Herm Edwards

Pending a successful introduction to University President Dr. Michael Crow, Arizona State is likely to name Herm Edwards its next coach as soon as early next week according to two sources directly familiar with the matter.

Edwards will be in Tempe this weekend to meet with ASU officials, including Crow and Athletics Director Ray Anderson. The meeting isn't taking place until this weekend so Crow can return from China, where he has been attending a Global Education Summit in Beijing.

Anderson, according to the sources, doesn't need to be convinced of Edwards' candidacy for the job. The two men have known each other for a number of years and Anderson served as Edwards' agent when he was a NFL head coach. They've already had extensive conversations about the job, which Edwards is prepared to accept.

Rather, it is Crow's final approval that will be sought during the weekend visit.

"Nothing will get done without Dr. Crow signing off on it, but if he does, this is going to happen," said one source, who spoke on the condition on anonymity due to not being authorized to disclose the information. "[Anderson] has known he's wanted to do this for a while and it's just been about getting everything else lined up."

Edwards, 63, was first mentioned as a candidate for the position by Paul Calvisi of 98.7 FM Arizona Sports Station.

Currently an analyst for ESPN, Edwards has eight years of head coaching experience in the NFL but hasn't coached since 2008 when he went 2-14 with the Kansas City Chiefs. His overall head coaching record is 57-77. He was 39-41 in five seasons as head coach of the New York Jets from 2001-05 and 15-33 in three seasons leading the Chiefs in 2005-08.

Edwards discussed his interest in the ASU job opening on ESPN Wednesday morning, and later with Doug and Wolf on their 98.7 FM Arizona Sports show.

"When you talk, you have discussions with people that you've had relationships with and a lot of things are talked about,'' Edwards said on the radio show. "For me, where I'm at in my life, everything had to come into play where it was a fit. And I think it's more important that it's a fit and this happened to be a fit. I owe [Anderson] a conversation where we could communicate and sit down and talk and we'll see where it goes."

It is rare for a legitimate candidate to openly talk of his prospects publicly at all, much less ahead of an interview. But Anderson, who has not confirmed Edwards' candidacy, has indicated he's willing to consider an unconventional approach.

Edwards is perceived as a very attractive candidate to Anderson, according to a source, because he's viewed as someone who can be very successful as a chief executive type leader of a well run football operation that includes a ramping up of other staffing resources and managerial support.

In consideration of Edwards' candidacy for the job, Anderson was bolstered in part, according to a source, by the way in which Edwards impressed Alabama coach Nick Saban in annual talks he's given to players at the school in recent years. Edwards has always participated as a coach of the Under Armour All-American Game in recent years, where he's interacted with many of the nation's top recruits.

ASU first-year offensive coordinator Billy Napier, who received a vote of confidence from Anderson in Sunday's press conference announcing the dismissal of former head coach Todd Graham, is expected to participate in the meetings with Edwards.

Anderson would like to see Edwards keep Napier in his current capacity, a source said. Other on-field staffers from the 2017 ASU team could also be retained, but that would depend on additional dialogue between Anderson, Edwards and perhaps Napier. Anderson also indicated on Sunday that he was pleased by the job of first-year defensive coordinator Phil Bennett, as the Sun Devils made clear progress on that side of the ball in their 7-5 season.

Conversations between Anderson and former NFL coaches and executives, including former head coach Tony Dungy and members of the Arizona Cardinals front office, has significantly informed Anderson's thinking through the process, according to multiple sources.

The broader Anderson plan is to modernize and improve ASU's recruiting and overall operations with more of an NFL approach and commitment of additional resources. It would likely involve a reorganization of ASU's athletic department, with Executive Senior Associate Athletic Director Jean Boyd, a former ASU football player, and Senior Associate Athletic Director Scottie Graham, a former NFL running back, taking on prominent football-specific roles. Current Senior Associate Athletic Director for Football Tim Cassidy and Assistant Athletics Director for Recruiting Donnie Yantis would also likely continue in their roles, according to a source.

Some of these anticipated changes have been long-planned and others stem at least in part from a proposal by the NCAA Division I Council earlier this year that would limit college football staff size to 30 people who can be involved in recruiting activity. That would include a head coach, 10 assistants, four graduate assistants and others: administrators, analysts, recruiting coordinators, quality control staff and other recruiting assistants.

Schools would have to designate the 30 individuals before the start of preseason practices, which could be limited to 25 days before a team's first game, according to another Council proposal.

The Division I Football Oversight Committee can vote on the proposals as early as January.