For most of their friendship, Darin Kerns knew Herm Edwards as a bachelor. He was single. He was a free spirit. He was determined. He loved football. And, occasionally, he would come over for dinner.

Kerns and his then-wife would always invite Edwards over to enjoy a home-cooked meal -- almost like he was a college kid that had been feasting on Top Ramen for months. Most of the time, Edwards came alone.

In fact, he did a lot of things alone back then. Kerns, the head equipment manager for Florida State’s football team, said he used to know each year where Edwards was going on vacation. It never changed.

“He’d go to South Beach for a week and Philly for a week,” Kerns said. “And just by himself. He’d hang out. He’d go down to South Beach, hang out on the beach, work out -- of course -- and buy some clothes. And then he’d go to Philly and do the same thing.”

Speaking of Edwards’ fashion sense, Kerns was asked about the newest look his friend has been sporting in Tempe -- the backward Kangol hat.

“The Samuel L. Jackson look,” Kerns said with a chuckle. “As he’s getting older, he’s making different fashion statements.”

To Kerns, this is the new Edwards. He settled down. He now has a wife and two daughters (He also has a son, Marcus, 32, who resides in Texas). He back where it’s sunny, where at nearly every moment, he’s less than a mile from his family. He’s happier than ever, Kerns says.

A few weeks ago, Kerns sent Edwards a text message about a possible reunion. He had heard from some folks in El Paso that the Sun Bowl was trending more and more towards an Arizona State, Florida State matchup.

“Wherever I went, I would always get a text from him wishing us well,” Edwards said in early December. “It’s kind of ironic, literally four days ago, I get a text from him and he said, ‘I’m hearing it could be Florida State and Arizona State. I texted back, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’”

Sure enough, Kerns’ intel was spot-on. To him, it felt bittersweet. Sure, he was going to see Edwards again, but one of them was going to have to lose. He’s not used to that. For so long, they were always working together, for the same team with the same goals.

“It’s pretty special,” Edwards said of his and Kerns’ relationship. “We’re really good friends … During the course of my tenure in (Kansas City) and then when I left to go to Tampa with Tony (Dungy), he was down there with us as well … Just a great guy.”

Kerns and Edwards first met in 1989. The latter had been hanging out at the Kansas City Chiefs’ training camp. He had just finished up his time playing and had begun his coaching career at San Jose State, overseeing their defensive backs. He was looking for ideas.

He knew Carl Peterson, then the Chiefs president -- who later brought him in as an entry-level scout -- and defensive backs coach Tony Dungy, the pair friends from their time playing in a college all-star game in Japan years prior.

Anyways, Edwards was hanging out quite often. So Kerns and the rest of the Chiefs equipment staff geared him up with apparel. Next time Edwards was in Kansas City, he repaid them, handing out each of the equipment staffers a San Jose State shirt he had brought for them.

From there, Kerns and Edwards became close, the pair, along with Tony Dungy, sticking together for more than a decade. It included time in Kansas City and Tampa Bay, nearly a berth in a Super Bowl and, of course, plenty of dinners.

“We all had a passion for this game. We tried to stay away from football but we end up talking about football,” Kerns said. “The dinners were really special. We had a place in Tampa (Landry’s Seafood House), and we’d sit there and we were excited about the future of the Buccaneers, Man.”

Kerns, who is in his eighth year as FSU’s head equipment manager describes Edwards and Dungy as mentors to him, they taught him a lot. About football and about life. They were models for how to treat people, how to handle yourself, how to be a good father and what the rewards of all that could become.

In terms of their character, Kerns quickly thought about a story for each. When he was the head coach in Tampa, Dungy held a team meeting every year and told his team if they were late to a charity event they agreed to, they would be cut.

When Edwards was a position coach with the Buccaneers, he pointed out a mistake that one of Tampa’s high draft picks made in a playoff game. He chirped back, a petty attack at his coach. Kerns wanted to knock the kid out, Edwards assured him he’d take care of it. That guy wasn’t on the team the next year.

“That’s how he handled things,” Kerns said.

Then the Florida State equipment manager thought of one of the worst days he experienced with Edwards. The Buccaneers had just suffered a heartbreaking loss in the 2000 NFC Championship to the Rams, a controversial incomplete pass call against Burt Emanuel was all anyone could think about.

But when Edwards boarded the team plane, he asked Kerns if he had seen Derrick Thomas, the former Chiefs’ Hall of Famer who the pair got to know in Kansas City. Edwards had left him field passes but never saw him. He would find out that Thomas was involved in a car accident that later took his life.

“That put that loss in perspective,” Kerns said. “My friendship with him has made me grow up and understand it’s still just a game … I’ve seen Herm in defeat, but I’ve never seen him defeated.”

And regardless of what happens in El Paso, that won’t change. Perhaps that will give Kerns solace about the someone-will-have to lose conundrum. Because at least he’ll be able to see Edwards, and continue a friendship that has given him so much.

“I’m just so blessed about it,” Kerns said. “I think they knew my passion to be involved in this,” Kerns said. “I don’t know. I don’t know. We just connected. Some people you just connect with.

“And I’m sure lucky -- it’s changed my life.”

Join us on our premium message board, the Devils’ Huddle, to discuss this article and other ASU football and recruiting topics. Not a member yet? Sign up today here and join your fellow Sun Devil fans!