Dereliction of duty must result in the removal of ASU AD Ray Anderson

All is fair in Love and War...and protecting your friend even though he grossly mishandled his job?

If you're Arizona State's Vice President for University Athletics, Ray Anderson, the answer appears to be a resounding "yes"

So in the spirit of cooperating with the NCAA and their investigation into ASU's alleged recruiting violations, a process that started in May of 2021, it was appropriate to swiftly cooperate and place not one but THREE assistant coaches (Adam Breneman, Prentice Gill and Chris Hawkins) just days into fall camp of that year, on administrative leave (that led to a dismissal), administer various recruiting restrictions in the months to come limiting coaches' off-campus recruiting activities, and forcing the resignation of a fourth assistant coach (Zak Hill) in January of 2022, all to essentially kick the can namely the self-imposed postseason ban down the road a year and a half later?

The hiring of Herm Edwards by Anderson, his former agent and close friend, reeked of nepotism and was seemingly criticized from coast to coast. Little did we all know what grave results it would produce.

Forget about the pedestrian 26-20 record of Edwards in Tempe, which also included zero division/conference titles and a 1-2 bowl record, the fact that multiple allegations of recruiting violations, mainly during the COVID-19 recruiting dead period that took place, have placed a huge dark cloud on the program ever since that summer of 2021. The claims that there wasn't enough of a paper trail to dismiss Edwards during that year are curious at best since four of his assistants were essentially shown the door due to the investigation's findings.

Last year I learned from an athletic department source that in the spring of 2022, Edwards, who was fatigued by the ongoing NCAA investigation, seeing his roster being depleted not only by a handful of assistant coaches but also by numerous talented players utilizing the transfer portal, offered Anderson his resignation at that time.

The fact that Anderson convinced Edwards to stay, aside from the obvious coddling of his buddy, was also done due to the reason that it would have been impossible to even attempt and hire a suitable replacement head coach to lead the program, with just months prior to the season's kickoff.

Nonetheless, how on earth do those sentiments expressed by Edwards not raise a huge red flag to Anderson and not compel him to continue his cooperation with the NCAA and self-impose a postseason ban ahead of a season when it was clear it was going nowhere fast?

Your head coach didn't want to be here, and most of the assistants and players who stayed on the team probably did not have better options to pursue at the time. Thus, why not do the most logical thing and put the postseason sanction in your rearview mirror once and for all?

Alas, when you're steadfast in protecting your friend even at the expense of the overall good of the program, making sure he ultimatley gets a golden parachute to the tune of $4 4 million before returning to a cushy analyst job at ESPN, then mind boggling decisions such as today take place.

Anderson or University president Dr. Michael Crow are not going to offer any explanations not to the media nor to the fan base, justifying the timeline of their action as well as their previous inaction.

Anderson knows that first-year head coach and ASU alumnus Kenny Dillingham deserves better than to deal with a mammoth challenge that tops a long list of other challenges that the new Sun Devil football head coach had to deal with ever since his hire in November of 2022.

But in the name of protecting the legacy (absurd but true) of his good buddy Herm Edwards, exercising selective amnesia as to all the wrongdoings that took place under Edwards' watch, and deciding that in some kind of twisted logical justification, it was Dillingham rather than Edwards that needed to deal with a postseason ban, today's decision was rendered.

Kenny Dillingham said after Sunday's practice that he got word of Anderson's decision at 6:30 a.m. Granted, the ASU head coach was already up and running, preparing for the first practice of game week ahead of the team's Thursday 2023 season opener, yet it was still a rude wake-up call, especially to the ASU players, as well as the Sun Devil fanbase, who were notified of this decision less than an hour before today's practice.

You can't find a more classic example of dereliction of duty by an Athletic Director than the timing of this self-imposed postseason ban decision by Ray Anderson. The optics have been suggesting for years now that he is inexplicably immune to any consequences regarding the hire of Edwards, a personnel decision he fought long and hard for to come to fruition.

It is beyond acceptable to deliver another wake-up call, and this one resulting in the removal of Anderson.