The Herm Train seems to be rolling down the tracks quite nicely in Tempe. Herm Edwards and his Arizona State Sun Devils are coming off a late-season upset of Rose Bowl Champion Oregon, a home thumping of Arizona in the Territorial Cup and a Sun Bowl win over Florida State.
Not bad for a coach who many snickered at when he was hired two years ago by close friend Ray Anderson after being away from the college game for nearly 30 years.
Now Edwards has a new contract extension through 2024, one of the most promising quarterbacks in the nation, an new offensive coordinator in Zak Hill and a salty returning defense mixed with experienced upperclassmen, as well as a number of talented younger players.
“It’s always the head coach, he’s at the very top,” FOX college football analyst Brock Huard said to Sports360AZ.com’s Brad Cesmat in a recent phone interview. “I think when you kind of look at some of those other tell-tale signs of your staff, of who wants to be there, the continuity you could have…I do think it made sense to extend their CEO and you go from seven wins, to eight wins and I think nine wins is very much a possibility next season.”
Huard, a former standout quarterback at Washington, feels the sky is the limit for Daniels — especially as he gets older and matures.
“He’s a guy that’s really going to make a jump from freshman to sophomore year physically more than anything else,” he explained. “He’s gotta put on 10-15 pounds. I think you guys need to bring him In-N-Out burger two-to-three times a week. He has got to put on some more of that grown man strength because when that comes…he’s going to be in very, very good shape.”
Huard believes Daniels flashed some early comparisons to legendary Sun Devil quarterback Jake Plummer who just entered the College Football Hall of Fame.
