Lewis is traveling to the desert to unite with Herm Edwards.
When Herm Edwards was announced as the new head coach of the Arizona St. Sun Devils, change came to the desert.
He brought his traditional discipline and tough coaching style with him from his days in the NFL. He banned the popular but short lived “Turnover Curls” celebration and instilled a “never quit” attitude in his players.
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After finishing the season with a 7-6 record, Herm has stayed busy, signing recruits and bringing shine to his program. Today it was revealed that he was injecting some more NFL blood into the program with the addition of former Bengals’ coach, Marvin Lewis, as a special adviser.
“Marvin Lewis is one of the most respected minds in our game,” said Edwards in a statement. “Whether as the winningest coach in the franchise history of the Cincinnati Bengals, or the architect of one the greatest defenses in NFL history, the 2000 Baltimore Ravens, Marvin has succeeded everywhere he has been and he has done it the right way. His passion for teaching will be an incredible benefit not only for our coaches, but also for the young men we are responsible for as students and athletes.”
Edwards and Lewis have known each other for decades, going back to their days as assistant coaches in the NFL.
“I’ve known Herman for almost 30 years and the opportunity to come and assist him and his coaches win football games is very exciting and appealing,” said Lewis. “Arizona State and Tempe have always been special to me. When I was a young coach I came to visit (ASU defensive coaches) Willie Shaw and Bob Padilla back in 1983. Dirk Koetter, who is one of my closest friends, was the head coach there, Ray Anderson, who I’ve known for more than 20 years, used to represent me, and my daughter (Whitney) went to school there.
“I envision just being another set of eyes, another set of ears, and doing anything I can to help the coaches. I was really impressed with the staff and what they accomplished after they hit the ground running last season. ASU is a great university and is known for having an outstanding athletic program that has always been able to attract top athletes from around the country and I look forward to doing all I can to help the program.”
Lewis helped bring the Bengals back from the dead. Over his 16 years as their head coach, he set the franchise records for wins (131) and led the team to seven playoff appearances and four division titles. Prior to his arrival, the team had just seven playoff berths in 35 years.
Herm is building something special in the desert. Don’t sleep.
