In contrast to the ASU defensive staff, ASU’s wide receivers coach marks the only new face on the other side of the ball. We sat down with Fisher to talk about his transition from being the head coach at Western Illinois to a position coach in Tempe inheriting the most experienced unit on the team and more.

Devils Digest: Let’s talk about just the decision to come to Arizona State, obviously you’ve got a history with (offensive coordinator) Rob Likens, but there’s probably more than that which influenced your decision...

Fisher: “I think a couple things. You couldn’t help, but — I grew up seeing coach Edwards play when I was in central Pennsylvania growing up when he played for the Eagles, and just hearing him always speaking and different things, his passion for doing things and certainly you couldn’t help but love that. And then my relationship with Rob, we’ve known each other a long, long time, and that goes back to my days as a head coach at West Georgia, he was in the league at North Alabama. Then, we were at Temple together, I was a coordinator, he was a wide-out guy, we flip-flopped roles here, but through that, we’ve maintained a relationship and a friendship that goes way beyond X’s and O’s.

“We’ve talked about everything from football to life, to coaches and players and all that. When you’re connected with a guy like that, and you trust him, and you know who he is, that makes a big difference.”

Devils Digest: But having said all of that, to go from a head coach back to position coach, isn’t a decision anyone takes lightly…

Fisher: “Well, there are always tough decisions to make in life, but I trusted my faith and the people that I’m going to work for. I loved being a head coach, I’ve been it twice, and I just trusted moving forward this was the right thing with the right group of people. And certainly, this area, who couldn’t like Phoenix, my wife was certainly excited about that. At this point in my career, I’m not a 30-year-old guy, I’ve been doing this 38 years, I’ve done it a long time.”

Devils Digest: As far as getting to know Herm Edwards, I don’t know how much you knew him prior to this job, but what can you tell about your relationship perhaps some things that people don’t really know about Edwards?

Fisher: “I think just the thing that is exciting about being around coach Edwards every day is his passion for what he does. He comes to work with a purpose every day, and just the passion that he brings and the enthusiasm, it’s infectious. You can’t help but have it rub off on you. This guy has a vision and he has a work ethic and a passion for what he does. I think you can clearly see that through our staff that you follow your leader and the way he goes about things. That’s been exciting for me just to see how he goes about his business every day.”

Devils Digest: When I talked to (defensive coordinator) Danny Gonzales and (cornerbacks coach) Tony White, they joked that Herm Edwards being a former defensive back, is going to be in those position meetings every day and expecting a lot from that group. But now as a wide receivers coach that has to beat those defensive backs every day in practice, is there a little bit of pressure in that?

Fisher: “Well, absolutely, he knows what he’s talking about. But you learn something, I love hearing a guy like that talk about their thought process on that side and how they go about things, what are they thinking, techniques and all of those things. That’s the neat part of it, you never stop learning in this business. Every stop gives you an opportunity to learn from somebody else.”

Devils Digest: On offense, you’re the only staff member not returning from last year. Again, knowing Rob Likens helps a lot here, but how has it been developing that chemistry in such a short amount of time?

Fisher: “It’s been easy because we’ve got great people. That’s the thing, this staff reminds me so much of when I was at Vanderbilt. We just got a bunch of good guys that work hard together, have a really great passion for what we’re doing and trying to do it the best we can.”

Devils Digest: I know that with someone like signee Geordon Porter, Rob Likens was the main coach who was really involved dating back to almost a year ago. How much involvement did you have in Porter’s recruitment?

Fisher: “Well, I just kind of came in midstream and just helped as best I could to facilitate that process. The previous staff and certainly Rob had helped build the foundation and the relationship with Geordon. I helped just going in to help Rob and Arizona State continue that recruiting process.

“The thing that struck me about Geordon is just, obviously he’s a very, very talented player. But far beyond that, he kind of emulates what we want. He’s a tremendous young man, he’s a high-character person, he’s done well in school, he’s got great parents, just all those things that you want to see in a player, he’s got.”

Devils Digest: The Interesting part about the dad, George Porter, is that it seems like as much as homework as all the coaches have done on his son, Mr. Porter does just as much research as a father on the coaches at the programs recruiting his son…

Fisher: “He did, he knew all about me when I walked in the house, but that’s exciting because you know you have somebody who cares and somebody that wants to be really, really good.”

Devils Digest: When you look at the returning wide receivers, do you just try to lean on what Rob Likens is giving you, saying something like ‘Here’s a book on the wide receivers,’ or do you really want to try to form your opinion?

Fisher: “Little bit of both. Little bit of what Rob has told me about each kid, little bit about what they’ve done, little bit about their personality, but the same time, trying to not to get too many preconceived ideas, because you want to have an opportunity to build that relationship with a young man and let me kind of see what makes them tick, how they are in the meeting room, how they are on the practice field.

“So, yeah, I’ve got certainly an idea, I’ve watched them some and listened to Rob, because you’re always listening, and at the same time, you build a relationship with each young man. That comes through daily meetings and practice, those ups and those downs. There’s still a lot of work to do there yet, but I’ve had a chance now since signing day to really kind of get to know them really well, much, much better than when I first got here.”

Devils Digest: So, what’s your opinion right now? I know it’s kind of hard to fully formulate before hitting the field for spring practice…

Fisher: “Very talented group, that’s not hard to see. And we’ve got a little bit of a range of everything. You walk in and Frank Darby’s smile’s going to light up the room. You can see he’s got a big personality. Then you look at N’Keal Harry and the imposing size and strength of him, and then Kyle Williams and Curtis Hodges, you have so many different players and that’s the beauty of it - there is no prototype.

“You want to be a football player, so I don’t think prototypically you have to be this size or that size, it’s who’s a football player. And we’ve got a bunch of good football players in that room. Now, obviously we’ll continue to build that and see that through the spring, but I’m excited about the talent level in that group.”

Devils Digest: Would be fair to say that inheriting several upperclassmen and proven players in the Pac-12 was probably a big selling point for you to come into a situation like ASU’s?

Fisher: “Well, sure, absolutely. I knew about N’Keal Harry. It kind of reminds me of when I went to NC State, I left a head coaching job to go to NC State and walked in there and they said, ‘Hey, we’ve got this guy here that’s pretty good,’ Torry Holt. I know about Torry Holt, you couldn’t help it, he just torched Florida State for five touchdowns in 1997. So, I walk in the door, he was there, and then coming in the door was Koren Robinson, and we had a bunch of other good players, Chris Coleman, so you’ve got a nice blend of talent, but getting to know them, they’ve all got unique personalities and really good kids. I’m looking forward to coaching them, getting to know them more and building that relationship, building that trust, and working with them to get them to be the very best we can be.”

Devils Digest: The pressure to succeed is always there. But, is it maybe a little different when you have so much talent at wide receiver and you have a starting quarterback who’s a fifth-year senior? Does that add an extra layer of expectations?

Fisher: “No, I mean, I always expect a lot out of myself and always expect a lot out of our players every place I’ve been. I think if you look at the history of my career and the guys I’ve worked with and coached, I’ve always had a great expectation to be the best wherever we are, whatever conference we’re in, I wanted them to be the best. I wanted them to have that mindset every day, we’re going to be the best that this conference has to offer. We’re going to be as good as there is in this country and that’s just who we are and that’s the way it’s going to be.”

Devils Digest: When I talked to Rob Likens last week, he said, ‘Look, I mean, it’s great we got a fifth-year senior quarterback, we’ve got all this talent and experience at wide receiver, but I still want to run the ball.’ So, on the other hand, you don’t feel as if your group will have to carry the load offensively…

Fisher: “No. It’s proven that you’ve got to be able to run the ball at any level to win on a regular basis. We believe that coach Edwards believes that, anything in my background, anybody’s seen any part of my teams that I’ve either been a coordinator with or a head coach, we can always run the football. We know that, when you can run the football, it opens up so many other avenues, no matter how you run it. Whether it’s under center, shotgun, whatever it might be, you’ve got to be able to run the football, and you’ve got to have a physical mindset to do it.”

Devils Digest: Is there any wide receiver in your group that you feel is kind of floating under the radar that might open a lot of eyes in the spring?

Fisher: “I think there’s probably a couple it’s just, without having been around them too much, I watched the bowl game and a little bit of tape that I’ve watched… obviously, everybody knows about N’Keal. We know Frank Darby’s a big-time deep threat. I think the skillset of Kyle Williams is pretty special when you watch him run routes and all that. Curtis Hodges has emerged at times.

“But there’s going to be that group of guys, whoever that may be, Terrell Chatman, Jeremy Smith, there’s always that group of guys that’s waiting for his opportunity. I had a kid like that last year at Western Illinois, Jaelon Acklin, who went from under the radar to AP All-American. There’s always a guy like that who’s probably laying in the weeds and that’s the beauty of college sports. Even in the pro game, but certainly in college, that guy’s going to kind of come out of nowhere. But you don’t know who it’s going to be until you go through spring and that day-to-day and you see a guy starting to emerge on a regular basis.”

Devils Digest: With the close relationship you have with Rob Likens, are you going to have heavy input on the passing game, quarterbacks, and other related matters?

Fisher: “Yeah, obviously we’ve worked together before and we share a lot of the same ideas, and I’ve learned a lot from the things he’s done. Since we left each other, he’s been with Cal, Louisiana Tech, things he’s done with Temple offense and shotgun and things that I’ve done under center from more of a pro-style type offense in my career, we’re always sharing ideas, but it’s been fun to kind of learn some of the things he really believes in and he’s done since we were last together.”

Devils Digest: What in your mind is a well-rounded receiver?

Fisher: “Well, certainly a guy that understands his position, has a knowledge of understanding the schemes. To me, the complete receiver can run routes, he can block, he can catch, and he’s mentally and physically tough. There’s a certain amount of guys, I’ve always talked about guys that have that, Torry Holt had that who I coached, one of the guys I loved watching over the course of my career as a coach was Hines Ward, I always look and point at guys that kind of embody that. Receivers don’t come in any particular one shape and size. They come in all different shapes and sizes, but they all have a common thread of some of those types of things.”

Devils Digest: Lastly, what are your goals for the wide receiver group as a whole going into spring practice?

Fisher: “Well, for me, it’s always been about unit pride. We want to be the absolute best unit we can be on the team. We set the bar high, we want to be the best receiver group in the conference and we certainly want to be one of the best in the country. It’s that simple. We’ve got a talented group and it’s our job to meet expectations. If you don’t set a high expectation or a high standard for yourself, you don’t have a mark to reach to. You want to have big dreams and big goals. And if you don’t, you’re not working to be the very best that you can be. And I’ve always tried to take that approach wherever I’ve been, like, ‘Hey, we’re going to do this thing. Let’s be the best. Let’s be the absolute best we can be.’ And you only do that through every day, you’ve got to come to work. You’ve got to put your hard hat on, you’ve got to be focused, and you’ve got to be driven to be the best. It only comes through hard work.”

Note Jeff Griffith contributed to this article