The plan for success at Arizona State under AD Ray Anderson was to remove head coach Todd Graham and while keeping everything else the same -- just with a head coach that was... better. And as we know, that head coach turned out to be Herm Edwards.
But not a week into his tenure, Edwards has already hit his first crossroads.
The Sun Devils announced Tuesday that defensive coordinator Phil Bennett has left the staff over family matters.
The statement from Edwards:
“While I would have liked for Defensive Coordinator Phil Bennett to remain on the coaching staff, I do appreciate the fact that he has chosen not to stay based upon family reasons,” said Edwards. “Family always comes first and right now he needs to turn his attention to that. My top priorities right now going forward are to solidify our recruiting class and to assemble a defensive coaching staff. Both objectives are moving along quite well.”
The question now will be who Edwards turns to as Bennett’s replacement. As we know, the new Devils coach has not coached in a decade and not coached in college in nearly three.
So this hire will be anyone’s guess.