Former NFL head coach and ESPN Analyst Herm Edwards was named the 24th head coach of Sun Devil Football, as announced by Arizona State University and Vice President of University Athletics Ray Anderson on December 3, 2017.

Edwards arrived in Tempe with a football legacy that has impacted thousands, whether as a player, coach, analyst, motivational speaker and author, or community advocate and philanthropist.

In just two years with the Sun Devils, Edwards has recorded five wins over Top-25 ranked programs in addition to recording 14 wins and becoming just the third coach in program history to defeat rival Arizona in each of his first two seasons at Arizona State.

In his second year at the helm of the Sun Devils, the trajectory of the program continued to curve upward with ASU going 3-1 over top Top-25 teams – two of which coming on the road at No. 6 Michigan State and No. 15 Cal before shaking up the college football landscape with a momentous victory over No. 6 Oregon at Sun Devil Stadium in the penultimate week of the regular season.

Three times during the 2019 season, Edwards was tabbed as the Dodd Trophy National Coach of the Week from the organization that annually awards its namesake trophy to the top coach in college football.

Edwards’ 2019 offense has been highlighted by another exceptional season from Pac-12 First Team running back Eno Benjamin, who has posted consecutive 1,000-yard seasons for the first time at ASU since Freddie Williams in the 1970s. Benjamin has 2,867 rushing yards in his career and now sits in seventh-place on the school’s all-time rushing list.

For the third consecutive season, the Sun Devils also lay claim to a 1,000-yard receiver with Pac-12 First Team receiver and returner Brandon Aiyuk finishing the regular season 8th nationally and 2nd in the Pac-12 with 1,192 receiving yards on the year while his 99.3 receiving yards per game are also 13th in the FBS and second in the league.

At the helm of the Sun Devil offense has been true freshman sensation Jayden Daniels. The first true freshman to start a season at quarterback in ASU history, Daniels sits in the Top-30 in in the FBS in passing efficiency (19th, 153.5), passing yards per game (28th, 249.8), and total offense (24th, 278.1). At 2,748 passing yards, Daniels has easily surpassed Rudy Carpenter’s previous freshman school record of 2,273 yards.

The Sun Devil defense has continued to see exceptional improvements under Edwards and defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales. ASU finished the regular season 39th in scoring defense, allowing just 23.1 points per game – notables as the Sun Devils had finished 99th or worse in three consecutive seasons prior to Gonzales taking the reins on the defensive end.

The rushing defense has been stingy for the Sun Devils, ranked 21st nationally in allowing just 116.8 yards per game – the best ranking at the end of the regular season for ASU since the 2009 Sun Devils were 19th (108.58 rushing yards per game).

Edwards and his coaching staff exceeded expectations during his first year in charge of the program, garnering national attention for several noteworthy achievements. ASU earned several significant victories under Edwards' watch, including a pair of Top-25 wins in Sun Devil Stadium over No. 15 Michigan State and No. 16 Utah.

Edwards’ first season culminated with an appearance against No. 21 Fresno State in the Las Vegas Bowl. Combined with ASU’s wins at USC and vs. UCLA, Edwards became the only first-year coach in program history to defeat UA, USC and UCLA and make a bowl game.

Under Edwards and his coaching staff, several players enjoyed breakout seasons. Arizona State and Clemson weres the only Power-5 program to have a 3,000-yard passer (Manny Wilkins), a 1,000-yard receiver (N'Keal Harry), and a 1,500-yard rusher (Eno Benjamin) in 2018.

With running the ball becoming a priority, Benjamin made a jump from freshman to sophomore year that put him on the radar of NFL Scouts and National Award Lists. Benjamin finished his first season as a starter with a Pac-12 best 1,642 rushing yards and 16 rushing touchdowns.

Wide receiver N'Keal Harry had another dominating season at the wide receiver position. Harry had NFL scouts flocking to Sun Devil Stadium to see the NFL prospect operate in Edwards' NFL-style system. Harry was drafted by New England in the first round of last April’s NFL Draft.

The Sun Devil defense was one of the most improved thanks to Coach Edwards and his defensive coordinator, Danny Gonzales. The defense allowed just 25.5 points per game in 2018, tying them for 50th nationally, a tremendous improvement from 2017 when ASU finished 103rd (32.8 ppg).

Linebacker Merlin Robertson was named the 2018 Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year, becoming the first true freshman to lead the Sun Devils in tackles (77) since 2001.

Edwards spent eight years as an NFL head coach with the New York Jets (2001-05) and Kansas City Chiefs (2006-08). He led his teams to four playoff appearances, including 2004 when his Jets squad finished with a 10-6 regular season record and advanced to the AFC Divisional Playoffs. Edwards, who also guided the Chiefs to a Wild Card berth in 2006, is one of only four NFL coaches to lead two different teams to the playoffs in his first season as head coach with those teams.

Among the numerous players that Edwards coached in his career include Pro Football Hall of Famers Curtis Martin, Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, Kevin Mawae and Tony Gonzalez and numerous All-Pro players including as Larry Johnson, Ronde Barber, John Lynch, Jared Allen, Santana Moss, Tamba Hali, Derrick Johnson.

Prior to his appointment at ASU, Edwards spent eight years as an NFL analyst for ESPN where he appeared primarily on NFL Live, SportsCenter, ESPN Radio, and the network's coverage of Super Bowl week. For six years of that stretch Edwards also served as a coach at the Under Armour All-American game, which features the top high school football recruits in the country.

An undrafted free agent who went on to have a 10-year NFL career, Edwards never missed a game in his nine seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles from 1977 to 1985 and started all 16 games in seven of his nine seasons with the team. Over the course of his nine years in Philadelphia, Edwards totaled 38 interceptions -- with seven during his sophomore NFL season – which is just one short of the franchise record. He earned second-team All-NFC honors in 1980 to help lead the Eagles to Super Bowl XV.

Edwards retired from the NFL following the 1986 season, and as the first graduate of the league's Minority Coaching Fellowship, he immediately went into coaching as a defensive assistant at San Jose State University from 1987 to 1989.

In 1990, Edwards transitioned back into the NFL as a scout and defensive backs coach with the Chiefs from 1990 to 1995 under legendary head coach Marty Schottenheimer. He then served under Tony Dungy with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1996-2000 before being hired as the head coach for the New York Jets in January 2001.

Over the course of five seasons Edwards led the Jets to three playoff berths, five postseason contests and a pair of 10-win seasons. His 35 victories with the team from 2001-04 is tied with Joe Walton (1983-86) for the most regular season wins by a coach in his first four years with the team.

He started his second tour with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2006 and became the first coach in franchise history to lead the team to the playoffs in his initial season.

Edwards played cornerback for the University of California in 1972 and 1974 before he ended his collegiate career at San Diego State in 1975.

A native of Seaside, Calif., Edwards graduated from Monterey High School, attended the University of California, Berkeley for two years, with a stint at Monterey Peninsula College, before graduating from San Diego State University with a degree in Criminal Justice. Edwards was inducted into the California Community College Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.

Edwards and his wife Lia are the proud parents of three children: Marcus, Gabrielle and Vivian.