Why ASU needs a young coach and staff

Today's guest author is Gaddabout, a long-time friend of Wired Devils. This article was originally posted to the Sun Devil Message Board.

Reality check.

Howard Schnellenberger forever changed the game of college football, and he doesn't get his due credit. Before Schnellenberger (BS), the head coach was God of college football, and you could build a program pretty much anywhere. Even in the middle of the desert. Frank Kush would show up with a station wagon full of starving west Pennsylvania kids just trying to get away from bleak future in mining. Later in, he learned to steal kids out of LA and Dallas to supplement, along with making sure there was no stone unturned in places like Morenci and Ajo and Florence. A coach could do that back then because there were plenty of secrets to be kept, and could be kept.

After Schnellenberger (AS), we have an oligarchy of programs with the most money, centrally located near the best recruits, supported by recruiting staffs that are the envy of corporate headhunting culture. It's a science now. And there are no secrets that can be kept. If there's an athlete in some desolate Kansas town, he's in a database somewhere and he's going to be sent a letter from someone.

Miami was about to kill their football program when Schnellenberger stepped in. He noted that Alabama was winning national championships with Florida players, many of them right out of Miami's backyard. And Schnellenberger would know. He was Bear Bryant's offensive coordinator at Alabama in the early 60s and a big-time recruiter -- he recruited Joe Namath to Alabama. He also brought with him a pro-style passing game, honed as Bob Griese's offensive coordinator during Miami's undefeated season, but that's another story.

Schnellenberger's rapid turnaround because of keeping Miami recruits home in Miami forever changed college football culture. ESPN, a new thing, made sure of it. It's the kind of inside info they knew the fans wanted. Suddenly the average fan began to become aware of Dade County recruiting. Then they became aware of SoCal, east Texas, Ohio, etc. People everywhere started to learn about how Penn State thrived on recruiting New Jersey. Kids of Louisiana dockworkers were no longer looking for opportunity wherever they could get it -- every school in the country knew who they were and wanted them to come to their school.

This is a different game now than when I first started following. And ASU is much less of a sleeping giant. Why? Because:

• They don't have a built-in home-state recruiting advantage, partially because it's still not big enough, and partially because you have to large athletic programs feeding on it. Compare that to, say, LSU, where they're the alpha dog in a state with comparable (or often better) talent, and you get a different picture.
• That weather advantage I often hear about? It's an awesome sales pitch to a kid in Chicago, who would love nothing more than a free trip to Tempe while he makes his college plans for Notre Dame, where his family can still come see him play. It's actually a DISadvantage within the region ASU needs to make a pitch, like San Diego or LA County, where they see us as slightly crazy for wanting to live here.
• The name ASU built in the 70s and 80s is completely washed away. Think about this: The kids ASU is recruiting right now were born in 1994. They were 3 years old when Jake Plummer was leading ASU to the Rose Bowl. They have no idea who Danny White or Frank Kush is. There are likely only three things they know about ASU football right now: They have cool new uniforms, the girls are unbelievably hot, and Dennis Erickson just got fired.

ASU has to start over. Right now, it's name is on-par with mid-majors. It's a secondary or tertiary thought on the minds of the kids they need to steal from SoCal to get the program even close to where we want it to be. There are no built-in advantages to ASU other than MAYBE facilities, where it enjoys some status for the next few years.

Here's something else to think about: ASU is offering what has become the middling price for a head coach, about $2.5. That's pretty much mid-major money for a head coach. Sure, it's still probably in better half of all salaries, but not if you consider what it would take, say, Washington to replace their coach right now. If they wanted Sarkisian right now, they would have shelled out about $3.5 million. We are not even in the same area code as the Top 20 programs. That's the cost of doing business, and we're not capitalized well enough to expand into that kind of competition.

ASU has to go young, even if it means hiring a coordinator. That's what ASU can afford, and it's what it really needs, because this program is starting over. We can pretend it's still 1984 and ASU really is a sleeping giant. Or we can really look long and hard at reality and accept the failure started about 30 years ago, and we've merely been repeating that failed history over and over ever since.

It's time to do something new and bold.

Chris Karpman: History Lesson/Reminder

The best reporting of the coaching search has come from ASUDevils.com. Well worth the price of a subscription. (And no, I don't get a cut!) Chris Karpman posted this to The Gold Rush message board on Tuesday 12/6 and kindly agreed to allow me to share it for all to read.

People here know that I've been around the Herb Sendek program for 5 years and what that means. It's with that knowledge that I'd like to pass along this story, which is absolutely true in its details according to multiple direct participants I have spoken with subsequent to the initial reporting those 5 years ago.

When ASU fired Rob Evans Lisa Love immediately targeted Pitt coach Jamie Dixon and did the hypothetical offer dance ('We'd probably consider an offer at X if you were willing to accept an offer at X, hypothetically'), Dixon played it for all it was worth, teased ASU badly with his expression of interest only to use the opportunity to renegotiate with Pitt.

Subsequent to that, Love made a strong play for Rick Majerus and even made a tentative offer subject to his passing a physical, which he did not pass and is the reason he didn't end up coaching at ASU (he was coming off leg surgery, travel was a major problem for recruiting etc., plus his weight/heart issues, which he fully admitted to after the fact).

These things were reported by us at the time, some conventional media scoffed at it, but they were very true and people who were here on the site remember this probably or do now after having their memory jogged by this re-telling.

At any rate, ASU was using a head hunter at the time (a different one, not the one being used in this search) and it was the head hunter who made contact with Sendek and only then did Sendek decide that he was willing to considering jumping ship. It was kind of a quick thing that happened and was an emotional type of thing. He was dramatically under-appreciated at NC State in his estimation and others who coached with him at the time. In his last season at the school they'd gone 22-10 and 10-6 in the ACC and there was a large segment of the community that wanted him fired. And this was upon his fifth straight NCAA post-season berth.

So Lisa Love did not target Sendek, far from it. She became alerted to his availability only after the search had begun and only after she'd struck out with Dixon and Majerus -- though Majerus wasn't her fault in one sense (health) even though someone could argue he shouldn't have been a target for that reason in the first place.

When Love was at the press conference announcing Sendek's hiring, she said that Sendek was the first coach she offered the job to -- among other things -- which may have been factually true, but didn't speak to the chaotic nature of the search. It was an effort -- and this of course is what an athletic director would do -- to make everything appear as if it had gone smoothly and been under control.

It really wasn't though.

The reason I tell this story is two-fold. One, it's to show that no matter what Love or the others might say at the end of this process, it doesn't necessarily mean that's the reality of how things actually transpired in a literal sense. Perhaps more importantly, two, it tells me that not enough was learned by Love via that experience given the way this coaching search has unfolded.

When you're doing this job extremely well as athletic director, you are constantly researching prospective candidates, keeping files on guys, talking to coaches around the country, asking them who the best coaches are, the best bright minds, the things it takes to succeed. You're talking to the assistant coaches that have been in your program and left and the reasons why, the past head coaches not just when you were the AD but even before that to understand the destabilizing dynamics involved and what needs to happen to address them in the future.

And most importantly, when you have all that knowledge in front of you in your files and you know all of the top candidates you'd like to target should you elect to make a move on your job, you know their buyout status, their willingness to leave their job for your and how you can achieve that aim through direct and indirect means. You have your target list clearly delineated, your goals well articulated and understood by yourself and those you're working with.

It's readily apparent to me that there is no such level of comprehension and diligence that has been made by her or in the athletic department on her behalf in this instance -- and this is clear in a multitude of ways -- and when that's the case, there is assurance that your job of finding the next coach will be less inclined to success than if the preparation is excellent.

Where we are at here is a guy ASU brought into the equation who is a true outsider -- headhunter Bob Beaudine -- in terms of real understanding of ASU's culture and what the program truly needs in the wake of Dennis Erickson's dismissal. Yes, he knows several people on high close to the athletic department well who also went to SMU, and maybe they can tell Beaudine their view of what's going on, but it's not the same. It is not nearly the same.

You can't know the smell of the air based on how someone describes it to be. You have to go and smell the air yourself.

Lisa Love seemingly does not understand that history must be learned from. Steve Patterson is not to blame. He's not been here long and isn't a football guy who should be responsible for knowing all these things and the culture of ASU. Michael Crow is responsible because he has to ensure that plan of attack has been in place in the event of this for not just days, not just weeks, not just months, but years.

Have the target list. Know whom you can get at a bare minimum and how that can be accomplished and make sure that it's someone who embodies the characteristics and traits that you profess to want -- June Jones is a person I've spoken with many coaches about in recent days and the positives are clear and the negatives are as well, and many of the negatives are the same things that would be in the Dennis Erickson category; the things that Love has professed to want to not worry about with the next coach -- and know your approach and order and how the candidates would be responded to by the community you're responsible for selling him to.

Smell the air around this community and you know that Jones isn't the hire that would in any way resonate with your booster support or strongly address your stated goals in terms of addressing the cultural issues that ultimately derailed Erickson's tenure.

In short, know the smell of the wind and the way that it blows or it just might catch you under your sails and sweep you right out of town.

This article ©2011 ASUDevils.com. Reproduced by permission. All rights reserved.

Guest author: Defending June Jones

By @a_zone. The views expressed in this article don't match my own opinion, but I wanted to give the author a forum to express his point of view.

NOTE: ASU’s head coaching search is constantly in motion, so much so that I started writing this on Sunday night [December 4] and it is already probably irrelevant. Still, this is my defense if June Jones gets hired by ASU, which seems less likely to happen as of this morning.

I see you ASU fan, I see you on the ledge. I know what put you there, the thought of ASU hiring June Jones as their head coach. I'm here to talk you off the ledge. I understand why you are there, but I believe you are there for faulty reasons.

I know why you are down. You've had dreams of Kevin Sumlin dancing in your head this holiday season. You spent a week reading rumors that Sumlin was practically on his way to ASU, only to have the rug pulled out from under you by Texas A&M. ASU has turned their attention to other coaches, with June Jones leading in the clubhouse. To you he is a “retread” an “old guy” and “another Erickson.” But let me tell you what he really is . . . Kevin Sumlin 10 years form now.

In my opinion, the only argument for Sumlin over Jones is age. Jones is in his late 50s, Sumlin in his late 40s. Don't bring Houston's 12-1 record this year into play, because I'll just counter with Hawaii's 12-1 record and BCS bowl appearance in 2008. But Hawaii didn't play anyone, you say? Well, take a gander at Houston's schedule this year.

Let me tell you what June Jones has done: rebuilt awful programs. People point to his 23-28 record at SMU as “average,” I see it as a borderline miracle. Since its death penalty in the late 80s, SMU had gone 58-153 since Jones' arrival. Take out Jones' first year with an awful team (1-11) and his record at SMU is 22-17. Still not impressed? I give you the 1999 Hawaii Warriors, who were 0-12 when June Jones took over and went 9-4 with a bowl victory the very next year. He also led Hawaii to back-to-back 11 win seasons and a BCS appearance.

Jones is known for being a disciple of the Run & Shoot offense, which is sort of a pre-cursor to today’s spread offenses. His offense is QB friendly, just ask Timmy Chang and Colt Brennan. From his days at Hawaii and SMU, he has experience recruiting in California and Texas - which is vital for someone coaching at ASU.

June Jones’ isn’t a sexy hire, but people are confusing “not sexy” with “terrible,” which simply isn’t true. Jones is a hell of a coach, and I would love to see what he could do with a BCS school with an existing talent base. Jones has spent his entire college career turning terrible programs into above average ones, it’s time for him to turn an average program into a great one.

Also, when UofA fans make fun of the hire, you can just tell them that the last Pac-10(12) coach from Hawaii was their beloved Dick Tomey. What's their comeback to that?

TV coverage and kickoff times for 2011 Sun Devil football

Whether you live out of state or are planning road trips, it's important to keep an eye on the potential kickoff times.  Remember, the TV networks decide some gametimes during the summer, but the majority of TV selections are made 12 days prior to gameday (and, in some cases, 6 days).  For 2011, four games have been confirmed for TV prior to the start of the season (compared to eight at the same point in 2010).

I'll keep this article updated as the season progresses.

Remember, the new TV contracts recently announced by the Pac-12 come into effect in 2012, so we have one more season to go under the old, restrictive contracts.

For those games still listed as TBD, you can check the Pac-12 composite schedule and the conference website's listing of all the available 2011 Football Telecast Windows.

For a comprehensive, accurate listing of all games on TV, Matt's College Sports on TV Website is by far the best reference.

Here's how thing shape up for the 2011 season (all times local to Arizona):

9/1 UC Davis (Thursday): kickoff set for 7:00 p.m.  with coverage on Fox Sports Arizona (in AZ) and Fox College Sports (nationally).  Because this would be a Fox Sports Arizona production (not Fox Sports Net), this game will NOT be shown on other regional FSN affiliates.  This may well be FSN AZ's last production of a Sun Devil football game (all telecasts in 2012 and beyond will be national).

9/9 Missouri (Friday): kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. with coverage on ESPN.

9/17 @ Illinois: kickoff set for 4:00 p.m. with coverage on the Big Ten Network.  You need to get the BTN to see this game - no exceptions. This will be ASU's first appearance on the BTN.

9/24 USC: kickoff set for 7:15 p.m. with coverage on ESPN.

10/1 Oregon State: kickoff at 7:30 p.m. with coverage on Fox Sports Arizona (in AZ) and Fox College Sports (nationally). Because this is a Fox Sports Arizona production (not Fox Sports Net), this game will NOT be shown on other regional FSN affiliates.

10/8 @ Utah: kickoff set for 12:30 p.m. with coverage on FSN. Confirmed for Fox Sport Arizona; other regional affiliates can be found here.

10/15 @ Oregon: kickoff set for 7:15 p.m. with coverage on ESPN.

10/29 Colorado: kickoff at 3:30 p.m. with coverage on Fox Sports Arizona, Root Sports in Colorado and Fox College Sports (nationally). Because this is a Fox Sports Arizona production (not Fox Sports Net), this game will NOT be shown on other regional FSN affiliates.

11/5 @ UCLA: kickoff at 4:30 p.m. with coverage on Versus.

Clocks change on 11/6, which is significant because most kickoff times are anchored in Eastern time.

11/12 @ Washington State: kickoff at 8:30pm (7:30pm local time) with coverage on Versus.

11/19 Arizona: kickoff at 7:30 p.m. with with coverage on Fox Sports Arizona, Fox Sports Prime Ticket in Southern California and Fox College Sports (nationally, but joined in-progress). Because this is a Fox Sports Arizona production (not Fox Sports Net), this game will NOT be shown on other regional FSN affiliates.

11/25 California (Black Friday): kickoff set for 8:15 p.m. with coverage on ESPN.

12/2 (Friday) Pac-12 Championship Game: kickoff set for 6:00 p.m. with coverage on Fox (the over-the-air network, not one of their cable channels).

Bolden's Breakdown - USC @ ASU

I think someone has a future in TV once his football career is over!

Southern Cal has NEVER beaten ASU in Pac-12 play!

We've been waiting a long time for this defense to make big plays and shut out an opponent in the 4th quarter. It couldn't have come at a better time than against USC!

Vontaze's interception:

Greg Smith's sack and forced fumble:

Shelly Lyons' interceptions and TD return:

Second OT thriller in past three games

Humor: Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott meets with Texas AD DeLoss Dodds

Wired Devils has obtained the transcript of today's meeting between Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott and Texas Athletic Director DeLoss Dodds. Also in attendance were Pac-12 Deputy Commissioner Kevin Weiberg and General Counsel Woodie Dixon. (With apologies to Francis Ford Coppola.)

CUT TO: The interior of Scott's office.

SCOTT
This is my Deputy Commissioner, Kevin Weiberg; Mr. Dodds. He's the one who arranged this whole thing through your man Worley.

DODDS
Yes -- Yes.

SCOTT
Sit down.

DODDS
Well I was under the impression that you and I would talk alone.

SCOTT
I trust these men with my life, Mr. Dodds. If I were to ask them to leave, it would be an insult.

DODDS
Well uh, it's perfectly all right with me, but I should tell you that I am a blunt man and I intend to speak very frankly to you -- maybe -- more frankly than anyone in my position's ever spoke to you before.

[SCOTT lights a cigarette]

The Pac-12 conference has done very well on the West Coast. You own, or, you control, six regional TV networks -- one national. The contracts were negotiated with the cable operators, so there is no problem with distribution. Now, my sources tell me that -- you plan to make a move against the Big XII. They tell me within a week -- you're gonna move Beebe out. That's quite an expansion. However it will leave with one little technical problem. Ahh -- The Longhorn Network will still be in the University of Texas' name.

SCOTT
Worley is a good man.

DODDS
Yeah, well let's cut out the bulls**t. I don't want to spend any more time here than I have to. You can have Texas in the Pac-16, the price is we get to keep the Longhorn Network. Plus a monthly payment of 20% of the gross -- of all conference TV revenue.

Mister -- Scott.

SCOTT
Now the rest of the conference schools have agreed to pool all media rights and divide the revenues equally, am I right?

DODDS
That's right.

SCOTT
Now why would I ever consider giving you more than that?

DODDS
Because I intend to squeeze you. I don't like your kind of people. I don't like to see you come out to this clean country in your $300 haircuts -- dressed up in those polo shirts - and try to pass yourselves off as decent Americans. I'll do business with you, but the fact is, I despise your masquerade -- the dishonest way you pose yourself. Yourself, and your whole f***ing conference.

SCOTT
Mr. Dodds - we're both part of the same hypocrisy. But never think it applies to my conference.

DODDS
All right, all right -- some people have to play little games. You play yours. So lets just say that you'll give Texas a larger share because it is in your interest to have us in your conference. But I want your answer by noon tomorrow. And one more thing: don't you contact me again -- ever. From now on you deal with Worley.

(then, to Woodie)

Open that door son.

[He starts to leave]

SCOTT
Uh, Mr. Dodds -- you can have my answer now if you like. My offer is this -- nothing. Not even the fee for terminating the Longhorn Network, which I would appreciate if you would put up personally.

DODDS (laughing)
Good afternoon, gentlemen.

[He opens the door and walks out]

The greatest Receivers

Originally published 9/11/10

The greatest wide receivers in Sun Devil history were J.D. Hill and John Jefferson. They are joined on the All-time ASU team by Todd Heap, the greatest tight end. Although not a criteria for making this team, it's noteworthy that all three were first round draft picks by the NFL.

According to Dean Smith's book The Sun Devils: Eight Decades of Arizona State Football, some call J.D. Hill "the greatest natural athlete in ASU football history." And those who remember him in the maroon-and-gold are quick to agree. Following coach Larry Kentera from Stockton, CA to Arizona State, Hill was an important contributor on the 1967-68 teams. After missing the 1969 season, Hill starred on the 1970 Sun Devil team, one of the top five teams in ASU's history. Hill caught 58 passes for 908 yards and 10 touchdowns as the Devils finished the season ranked sixth in the nation at 11-0 with a Peach Bowl win over North Carolina. Hill was drafted fourth overall in the 1971 NFL draft by the Buffalo Bills (the second-highest an ASU player has ever been drafted). Hill experienced troubles after his football days ended, but turned his life around and is now running Catch the Vision Ministry, whose focus is mentoring youths and encouraging and supporting recovery.

John Jefferson is one of six Sun Devils in the College Football Hall of Fame. "JJ" is probably best known for "The Catch", the game-winning touchdown against the U of A that capped an unbeaten regular season and put the Sun Devils into the 1975 Fiesta Bowl where they beat Nebraska to finish the season #2 in the country. However, it would be a mistake to let that one spectacular play define his career. Remarkably, Jefferson led ASU in receptions in each of his four seasons (1974-77) and was ASU's third consensus All-America in 1977. In the pros, Jefferson joined Charlie Joiner and Kellen Winslow to give the San Diego Chargers one of the best receiving groups in NFL history. Dubbed "The Touchdown Man" by SI, Jefferson was the first receiver in league history to gain 1,000 yards in each of his first three seasons. After a contract dispute, he was traded to the Packers where he teamed up with James Lofton. Quoting his teammate at Green Bay, Paul Coffman:

"James was so gifted and very intelligent. J.J. had so much enthusiasm and was able to go up against bigger defensive backs and come down with the ball. He didn't have very big hands, but he had great concentration. And the crowd would always go crazy when he'd go over the middle, catch the ball, and take a big hit."

A native Arizonan, Todd Heap signed with ASU in 1998 out of Mesa Mountain View High School. He played as a true freshman and "began his Sun Devil career by snagging a 15-yard touchdown pass with one hand in the first quarter of ASU's season-opener against Washington". Heap was a first team All-Pac-10 selection in 1999 and 2000 before leaving a year early to enter the NFL draft. Unfortunately, Heap's tenure at ASU coincided with the decline of the Bruce Snyder era, and his teams never won more than six games in any season. However, Heap did finish with a 2-1 record over the Wildcats. Picked with the final selection of the first round in the 2001 draft, Heap joined the Baltimore Ravens where he continues to be one of the NFL's most dominant tight ends.

The greatest Offensive Linemen

Originally published 8/17/10

The offensive line on my All-time ASU team comprises three "Home Boys", one of the most visible former players, plus the most recent Sun Devil to be represented on this team. Each of these players was a member of a Pac-10 Championship team.

The tackles are Juan Roque and Danny Villa. Roque anchored the offensive line that protected Jake Plummer during ASU's unbeaten 1996 regular season. During his senior season, Roque did not give up a single sack. After an injury-abbreviated NFL career, Roque is now the color analyst for Fox Sports Arizona's coverage of the Sun Devils and a frequent blogger. Villa was a member of the 1987 Rose Bowl winning team that featured a starting offensive line of native Arizonans named the "Home Boys". Unfortunately, his accomplishments at ASU and in a 12 season NFL career were overshadowed by a serious conviction.

Both guards were also members of the "Home Boys" line: Randall McDaniel and Todd Kalis. McDaniel is, along with Mike Haynes, one of two Sun Devils in both the College and Pro Halls of Fame. Arguably the greatest guard in football history, McDaniel was a four-year starter at ASU and a force on the 1987 Rose Bowl team. He started 202 consecutive games for the Minnesota Vikings and was selected to 12 straight Pro Bowls. McDaniel now works in education in Minnesota. Kalis was a three-year starter and, together with McDaniel, led the Sun Devils to bowl games in each of those three seasons.

The center is Mike Pollak. A member of the 2003 recruiting class, Pollak is the youngest person on this team. A starter in 2006-07, Pollak led the Devils to a 10-3 record and a Pac-10 Co-Championship in 2007. A second round draft pick, Pollack is now a member of the Indianapolis Colts.