Quarantine took its toll on Herm Edwards. In the eighth month of what Edwards called the hardest challenge of his football career, the Arizona State head coach was sent into isolation due to a positive coronavirus test prior to the Sun Devils’ schedule contest with California.
Known for his lively energy and early-morning workouts, the third-year ASU head coach was out of the facility for more than a week and a half. When the return to football was announced in late October, Edwards said he told his wife he would do everything he could to avoid contracting it. Still, he knew it was almost inevitable that he would test positive at some point.
“It’s something that I don’t wish upon anyone,” Edwards said of contracting the virus. “You take just getting up every day for granted. Having our health, we have our scheduled already planned out the night before of what we’re going to do. To have to sit in a room for 10, 11 days it was pretty tough for me.
“You have these reflection moments when you’re sitting there, laying there, and you just think about all the things that are really important in your life.”
During his week-plus spent alone in a room at his home, Edwards was kept busy by his friends from around the football community.
“I spent half the day returning texts and calls,” Edwards said of his quarantine schedule. “The first thing they ask you is, ‘how are you doing?’ I said, ‘how do you think I’m doing?’ I’m sitting in a room. I ain’t doing real good right now.’ But the warmth and the people that were getting in contact with me was just overwhelming.”
In an already shortened six-game regular season due to the Pac-12’s late start, Arizona State has been limited to just its opening-week contest with USC. With a third straight week of cancellations – the Sun Devils have missed contests with California, Colorado, and Utah – ASU has been one of the most impacted programs at the FBS level.
“We never anticipated anything like this,” Edwards told reporters during his first media session since his return to the facility. “We were good for eight months. We’ve been juggling this ball, and for the most part, we did a really good job. For some reason, we’re sitting where we’re sitting right now.”
The latest cancellation of Arizona State’s contest with Utah – which had already been moved to Sunday in order to potentially provide ASU more time to clear protocols – was in order to provide Utah the best opportunity to play this weekend. By Tuesday night, the Pac-12 announced the Utes would play Washington, who had its game with Washington State canceled due to positives within the Cougars program.
“We didn’t want to hold Utah up any longer,” Edwards explained of the cancellation. “They needed to know. And so, we just felt it was in the best interest for the health and safety of players and coaches for this whole football team to not participate this week.”
Edwards spoke at length Wednesday morning about what he and the program has learned from their experience and how grateful he was to get back on the practice field. Wednesday, the program held a “watered down” version of practice with those who were healthy. With only two games left on the original schedule, Edwards made sure to note that the Sun Devils would not be pulling the plug on the season.
“We started something, and you have to finish it. You have to finish things in life,” Edwards said of their remaining matchups with UCLA and Arizona. “Regardless of what it looks like. And what it feels like. You can’t quit. You don’t get to tap out. That’s never an option, and it’s never been an option my whole life.”
The bitter taste of defeat from ASU’s opening-week contest with USC still lingers as the Sun Devils prepare for their first home game of the season on Dec. 5 against UCLA. With the cancellations and hope of a Pac-12 championship game appearance wiped away, ASU’s focus and goals in its upcoming contests may shift according to Edwards.
An eligibility freeze from the NCAA will allow the 2020 season to provide ASU seniors with a chance to return again in the fall in hopes of improving their draft stocks. Still, Edwards said during the final two matchups on ASU’s original schedule he would be looking for opportunities to see what younger players are capable of providing in order to be informed as to where roster improvements may be needed.
“You still want to build into your program that winning and competing is very important, and I think our players understand that,” said Edwards, who has compiled a 15-12 record in his time in Tempe. “There’s nothing like winning a football game… and that’s why it’s a shame our first one didn’t turn out the way we’d like.
“Going forward, we have to make sure that there are some young players that have been in this program now at certain positions for two years that need to play. We need to find a way to get them on the grass so we can evaluate them and see where they’re at. That gives them a little excitement as well.”
Edwards said no players on the Arizona State roster have opted out after the latest struggles with the virus inside the program. Without knowing where the virus will develop by the spring, Edwards laid out his plans for spring practices in 2021.
“We’ll probably still be wearing masks,” Edwards said. “We anticipate starting spring early, like our first year when I was here and being done by spring break. That’s one of the models when you’re sitting at home and thinking about the season and the next season and how you start spring ball and all this other stuff; it gave me a lot of time to do that.
“I think right now the way I have it drawn up; we’re going to start pretty early.”
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