LOS ANGELES - Here's our Pac-12 notebook covering some of the storylines of the conference's Media Day.

Herm Edwards still doesn’t trust polls, but he believes his team is starting to trust him

In 2018, Edwards’s Arizona State Sun Devils were selected to finish last in the Pac-12 South, per the annual preseason media poll. He reacted by going on a classic Herm-a-logue, if you will, on not letting other people’s perceptions become your reality.

A year after defying those expectations- going on to finish second- ASU has been selected to finish tied for third in the division with UCLA this time around. But the increased respect doesn’t mean Edwards has changed how he feels.

“That's always difficult for people to make polls. I don't get into polls,” Edwards said. “I just get into coaching the football team. I don't worry about all that stuff. I worry about what people said, I wouldn't leave my house.”

Going into his second season leading ASU football, Edwards has already noticed the difference of coaching a a team that’s familiar with his ways.

“I think going into year two, we've established some things that makes it a lot easier for me to coach,” Edwards said. “Your first year, players don't know who you are and the coaches really don't know who you are. So, I think it takes some time to earn their trust. That's what I asked them to do for me, let me earn your trust, and I think I've done that, and now we can continue to build a program.”

Edwards believes one thing has been the biggest key to earning that trust.

I think they've learned from me that I'm pretty consistent in what I do every day,” Edwards said. “I think we all search for consistency. Regardless if you like it or not, you know what to expect.”

And what helps him be so consistent?

“Zest for life.”

“I just have an attitude every day that can be your best friend or your worst enemy. But when I lay my head to rest, I always ask myself this question: Did I do something or say something to help somebody? And if I've done that, I've done my day's work.”

Wildcats hope a healthy Khalil Tate will turn things around after Kevin Sumlin’s rocky first season

While Edwards exceeded most expectations in his first season coaching ASU, Arizona’s Kevin Sumlin had a first season to forget in Tucson. AU went 5-7, culminating in its blown 19-point fourth-quarter lead to lose the Territorial Cup at home. On the season as a whole, much of the team’s inconsistency stemmed from a nagging ankle injury that marred QB Khalil Tate the whole season.

“It's hard to talk about,” Sumlin said. “For him to continue to battle, miss a game, which that was a difficult time for him because of all the games to miss, UCLA was a big one because he was going home to play.

“He's talking right now, but I think -- because you couldn't be at a higher point in your career than he was walking in here last year, and then from an expectation standpoint, you couldn't be at a lower point when you're in the Rose Bowl in your hometown and you don't even have a uniform on and you can't help your team. I think that's affected how he's approached the offseason.”

Sumlin has also taken this offseason to try and build a better relationship with his quarterback in hopes of seeing it translate to results on the field.

“There was a concerted effort on my part to sit down and say, hey, man, here's what we see, where do you want to be, what do you want to do, here's how we can help you,” Sumlin said.

“It takes maturity, just like anything else, to know where your flaws are, accept those, and then say, hey, you know what, I'm not -- I'm being critical for a reason because our goal is the same. We want you to be great. We want to be Pac-12 champions, and in order to do that, here are the things that you can do to help yourself be the best player in this league.”

Trojans must manage lofty expectations following a disappointing season

Another 5-7 team in 2018 looking for a turnaround season would be the USC Trojans. Even more so than Arizona, the Trojans face high expectations, selected to finish second in the South division by the preseason media poll.

Despite the injury to QB JT Daniels that made things harder on the team in the second half, head coach Clay Helton believes much of their troubles were self-inflicted.

“It was important for our football team to understand how we got beat, especially down the stretch in those last four games by seven points or less in each one of those games,” Helton said. “It was nothing that an opponent did. We beat ourselves. You know, when you turn the ball over two times in the red zone at Cal and two times in the red zone at Notre Dame, you have critical penalties down the stretch. You don't acquire turnovers. We did some things with lack of fundamentals that make you just an average football team rather than what you can become.”

Helton believes one thing will loom larger than anything else in attempting to right the ship.

“If I had to say it in one word, I'd say accountability,” he said. “Accountability to each other, accountability to our fundamentals, accountability to protecting the ball, taking the ball away and the accountability of not having penalties. Those are the things that cost us games last year.”

Chip Kelly is all for the transfer portal, but not so much for the trend of young recruiting

UCLA head coach Chip Kelly, entering his second season at the helm, spoke with subtle conviction about the the recent uptick in the recruitment of eighth and ninth-graders.

“When you have some academic standards at your university, I think when you're offering people, you'd better make sure those guys kids that you're spending time with are kids that are actually going to be able to get into your school,” Kelly said. “I don't think it's a unique approach, but I think it's -- we don't want to waste time. We don't want to waste student-athletes' time, nor do we want to waste our own time.

“I think when I was a freshman, I was worried about what I was wearing to school the next day, let alone was I offered a scholarship by a school that really didn't mean I was offered.”

However, Kelly was much more supportive of a different trend that’s taken over college football: the transfer portal.

“I think the transfer portal is a good thing. If kids go somewhere and they're not happy there, then they should be allowed to go where they're going to be happy,” Kelly said. “I mean, coaches move. I don't know why players can't move. I've never had a problem with the transfer portal. And I don't understand that argument.”

Washington’s Chris Petersen is not so fond of the transfer portal

On the other hand, Huskies head coach Chris Petersen is not as much of a fan of the transfer portal.

“I just believe that there's a lot of hard things that we need to kind of work through to get good things at the end of that process,” Petersen said. “I think sometimes the portal is good for kids to go in there if they want to.

“I think how this thing is heading where guys to just transfer, start to get free agency, I don't think that's good. First and foremost, I don't think it's good for the kids. Everybody wants to talk about that. I've seen too many guys, including myself, have to work through hard things where maybe you tap out, or it's easier, I'm going to go somewhere elsewhere I think it's better. It's usually not. I just really believe that.”

Of course, Petersen’s perspective is intriguing considering how his team has benefitted from the portal, specifically in landing QB Jacob Eason from Georgia, who will be eligible to play this season.

Oregon State’s Smith suggests solution to immediate eligibility debate

While head coach Jonathan Smith spent much of his session discussing the Beavers current rebuild, of which he’s going into year number two, he did make an interesting suggestion.

There’s been discussion this offseason of eliminating the NCAA’s rule of transfer players sitting out a season, which some believe would lead to downright chaos. He offered a possible solution to the problem.

“The thing I heard and I'm into is you sit a year but more or less you graduate on time, you get that year back,” Smith said. “I don't remember who was talking about it. I'm into that kind of thought. I think there should be -- you go somewhere, you should sit a year but have the opportunity to get it back if you finish your degree.”

This solution has not been discussed by the NCAA, as far as common knowledge goes, but perhaps Smith has a point to present to the board.

Ducks picked to seize the North over heavyweight Washington

The Oregon Ducks were voted to win the North division in the preseason media poll by one point over the Washington Huskies.

The green and yellow will have a potential Heisman candidate returning at QB in Justin Herbert, and boast one of the nation’s top recruiting classes, including five-star defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux.

However, head coach Mario Cristobal doesn’t want that to change the team’s approach.

“Well, I think the expectations inside never really change,” Cristobal said. “I think you always acknowledge what the noise is on the outside. When I say noise, I say that respectively because I certainly respect the media and the choices and decisions made, but it never really factors into the process.

“We have a lot of challenges on the road, and it's something that we know we have to improve upon because we haven't done a very good job. And it starts with me. It starts with coaching.

“Again, even though it's something that's always a compliment and we respect the fact and appreciate that fact, it doesn't factor into our preparation.”

Utah reigns atop the preseason poll with a stout defense

Although the Ducks were picked to top the North, they still fell 16 points behind Utah in terms of votes to win their respective division.

Utah’s head coach Kyle Whittingham discussed some of the players that will be key to what’s widely expected to be the best defense in the Pac-12, and one of the best in the country.

“We have a ton of production we lost with Chase Hansen and Cody Barton departing. Great players for us, great leaders for us,” Whittingham said.

“But we feel like we've got a chance to be pretty good there again this year with Manny Bowen and Francis Bernard, both of them transfers into the program. Manny has not played for us yet. You saw what Francis could do last year. He got extensive playing time.

“So, we think between those two guys and Devin Lloyd, who's been in the program, this will be his third year now, we've got a good nucleus to start with at that linebacker spot.”

That’s not to mention the Utes' defensive line, who highly respected college football analyst Phil Steele tabbed as a top-five unit in the country heading into 2019.

Mel Tucker brings his wealth of experience into Boulder

Nobody had a worse skid to end the 2018 season than the Colorado Buffaloes, arguably in the entire FBS. The Buffs lost six straight to close the season after starting 5-1 and being ranked in the top 20 as late as mid-October.

But with a new coaching staff comes new hope and CU hopes first-year man Mel Tucker will help them forget the freefall of 2018. Tucker coached as an assistant in the SEC for the four seasons prior, and before that was an assistant in the NFL, even serving as interim coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars for five games in 2011.

“I've taken a little bit of something from every place that I've coached,” Tucker said. “The experiences I've had have been a tremendous asset for me moving forward. There are going to be some things from Bama, from Georgia, from Ohio State that I've learned and that's I'm going to install in Boulder.”

He also will look to apply his NFL experience in helping his players who have the potential to get drafted.

“I went through 10 drafts, and so I know what it takes to get there and what it takes to stay there,” Tucker said. “Our program will develop our players, and they'll have an opportunity to do that. They'll be prepared, they'll be exposed so it will be a smooth transition for them when it's time to go to the next level.”

Leach opens up on establishing a winning culture in Pullman

Perhaps the shock of the 2018 Pac-12 season was the performance of the Washington State Cougars.

They finished a conference-best 11-2 overall and likely could’ve made a strong case for the college football playoff had they won the Pac-12 championship game, which they were denied a chance to play in by their in-state rival in the regular-season finale.

Still, achieving a program-high 11 wins was arguably the story of the year, and Leach expanded on how he established winning ways in Pullman.

“First of all, I think you got to do a good job of selling and illustrating your vision so they have a sense of it,” Leach said. “It's one thing to describe it, and it's another thing to see it.

“If you haven't had success, sometimes it's pretty tough to trust the process till you do have success. Then you need to build on little increments of success as you go. Once you a build on those increments of success as you go, then more confidence and more belief in what's being done I think takes place with the team.

“After a year or two, then you get guys that have heard the message, done it, believe in it for a period of time. Some of your efforts are duplicated because the older guys tell the young guys. They're around each other more than they are us coaches.”

Stanford’s Shaw shares why Jabril Peppers wasn’t a running back

Stanford Cardinal head coach David Shaw delved deep into practically every question he was asked in his podium session.

It’s hard to pick the best segment from his vouching for an eight-team playoff to his specific analysis on what Stanford must improve on.

His story on why Jabrill Peppers picked defensive back over running back, however, was too interesting not to share.

I remember recruiting Jabrill Peppers, who I thought was a phenom,” Shaw said. “I still think he's a phenom. Great athlete and could have been one of those guys that was going to be an All-American at running back.

“He was wise beyond his years at 17, high school, and he said, ‘Coach, I want to play this game for a long time. I think I can play longer playing defensive back than I can playing running back.’ I would always try to encourage a guy to play the position that he plays the best. He said, I think I can play running back, but I really want to play on the defensive side.”

Cal trying to break its offensive drought

The California Golden bears were quietly a solid team in 2018, finishing 7-6 despite a losing 4-5 record in the Pac-12.

Entering his third season as head coach, Justin Wilcox has a strong idea of what his team needs to do to take the next step in 2019, at least offensively.

“We gave the ball up too much last year, way too much,” Wilcox said. “So there's a lot to that.”

“The other thing we have to get better at is creating some explosive plays. To think you're going to drive the ball at three, four, five yards a play the whole field the whole game is very, very difficult. The primary indicators in scoring points is creating explosive plays, and we were not good in that area last year.”