Arizona State Football

Oregon Ducks offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham has agreed to become the next head coach of the Arizona State Sun Devils.

ESPN's Pete Thamel first reported on Saturday that Dillingham and Arizona State were finalizing a contract.

Dillingham is from Scottsdale, Arizona, and is also a graduate of Arizona State.

The news comes after Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports reported on Nov. 22 that Dillingham was the "leader in the clubhouse" for the Sun Devils head coaching gig.

Dillingham got into college coaching as an offensive assistant at Arizona State from 2014-2015. In 2016, he was hired as a graduate assistant at Memphis, and by 2018 he had worked his way up to being the team's offensive coordinator.

The 32-year-old served as offensive coordinator at Auburn in 2019 before taking over the same role at Florida State from 2020-2021. He is in his first season as offensive coordinator of the No. 10 Ducks.

Oregon's offense has flourished under Dillingham, so it's no surprise he has been eyed for the Arizona State head coaching position. Entering Saturday's game against the No. 22 Oregon State Beavers, Oregon's offense was ranked the third-best in the nation, averaging 511.2 total yards and 40.2 points per game.

Dillingham's quarterback, Bo Nix, has also been in the Heisman conversation, having completed 72.4 percent of his passes for 3,062 yards and 25 touchdowns against six interceptions, in addition to rushing for 513 yards and 14 scores.

In Arizona, Dillingham would be taking over for Herm Edwards, who was fired by the Sun Devils following a 1-2 start to the 2022 campaign. Edwards had been head coach at ASU since 2018.

Dillingham would also become the youngest Power 5 head coach in the country if hired by the Sun Devils.

Arizona State finished the 2022 season with a 3-9 record, including a 38-35 loss to rival Arizona on Friday. Dillingham would be tasked with bringing the program back to prominence in 2023 and beyond.

With the eventual departures of USC and UCLA to the Big Ten, Arizona State will be expected to contend for a Pac-12 title in the near future.

The Arizona State Sun Devils will be searching for a new head coach.

The school announced Sunday that Herm Edwards will no longer be its head coach following Saturday night's loss against Eastern Michigan that dropped the team to 1-2 this season. Edwards was hired as head coach in December 2017.

ESPN's Pete Thamel reported that Arizona State players were brought in earlier in the day to be informed of the school's decision.

The Sun Devils surrendered 458 total yards to the Eagles on Saturday, 305 of which came on the ground, for Eastern Michigan's first win over a Pac-12 team in program history. It was Arizona State's second straight loss allowing over 450 yards of total offense, following last week's 34-17 clunker against Oklahoma State.

Edwards ends his run at Arizona State with a combined record of 26-20 over four-plus seasons, including 17-14 in conference games. He was also 1-2 in bowl games.

When Edwards accepted the position with the Sun Devils, it had been nearly a decade since he was involved in coaching. The 68-year-old was head coach of the New York Jets from 2001 to 2005 and then the Kansas City Chiefs from 2006 to 2008 before transitioning to an analyst for ESPN.

Edwards' tenure coming to an end is not without some controversy. Arizona State is under investigation by the NCAA for alleged recruiting violations. Five coaches parted ways with the program amid the investigation, and it also impacted the team's recruiting class this year.

The Sun Devils have not yet announced who will serve as interim coach. Arizona State returns to action against No. 13 Utah on Saturday.

Arizona State University president Michael M. Crow says head football coach Herm Edwards is not the focus of the NCAA's investigation into the program's alleged recruiting violations.

Crow said Wednesday on Arizona Sports 98.7's Bickley & Marotta that other members of the staff weren't acting at Edwards' behest:

Coach Edwards has done an outstanding job of upgrading our overall program. We got this (group) of people who decided to not play by the rules relative to recruiting. So we'll be looking to how we make improvements so forth and so on, but Coach Edwards is responsible for all the actions of all of his people, but these are things he did not ask them to do. These are not things he was a part of.

In June, Doug Haller of The Athletic reported the NCAA had begun investigating whether ASU's football program hosted high school prospects during the COVID-19 recruiting dead period.

There was disagreement about whether Edwards knew about the possible violations. One former staffer told Haller there was "no way" he'd know those types of recruiting details, and another said he serves as a "closer" in recruiting. However, a different source said Edwards is around "90 percent aware" of what's happening with the program's recruiting.

In the eight months since the investigation began, three coaches have resigned—defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce, offensive coordinator Zak Hill and tight ends coach Adam Breneman—while wide receivers coach Prentice Gill and defensive backs coach Chris Hawkins were fired.

In an appearance on Bickley & Marotta on Tuesday, Edwards said he delegated a lot of recruiting responsibility and that you have to "trust people" in those cases.

"I live in a world like that. I grew up this way. I just think—I don't micromanage people," Edwards said. "I understand what's going on for the most part, but at the end of the day, football's about trust, by the way. This game's built on trust."

He added the focus has switched to next season.

"We're moving on. We're getting ready for spring football and getting prepared," Edwards said.

Arizona State has given no indication the coach's job status is in jeopardy despite the investigation.

Edwards has compiled a 25-18 record since taking over the Sun Devils program in 2018. The team posted an 8-5 mark last season.

Amid a series of coaching changes and an ongoing NCAA investigation into the program, Arizona State quarterback Jayden Daniels could be leaving the school. 

Per Carson Breber of 247Sports, Daniels is expected to enter the transfer portal Thursday. 

Breber noted it's unclear if Daniels "would seriously consider withdrawing from the portal at a later date to remain at ASU this season."

Arizona State did land Bennett Meredith, a 3-star recruit, during national signing day. Trenton Bourguet and Finn Collins were Daniels' backups last season. 

The Athletic's Doug Haller reported in June that the NCAA was looking into potential recruiting violations at Arizona State, including hosting high school prospects during a dead period. 

Per Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports, one of the allegations against the program involved Daniels' mom, Regina Jackson, "allegedly helping book more than $1,100 in flights for recruits and the adults accompanying them" during a recruiting trip from Florida. 

The Sun Devils have lost five coaches amid the investigation. Offensive coordinator Zak Hill resigned from the program last month after he was implicated for wrongdoing by the NCAA. 

Wide receivers coach Prentice Gill and secondary coach Chris Hawkins were fired by the program in January. Defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce resigned earlier this month. 

Daniels was the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback in the 2019 recruiting class, per 247Sports' composite rankings. He committed to the program in December 2018. 

The California native announced in December he would be returning to the Sun Devils in 2022. 

Daniels has appeared in 29 games over the past three seasons. He has thrown for 6,025 yards, 32 touchdowns, completed 62.4 percent of his attempts and run for 1,288 yards with 13 touchdowns in his college career. 

Arizona State has made bowl games twice in the past three seasons with Daniels starting at quarterback. He led the Sun Devils to a 20-14 win over Florida State in the 2019 Sun Bowl.    

Herm Edwards will return as head coach of the Arizona State Sun Devils in 2022, athletic director Ray Anderson told the team following Saturday's 38-15 win over Arizona, per ESPN's Adam Rittenberg. 

Edwards' status for the 2022 campaign had been in question in relation to an ongoing NCAA investigation for possible recruiting violations after the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. 

"I'm going to be the coach," Edwards said. "There's an elevator near the stairs I take and I told myself the day I don't have the energy to take those stairs, I won't coach anymore. I'll be taking the stairs tonight."

Arizona State finished the 2021 season 8-4, and Saturday's win over Arizona was a solid way for the Sun Devils to finish out the year as the team was rather inconsistent and defeated just one team with a winning record.

The NCAA's investigation in Arizona State reportedly includes the program hosting prospects during the recruiting dead period in which FBS programs were banned from having recruits on campus from March 2020 through June 1, 2021, per Rittenberg. 

The investigation also reportedly includes Arizona State having contact with prospects at an off-campus recruiting camp in June, Rittenberg adds. The school placed assistants Adam Breneman, Prentice Gill and Chris Hawkins on leave over the summer amid the allegations. 

Edwards has a $3.7 million annual salary, per The Athletic, and he will receive a $200,000 raise at the start of the new year. The 67-year-old is 25-17 as head coach of the Sun Devils. He took over in 2018 and has one bowl win over Florida State in 2019. 

Edwards is under contract through the 2024 season. 

Before joining Arizona State, Edwards served as head coach of the New York Jets from 2001-05 and head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs from 2006-08. He was also assistant head coach and defensive backs coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1996-2000 and Chiefs defensive backs coach from 1992-95.  

Arizona State deputy athletic director Jean Boyd allegedly knew about potential recruiting violations made by the football program during the winter.

A former ASU athletic department staff member told Doug Haller and Bruce Feldman of The Athletic that Boyd was aware of the alleged recruiting violations, although they were unsure if Boyd investigated the matter.

Haller reported last week that Arizona State was being investigated by the NCAA for allegedly hosting in-person recruiting visits during a 15-month ban on such visits because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Katie Paquet, ASU's vice president of media relations and strategic communications, confirmed that the program was under investigation, but did not provide any specifics regarding possible violations.

Per Haller, some within the Sun Devils football program are "concerned about losing their jobs" due to the alleged violations.

One former ASU athletic department staffer told Haller there is "no way" Sun Devils head coach Herm Edwards knew about the violations, while another former staffer said, "He is probably aware of 90 percent of the recruiting stuff that goes on."

Haller noted that Edwards is viewed as more of a program "CEO" than a head coach, and that he relies on associate head coach and recruiting and defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce to contribute in multiple areas.

On Friday, Haller and Feldman added that there are now further allegations beyond Arizona State hosting recruits for in-person visits.

It is alleged that ASU paid for the expenses of visiting recruits during unofficial visits, which is an NCAA violation, as either the recruit or their parent or guardian are required to pay for such expenses, per Haller and Feldman.

Documents sent to Arizona State's compliance department and the NCAA revealed a plethora of potential NCAA recruiting violations, according to Yahoo Sports' Pete Thamel.

Dated May 31, there are 10 staff members and 13 prospects named in the allegations.

The documents open with a straightforward message:

"I am writing this letter to inform you about recruiting violations that are occurring at Arizona State University in their Football department. My objective is…providing enough information to assure you if Arizona State football is looked into, there will be violations found." 

An NCAA investigation is ongoing, the school confirmed to Yahoo Sports. Thamel reported that a group text that included almost a dozen staff members "communicated regularly ... about the allegedly illicit activities in the program." 

The allegations say 13 prospects visited campus during the pandemic-invoked recruiting dead period, which began in spring 2020 and wasn't lifted until June 21, 2021. During that time, prospective student-athletes could visit campus on their own but couldn't be entertained by coaching staff.  

"It wasn't a secret," a staff member with direct knowledge of the visits told Thamel on June 16. "As far as knowing everyone who came into that [football] office, the number is too big and the names are too many."

The level of evidence provided varies among the "more than a dozen allegations" in the documents, with some accompanied by screenshots and receipts, while there's no proof of other incidents. One photo is allegedly shows head coach Herm Edwards with a top recruit in the class of 2022, but Thamel said the identities of the people in the photo were unclear, as they were facing away from the camera. 

There is reportedly documentation that three assistant coaches—Chris Hawkins, Prentice Gill and Adam Breneman—arranged flights for recruits with assistance from the mother of quarterback Jayden Daniels, Regina Jackson, who helped book some of the flights. 

Daniels is not subject to the allegations. 

This evidence could have major implications if the NCAA investigation results in penalties, as the Sun Devils have 20 starters returning to the field and could contend for a conference championship.

The Arizona State football program is reportedly under investigation for potential NCAA recruiting violations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Doug Haller of The Athletic, the NCAA is looking into allegations that Arizona State hosted in-person recruiting visits during a time when they were banned because of COVID-19.

Katie Paquet, Arizona State's vice president of media relations and strategic communications, confirmed that ASU is under investigation but did not provide additional details, saying: "ASU can confirm the NCAA is conducting an investigation regarding allegations related to our football program. In accordance with NCAA bylaws, the university cannot provide further comment at this time."

Per Haller, the NCAA outlawed in-person recruiting visits for 15 months beginning in March 2020 as part of its COVID-19 protocols.

Haller also reported that a former ASU athletic department employee said some within the Sun Devils football program are "concerned about losing their jobs."

Former New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards has been the head coach at Arizona State since 2018, posting a 17-13 record and taking the Sun Devils to two bowl games.

Haller noted that while Edwards is the head coach, he plays more of a "CEO" role, with the 67-year-old leaning "heavily on" former NFL linebacker, associate head coach and recruiting and defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce. Because of that, there is some question regarding whether Edwards was aware of the potential recruiting violations.

One former ASU athletic department staffer told Haller there is "no way" Edwards knew, while another former staffer said, "He is probably aware of 90 percent of the recruiting stuff that goes on."

Arizona State experienced significant COVID-19 issues during the 2020 season, as multiple cases resulted in the team missing almost a full month of play. The Pac-12 had already started late in relation to other conferences, and Arizona State played only four games, going 2-2.

After more than a year of college football programs being required to hold their recruiting visits via Zoom, the NCAA permitted them to return to normal procedures on June 1.

Jackson He met history at the goal line and powered right on through it Friday night. 

As Arizona State defeated Arizona, 70-7, He became the first Chinese-born player to score a touchdown in an FBS game. 

The junior tailback from Shaoguan, China, had four rushing attempts for seven yards and a score. With 7:02 left in the fourth quarter, and ASU at the goal line, He took the handoff and cut to his left, overpowering an Arizona defender and breaking the plane for the touchdown. 

He was an unranked recruit attending high school in San Diego when Arizona State became the only school to give the 5'9", 220-pound prospect a college offer. 

Three years later, against his school's bitter rival, He proved he belongs on the field and has six points to his name to show for it.