ASU's Herm Edwards shares positive message with coaches, athletes

Clevis Murray | The Republic | azcentral.com

Herm Edwards worked his way through the lobby of Talking Stick Resort Arena. He couldn’t take five steps without someone approaching him. Even though he was there to speak at an Arizona Positive Impact Awards program largely dedicated to youth sports, many of the adults in attendance just wanted a little of his time.

Edwards' personality was shining, through his firm handshake and family friendly smile, as people approached the new Arizona State football coach.

During the event, Edwards could barely remain seated. He rose to congratulate each award recipient as they left the stage.

As attentive as Edwards was to the honorees, the crowd was equally enthusiastic to hear the points the former ESPN personality was making.

One of those moments came when Edwards and former Arizona coach Dick Tomey shared the stage in a Q&A session. Tomey, a Pac-10 coach of the year for the Wildcats, was emphasizing the importance of teaching players fundamentals. As Tomey was explaining his point, Edwards, to his left, began nodding his head and clapping his hands in agreement.

“If you can't teach fundamentals at the sport you're coaching, you shouldn't be coaching,” Edwards said. “I'm saying this at any level.”

That philosophy may sound old, but Edwards also talked about how today's coaches have to adapt to the times.

“You can’t sit them in a room for 30 minutes anymore, because their brains don’t work that way. You gotta get ‘em up, go outside and do something. So, you have to learn to coach a little bit different.”

Edwards continued putting the onus on the coaches in the room to give their athletes “hope,” because even at a young age they've become vulnerable to criticism. That's especially true in the social-media era, where everyone has a voice and athletes are a part of that.

“Most people don’t realize, that when you become an athlete, you’re willing to expose yourself in front of an audience,” Edwards said. "That is very difficult because everyone in the audience has a comment.”

Edwards said he believes dealing with the pressures of social media is the toughest challenge for today's athletes – a much different reality than when Edwards, 64, was growing up.

But he doesn’t have any trouble using and understanding the power of social media. Edwards has 113,000 Twitter followers, and many of his tweets to his players follow the same pattern: They begin with “ASU Players,” followed by a vintage “Herm-ism” – “Excellence is not a matter of CHANCE, it’s a matter of CHOICE,” for example – and ending with “#ForksUp.”

He hopes young athletes are aware of the potential positive and negative side to anything they post.

“That’s the world we live in,” Edwards said. “I just tell players, ‘When you press that button, that’s your resume, so be careful what you press,’ because you can never take it back.”

Right now, Edwards and ASU are “in a recruiting mode right now.” The team has received oral commitments so far from Joey Yellen of Mission Viejo, Calif., and Ethan Long of West Linn High in Oregon for the Class of 2019.

The recruitment process is different now than in the late 1980s, when Edwards coached at San Jose State. Now, recruitment is a 24/7 cycle of figuring out which high schooler will be the best fit for his program.

“I was well aware of what it took,” Edwards said. “I’m not doing it by myself, I have a great staff. So, it’s a collaborative effort, when you get a bunch of people going in the right direction, it makes it fun.”

Edwards understands the importance of winning games, but he wants players leaving his program as better men. By doing so, Edwards plans to share what he's learned from the game to the younger generation.

“I’ve always been involved in football and I have passion,” Edwards said. “I think I can make a difference in young people’s lives, so that’s what motivates me every day. That I’ve got a lot of information, due to the fact that I’ve been in football for a long time, and when I can give it to the players, that’s my way of giving it back to the game of football.”

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