A month ago, Hue Jackson returned to Sun Devil Stadium. He roamed the press box pregame, grabbed a plate of food and chatted up familiar faces. At halftime, he made up a contingent of former Sun Devils at midfield for quarterback Jake Plummer’s College Football Hall of Fame induction.
And, soon enough, Jackson may return to those Tempe sidelines. Reports have surfaced that the former ASU assistant and NFL head coach is the leading name to replace Rob Likens as the Sun Devils’ offensive coordinator.
On his weekly radio show, ASU coach Herm Edwards acknowledged Jackson is a candidate to take the reigns of his offense, while being quick to note he’ll do his due diligence in the coaching search.
“There’s a list of guys who I’m going to go through the process of interviewing -- along with (ASU special advisor) Marvin (Lewis), Marvin will be sitting in there as well,” Edwards told the Doug and Wolf show on Monday.
“I’ve known Hue for quite some time, so we have a relationship, but we haven’t decided who the coordinator is going to be yet.”
Take away Jackson’s NFL head coaching experience (He went 8-8 with the Oakland Raiders in 2011 and 3-36-1 with the Cleveland Browns in two-and-a-half years), his prior relationships alone with those he’d work alongside seems like a formidable advantage.
He’s friends with Edwards. He coached alongside and under Lewis, who recently hired Jackson in Cincinnati after the Browns’ fired him midway through the 2018 season. ASU Senior AD Jean Boyd was also a player in Tempe when Jackson was an assistant. And those are just the obvious ties.
Later in his interview with Doug and Wolf, Edwards made it clear he expects his offensive coordinator hire to have a similar personality to his. Jackson certainly checks that box.
“You have to form relationships, and recruiting is about relationships and trust,” Edwards said.
Jackson would also only add to Arizona State’s NFL model, and its effort to build a program that not only runs like an NFL franchise, but includes coaches and leaders that have played and coached in the league.
If Jackson is hired, he’d be the third former NFL coach on ASU’s staff. Think about that for a second. It’s likely Edwards, Lewis and Jackson could be in the living room of a top prospect pitching to him and his family that Arizona State can him get to the NFL. That seems like it would be pretty effective.
“Could be a game-changer,” said ASU commit Chad Johnson Jr, whose father played under Lewis and Jackson in Cincinnati, via text. “Yea he (Jackson) knows my dad but him knowing my dad isn’t going to help us win. He’s a great coach and I hope he brings his greatness to Tempe.”
Johnson Jr. isn’t the only one who hopes Jackson is hired in Tempe.
Juan Roque, an All-American offensive lineman for the Sun Devils in the mid-90s, said if Jackson was hired as the Sun Devils’ offensive coordinator, the alumni base would be “100 percent behind it.”
Malachi Crawford agrees.
Along with Roque and dozens more, the former ASU defensive lineman ran into Jackson at Plummer’s ceremony. He made sure he tracked his former coach down and thanked him for everything. Many others sought out to do the same, to speak to their coach who ascended the coaching ladder as high as possible and whose career is now in a state of flux.
They describe Jackson like Edwards, two teachers who are structured and detailed in their preparation, but who aren’t scared to have fun.
Roque said he recalls Jackson up early at Camp Tontozona, dancing at 6:30 a.m. telling everyone to “Get up, baby.” Crawford said he was authentic as anyone, a player’s coach who almost served as a liaison between the coaching staff and players.
“(He) was really someone we could count on to keep it real with us,” Crawford said. “Sometimes players would get upset with coaches and Hue would be one of those people who would explain both sides of the story and who could understand both sides.”
Between 1992 and 1994, Jackson served as the Arizona State running backs coach, and most notably helped guide tailback Mario Bates to a 1,000-yard season in ‘93. Two years later, Jackson transitioned to the Sun Devils’ quarterbacks coach, grooming Plummer for a 2,000-yard junior season. Of course, the next year, Plummer nearly won a Heisman.
Both Roque and Crawford were quick to note the similarities of the situation Jackson maneuvered in the 90’s and the one he may face in a possible second act in Tempe. Those on the ASU coaching staff haven’t been shy about the potential of freshman quarterback Jayden Daniels.
Defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales has referred to him as a “generational” talent that has the power to ascend the program forward. Who better to mold Daniels, the pair of former Sun Devils argued, than someone who's worked with Plummer, Carson Palmer, and Joe Flacco?
“Coach Jackson was big on film study,” Roque said. “Looking at situation football. What are you looking at on third-and-long? I remember hearing him question Jake. ‘Jake, it’s third-and-long, they’re in this coverage, what is your breakdown right now as a check down? What is your breakdown as a potential audible?’
“What he will do is he will be able to give Jayden an arsenal of tools mentally.”
Added Crawford: “Jayden is one of those players who, in my opinion, he’ll relate to Hue pretty well. That’ll enable us to have, what I call, Jake 2.0.”
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