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Published Aug 4, 2021
Edwards: Sun Devils won’t let outside noise affect fall camp
Gabe Swartz
Staff Writer

Arizona State kick-started its fall football camp early Wednesday morning as the Sun Devil coaches and players tried to beat the heat as best as possible. Just one day into his fourth year running the show in Tempe, head coach Herm Edwards already keyed reporters in on the motto for the year.


“Our plan is very simple. Tomorrow we get to show up and do it again, and we’ve got to be better,” said Edwards, whose Sun Devil program is 17-13 under his direction. “Win the day. Tomorrow is a new day, and we have to get better, collectively.”


Re-acclimating to the rigors of the heat and a usual 12-game regular season schedule is an adjustment again for ASU after a 4-game 2020 season saw the Sun Devils go 2-2.


“This is a long season,” Edwards said, with Arizona State prepping for the season-opening contest with Southern Utah on Sept. 2. “We don’t know what that feels like. We had some new coaches last year who only coached four games. How we deal with the season is very important.”


“It feels great to get back out there and play football again,” said junior quarterback Jayden Daniels. “The normalcy of fall camp, having that schedule, the body is going to adjust to each and every day and getting back in the groove.”


With some projecting lofty expectations for the program this year, Edwards was asked Wednesday whether the Sun Devils were gearing up this season to be the hunters or the hunted.


“Whether you want to put it, either way, we’re not going to get involved in polls or how people perceive this football team,” explained Edwards. “There are a lot of young men who’ve come back from last season who could’ve left. I think they feel like, ‘let’s give this thing a run.’ And it’s exciting to see them. It was exciting to watch in the spring the different mindset this football team had.”


Edwards also addressed the recent allegations and swirling NCAA investigation that is hovering over the program heading into 2021.


“I told them what I tell them all the time, every season. Don’t let the outside noises affect what we need to do,” Edwards said of his message to the Sun Devils ahead of fall camp. “I think you folks have been around me long enough. Have I changed? The players see me every day. Coach is good; we’re good.


“We’re going to prepare to play football. That’s what we are here to do. Nothing else.”


Across the board experience is a common theme for ASU this season. With one of the most veteran-laded defenses in the country, passes were frequently being batted around or knocked down throughout portions of Arizona State’s first 11-on-11 period Wednesday. Still, the early struggles of the passing game don’t worry Edwards.


“Generally, when you start that first practice, the defense is ahead of the offense,” said Edwards with a chuckle. “The back end of our defense and even the middle part – the linebackers – they’ve got a lot of experience. I think it’s starting to come together, and we’re not going to complicate it on defense.


“AP (defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce) is going to do a great job of just letting these guys play.”


Praise for the ASU defense continued when Daniels stepped to the podium for the first time ahead of his third year as signal-caller for the Sun Devils.


“There’s stuff that we hit on and stuff that we missed,” said Daniels of his developing rapport with the ASU receivers. “That’s just practice. You’re not going to be 100 percent perfect in practice. We’re just stacking days.


“Our defense is sometimes calling out our plays. Receivers are getting frustrated, but it just comes with it. They’ve been playing football for a long time. I feel like we’re going against the best defense in the country. The best secondary, very experienced. Chase (Lucas) and Jack (Jones), they know what they are doing. It’s just a competition each and every day.”


Edwards admitted that it will be a challenge for Daniels as he goes through his first 12-game slate without Brandon Aiyuk, still searching for a true No. 1 receiving option.


“Jayden had the luxury, and Manny Wilkins had the luxury of playing with two first round receivers,” Edwards explained. “They are gone. We have some talented ones, but Jayden now is in a position… where he understands he’s going to have to be on point.”


During the abbreviated 2020 season, Daniels threw for 701 yards, five touchdowns and one interception. In each of ASU’s four contests, the San Bernardino, Calif., native threw for no more than 225 yards, utilizing his bulkier frame and agile legs more than during his freshman season.


“It’ll be interesting to see how teams defend the run game against us. If they put eight guys in the box, Jayden will find someone open,” Edwards added.


Adjusting to long-term quarterback life without the steady hand of Brandon Aiyuk has been a developing process, but mentally the Sun Devil quarterback claimed he is in a good headspace.


“I’m comfortable. I know the offense in and out,” Daniels expressed. “Me and (offensive coordinator Zak Hill) talk daily. We sit down and talk to each other about what I can do to be better. You can see just the growth from last year to this year in the offense, feeling more comfortable and being able to go out there and check the plays, building that relationship with coach Hill throughout the spring.”


Newly appointed Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff has been thrown into the conference realignment fire as Texas and Oklahoma recently agreed to join the SEC in upcoming years. Potential expansion – or a scheduling alignment between the Pac-12 and another conference could be on the horizon – but Edwards predicted greater change in the future.


“I think college football is going to change dramatically in the next three or four years,” Edwards predicted. “It’s not going to be the same. It’s just not. With now the players having the ability to use their name, image, and likeness and certain conferences trying to get more teams in their conferences, what is it all about? It’s about the (College Football Playoff).


With a disappointed tone, Edwards seemed unimpressed by the latest playoff-related development for the sport.


“It’s like the National Football League. If they get to the number 12, you folks won’t be talking about bowl games. You’ll be talking about the playoffs, and the conversation will then be ‘how many teams from such-and-such a conference got into the playoff?’


“We can’t stop it. That’s where it’s going, and we all know it. You can’t fight it. That’s going to happen. It doesn’t matter if I like it or not.”


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