TEMPE – With over 30 combined years of NFL coaching and playing experience, Sun Devil Football's Marvin Lewis and Antonio Pierce will serve as co-defensive coordinators for the 2020 campaign, as announced by head coach Herm Edwards today.

The duo will combine efforts to fill the role left by previous defensive coordinator Tony White, who assumed the same position at Syracuse University. Lewis – a veteran coach of over 25 years in the National Football League - joined the program prior to the 2019 season as Special Advisor to Sun Devil Football and most recently served as the team's interim defensive backs coach for the 2019 Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl.

"Marvin Lewis is someone that I have come to trust wholeheartedly during my career and his coaching acumen will prove to be invaluable as we continue to push this program forward," Edwards said. "He has coached at the highest level of football and spearheaded some elite defenses in the process. That kind of experience cannot be measured and his passion for teaching will extend beyond the student-athletes, but also to our coaching staff itself."

Pierce – a Super Bowl-winning linebacker with a decade of playing experience in the NFL - was recently promoted to associate head coach after spending his first two seasons in Tempe as the program's linebacker coach and recruiting coordinator. He will retain his title as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator.

"Antonio Pierce has established himself as one of the elite recruiters in the nation and is one of the brightest up-and-coming coaches around," Edwards said. "His impact with the linebackers and with the Sun Devil program in just two seasons has been tangible and he has been a pivotal part in our defensive success since his arrival in Tempe." Marvin Lewis – Co-Defensive Coordinator Lewis, the Cincinnati Bengals' all-time leader in wins, joined the Sun Devil football staff in 2019 as special advisor to Sun Devil Football. In addition to setting the Bengals' franchise record for career wins (131), Lewis also set the club's head coaching standards for longest tenure (16 seasons), playoff appearances (seven), consecutive playoff appearances (five) and division titles (four). The seven playoff berths the Bengals achieved with Lewis equaled the number the club had in the 35 seasons prior to his arrival.

Under Lewis, the Bengals were one of only four NFL teams to reach the playoffs every year from 2011-15. The 2015 squad's 12-4 record tied the best regular season mark in club annals. Lewis was the consensus choice for NFL Coach of the Year in 2009, when the Bengals won the AFC North Division while sweeping all six division games. The Bengals also were AFC North champions under Lewis in 2005, '13 and '15. Named the ninth head coach in Bengals history on Jan. 14, 2003, Lewis started quickly as his 2003 club finished 8-8, six games better than the 2002 club, which represented the biggest improvement in the NFL. Lewis coached 21 Pro Bowl players during his time in Cincinnati, with nine of those players earning the honor multiple times.

In 2018, defensive tackle Geno Atkins earned his seventh Pro Bowl nod, the most ever by a Bengals defensive player. Lewis came to the Bengals with credentials as a record-setting NFL defensive coordinator, having played a huge role in a championship season. His six seasons (1996-2001) as Baltimore Ravens coordinator included a Super Bowl victory in 2000, when his defense set the NFL record for fewest points allowed in a 16-game campaign (165). That unit clipped 22 points off the previous mark, an achievement that always has the 2000 Ravens as an entry in discussions regarding the best NFL defensive units of all time. In 2002, the season before he joined the Bengals, Lewis led the Washington Redskins to a No. 5 NFL defensive ranking, serving as assistant head coach as well as defensive coordinator. Lewis had his first NFL assignment from 1992-95, as linebackers coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

He aided the development of four Pro Bowl players — Kevin Greene, Chad Brown, Levon Kirkland and Greg Lloyd. Greene has since been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Lewis developed an impressive "coaching tree" during his Bengals tenure. Five of his former assistants have become NFL head coaches. The list includes former Bengals offensive coordinators Jay Gruden (head coach of the Washington Redskins since 2014) and Hue Jackson (Cleveland Browns, 2016-18), former defensive coordinators Leslie Frazier (Minnesota Vikings 2010-13) and Mike Zimmer (head coach of the Minnesota Vikings since 2014), and former defensive backs coach Vance Joseph (Denver Broncos 2017-18).

Lewis began his coaching career as linebackers coach at his alma mater Idaho State from 1981-84. ISU's team finished 12-1 in Lewis' first season there and won the NCAA Division 1-AA championship. Lewis played LB at Idaho State, earning All-Big Sky Conference honors for three consecutive years (1978-80). He also saw action at quarterback and free safety during his college career. He received his bachelor's degree in physical education from Idaho State in 1981, and earned his master's in athletic administration in '82. He was inducted into Idaho State's Hall of Fame in 2001. Born Sept. 23, 1958, Lewis attended Fort Cherry High School in McDonald, Pa. (near Pittsburgh), where he was an all-conference quarterback and safety.

He also earned high school letters in wrestling and baseball. He and his wife, Peggy, have a daughter, Whitney, and a son, Marcus.

Antonio Pierce – Co-Defensive Coordinator/Associate Head Coach/Linebackers Coach A former Pro Bowl linebacker in the NFL, Antonio Pierce has played a pivotal role in the improvement on defense in the last two seasons while helping the Sun Devils to new heights in the recruiting world.

The Sun Devil defense 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 White's arrival in Tempe. ASU has held opponents to 30 points or less in 16 of 25 games in the previous two seasons after opponents scored at least 30 in 32 of 43 games previously.

The Sun Devils have given up just two plays over 50 yards this season, tied for the fifth-fewest nationally. ASU was also tied for 9th nationally in allowing just 3 plays of over 50 yards last year after sitting in the bottom 10 nationally in the previous four years. ASU's eight plays allowed over 40 yards this season are 14th nationally. In 2018, ASU was tied for 11th nationally in allowing just 8 plays over 40 yards, an area the Devils had struggled in in previous seasons (allowing 20, 16, 30, 21 in the previous four seasons and finishing 103rd, 79th, 128th, 110th, respectively).

Pierce's linebackers were key in the Sun Devils staunch run defense in 2019. ASU ranked 21st nationally in allowing just 116.8 rushing 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). ASU has allowed 155 or fewer rushing yards in 11 of 12 games this season, the first time in program history to accomplish the feat since regular seasons expanded to 12 games in the late 1990s.

Under Pierce's guidance, Darien Butler was named the first true sophomore team captain in program history for the 2019 campaign. Butler would go on to be the seventh-highest graded linebacker in the Pac-12 on run defense, according to Pro Football Focus, while his 18 total quarterback pressures were tied for eighth among the league's linebacker. Butler finished with 79 tackles on the season, leading the team in the category and adding five tackles for loss, leading the team with three forced fumbles and a sack and a fumble recovery.

Khaylan Kearse-Thomas enjoyed a breakout senior campaign under Pierce and was named the team's most Outstanding Linebacker as a result. Kearse-Thomas led the team in tackles for loss with 11 – the most among non-edge rushing linebackers in the Pac-12 – and finished with 57 total tackles. The senior was a part of five sacks this season, tied for first among Pac-12 linebackers. Among all linebackers and edge defenders in the Pac-12, he has recorded the 16th-best positive run impact percentage at 13.6%. Pierce's linebacker unit had a big impact in ASU's defensive success in 2018.

Starting true freshmen linebackers Merlin Robertson (77 tackles/first) and Darien Butler (70 tackles/tied for second) were the team's top two leaders in tackles. Robertson also led the team in tackles for loss (8.5), and sacks (5.0) and intercepted one pass on his way to earning Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year honors. He became the first freshman to lead the team in tackles since Jason Shivers in 2001 and the first freshman to lead the team in tackles for loss and sacks since Junior Onyeali in 2010. Butler finished tied for second on the team in tackles for loss (8.0) and also added one sack and two forced fumbles.

Tying with Butler for second in tackles for loss (8.0) was redshirt freshman linebacker Tyler Johnson, who assumed a starting role over the second half of the season, giving the Sun Devils three first-year starters at linebacker. Despite being just weeks on the job in the year prior, Pierce helped rally the 2018 Signing Class to 36th nationally and kept the Sun Devils in the top-half of the Pac-12 recruiting rankings. The 2020 Signing Class, which is still in process, figures to feature more four-star signees than any class in Sun Devil Football history.

During his nine-year NFL career, Pierce played 137 regular season games (and seven playoff games) with the Washington Redskins (2001-04) and New York Giants (2005-09). Pierce captained the Giants' defense for five seasons, including 2007 when he helped anchor the championship team that upset the previously undefeated New England Patriots for a victory in Super Bowl XLII. He was also named to the Pro Bowl that season. Signed by the Redskins as an undrafted free agent in 2001, Pierce finished his career with 687 tackles, nine sacks and seven interceptions. A native of Long Beach, Calif., Pierce played college football at the University of Arizona.

As a senior, he had three sacks, 77 tackles (10 for losses), two forced fumbles, one interception, and one blocked kick for the Wildcats. Prior to Arizona, Pierce attended Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif.

Beyond his on-field accomplishments, Pierce was the spokesperson for the Giants Academy inner city youth program in 2006, and he works with a number of not-for-profit organizations, including YMCA, DARE, Cystic Fibrosis, My Sisters Place, ASC Football Camp, City Meals on Wheels and Make a Wish Foundation. Pierce received the United Way's Man of the Year award in 2007 and was honored by Minority Athletes Networking Inc (M.A.N) as its 2008 'MAN of the Year,' for his excellence in the community. In 2011, Pierce was named to the California Community College Athletics Association's Hall of Fame. In 2005, Pierce hosted his first annual free football camp for youth in his hometown of Compton, Calif., where it continued for seven years.

In 2006, Pierce started 'Antonio's A-List' at Giants Academy, the Giants charter academic program located in the Louise A. Spencer School in Newark, N.J. 'Antonio's A-List' is a motivational incentive program that rewarded Giants Academy Students that reached certain academic standards each semester and for the entire school year. Pierce visited the school, and accompanied the kids on service trips and preparing meals for the community.

During Antonio's NFL career he played for Marty Schottenheimer, Marvin Lewis, Steve Spurrier, George Edwards, Greg Williams, Joe Gibbs, Steve Spagnuolo and Tom Coughlin.