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The Arizona State football program has self-imposed a bowl ban for the 2023 season, which begins on Thursday against Southern Utah. The news came down Sunday morning just as the Sun Devils stepped foot on the practice field.
That type of penalty often is taken by schools under NCAA investigation in an attempt to lessen the sanctions that end up coming later. The program has been under investigation for more than three years for alleged recruiting violations that occurred in 2020 when Herm Edwards was head coach. Among the incidents being investigated included allegations of having recruits on campus during what was supposed to be a dead period due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The school parted ways with Edwards three games into the 2022 season after an embarrassing 30-21 loss to Eastern Michigan. The Sun Devils were 26-20 overall with three bowl appearances under him. Instead of firing Edwards for cause due to that NCAA investigation the school gave him a $4.4 million buyout.
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The school could have imposed the ban last year but chose not to do so. It finished just 3-9 overall and 2-7 in Pac-12 play.
Doing so this year penalizes a new coaching staff led by Kenny Dillingham as well as team with more than 50 newcomers who were not here when the alleged violations occurred.
A total of five coaches left the program prior to the 2021 season due to the allegations, including Antonio Pierce, then serving as defensive coordinator, recruiting coordinator and associate head coach.
An official written statement from athletic director Ray Anderson read: “Arizona State University has informed the NCAA and Pac-12 conference that it will self-impose a one-year postseason ban on its football program for the upcoming season. In light of the ongoing investigation and our membership obligation to maintain the confidentiality of the matter, we will not be commenting further at this time.”
The Sun Devils took to the practice field Sunday morning to continue preparations for Thursday’s game against Southern Utah. The news was first delivered by Dillingham to a leadership committee of a dozen or so players. That meeting took place in Dillingham’s office. The news was then delivered to the rest of the team with Anderson present. Players say the athletic director didn’t have much to say but apologized for the situation.
After the team stretch and before the first set of team drills the team was called together at the middle of the field where strength and conditioning coach Joe Connolly gave an impassioned plea to focus on the task hand, meaning the upcoming game.
Two hours or so into practice Dillingham called the team together again, making the same plea.
Afterward the coach said he wasn’t surprised it was not the sharpest of practices.
“I knew today would be (expletive). We received terrible news on a (Sunday) practice. To think that 18 and 22 year-olds are going to go out and have a good (game week) practice is absolutely delusional but the guys battled. The guys did the best they could do. You have a whole bunch of seniors who compete and they can’t compete anymore,” he said.
Dillingham said he didn’t have much of a heads up, first getting the word at 6:30 a.m. when he meet with Anderson and Deputy Athletic Director Jean Boyd.
Dillingham now faces the unenviable task of motivating a team with no reward at the end.
“It was upsetting. What I just told the team is nobody cares about your circumstance. In reality most people in life would rather see other people fail so they don’t have to work hard and actually work hard enough to beat them so everybody looks like this as oh great Arizona State’s not going to be motivated anymore. That’s a win. That’s what the majority of the world thinks because nobody wants to work hard to achieve success. They want to bring other people down lower than them and they can do the exact same work ethic. So people are looking at us and they’re satisfied. They’re singing for joy. They’re excited because they think there’s no way Arizona State football is going to be able to keep their minds set to compete and that’s what the challenge is. It’s us versus us everyday,” he said.
Among the veteran players who spoke with the media after practice was offensive lineman Joey Ramos, who transferred to ASU from Iowa State in 2022, only to sustain a season-ending injury in the first game. So he’s waited a year to finish out his eligibility with the home town team.
“It is what it is. It’s out of our control so I’m not trying to dwell on it too much,” he said. “I’m just trying to take these 12 opportunities as a team to really dive into all the details and give it all we got because we only have 12 guaranteed opportunities and we’re going to try and make the most of it.
Added junior tight end Jalin Conyers: “If you’re not going to fight for anything or if you don’t have anything to fight for, at last fight for the dudes that are out here working with you every day. That’s just the mentality we got to carry. At the end of the day we’re going to be fine. Today was just kind of one of those days you hear the news and you kind of take it but after today there should be no reason we don’t come out and practice hard.”
Some say they felt bad news was about to be delivered because Anderson was in the building on a weekend.
“I’ve been in this business for awhile. You see the AD in the room, its good or bad. Just looking at his demeanor, I didn’t know it was going to be that bad but then again I feel like it hit everybody like a smack in the face,” said senior safety Chris Edmonds.
Anderson has been under the microscope for hiring Edwards in the first place. The two have a long association dating back 40 or so years when Anderson served as Edwards’ agent while he was playing in the NFL. Most in the fan base weren’t happy with Edwards staying on as long as he did and are more incensed that Anderson has not stepped down or been fired. Anderson is under contract until 2026.
Pressure also extends to president Michael Crow who has kept Anderson in power despite situation with the football program.
