It’s no secret that the Pac-12 Conference has taken a hit from a national perspective in recent years. Last season was the third consecutive in which no team from the Power 5 conference reached the College Football Playoff.

Even Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott has admitted the league’s shortcomings. In December he said being left out of the CFP was “painful” and harmful to the Pac-12’s brand.

Arizona State football coach Herm Edwards was a guest Tuesday on “The Paul Finebaum Show,” and the interview covered a wide variety of topics, including the current state of the conference.

Finebaum asked Edwards his thoughts on the Pac-12.

“It’s very competitive from top to bottom … I think we all feel comfortable playing each other,” Edwards said. "Every Saturday you never know what’s going to happen. I look at college football this way: because of the emotions of young people there’s always gonna be upsets, that just happens.

“You think you know your teams but there are so many things to go on during the day that you can’t control as a coach anymore. Why? Because they have this thing called a phone and there are so many other people in their life right now besides the football coach. You have them when they’re in the building … but when they leave the building there’s other people and other things that are in their brain.”

Arizona State may have been one of the culprits in denying the Pac-12 a shot at the CFP. The Sun Devils stunned then-No. 6 Oregon, 31-28, which virtually eliminated the Ducks from contending for a national title in 2019.

But it may have been a sign of what’s to come for Edwards and Arizona State in the future.

“We had hit a lull in the season,” Edwards said on the upset of Oregon. “We started out pretty good, got to 5-1 and then lost some real tough games. We came off a tough loss against Oregon State up there in Oregon, then came back and played a very good football team, and we were able to really pull it out at the end. I think it was a good win for us and it obviously catapulted us for the rest of the season; we ended up winning the next three.”

Edwards, 65, spent a decade away from the coaching profession before agreeing to become Arizona State’s coach before the 2018 season. Up until then, almost all of Edwards’ experience in coaching had been at the NFL level, including eight seasons as head coach of the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs.

Arizona State is 15-11 in two seasons under Edwards, including back-to-back appearances in bowl games. The Sun Devils defeated Florida State in the Sun Bowl to conclude the 2019 season.

Edwards told Finebaum he has no immediate plans to step away from coaching, but will know when it’s time to retire.

“When I run out of energy I’ll walk away from it,” Edwards said. “I do know this: I’m indebted to the game of football, whether I’m coaching or I was on TV for that stint. And I know you have to be all-in to do this. When I walk in my office … when I can’t walk up those stairs anymore and I’m excited about coming to work, I’m gonna walk back down. I’m leaving.”