins . . .
“In this game of football there’s transition, it happens. It happens with players in today’s world. Players are used to change. We recruit players now in high school that have actually gone to three high schools. So that’s just a matter of fact, and so as much as you may think that change affects them it’s kind of normal now, for coaches and players. People move around it’s just part of the deal. All the player wants to know is this, the coach that stands before me, can he help me become a better player. As a coach, we don’t only want to make them a better player, we want to make them better men. Because if we haven’t done that then we’ve failed.
"And that’s the Florida State program, I know that since my days in Tampa when coach Bowden was the coach. That’s in their DNA. That’s kind of our DNA. We want to help them become better men. They’re all not going to play in the National Football League. Two percent, that’s it. Life expectancy is 3.2 years, then you have to go out and get a real job. How is being a football player at Florida State or Arizona State going to help you when you into the real world. And those staffs, I know his staff and my staff, we believe in that. That’s kind of what we do besides just coaching football.”
