Herm Edwards

After his playing career ended, Edwards became a defensive assistant at San Jose State (1987–1989), then was an NFL scout and defensive backs coach with the Kansas City Chiefs (1990–1995), for former Browns, Chiefs, Redskins, and Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer. With the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1996–2000), he was a defensive backs/assistant head coach under Tony Dungy. On January 28, 2001, despite never having previously held a head coaching or coordinator position, Edwards was hired as head coach of the New York Jets.

In his five years as the Jets head coach, Edwards compiled a 39–41 record, including a 2–3 record in the playoffs and a 5–15 stretch during his final twenty regular season games with the club. Edwards decided to run a 4–3 "Cover 2" defense. Although many fans and players questioned Edwards' decisions, the Jets had mild success in Edwards' first two seasons, reaching the playoffs in both. The Jets were the sixth seed in 2001, losing on the road in the first round to the Oakland Raiders 38–24. In 2002, the Jets squeaked into the playoffs with a 9–7 record, due to winning the tie-breakers in a three-way tie for the AFC East Division lead with the New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins. The Jets advanced through the Wildcard round this time, which led to a return trip to Oakland. Once again, Edwards and the Jets came up short, losing 30–10 to the Raiders. Following a disappointing 6–10 season in 2003, the Jets reached the divisional round of the AFC playoffs once more in 2004, where they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 20–17. In 2005, a year marred by injuries, inconsistent play, lack of player development, and rumors swirling about Edwards possibly leaving the organization, Edwards led the Jets to a woeful 4–12 record. Following the end of the season, the Jets made the highly unusual move of trading a coach—Edwards—to another team (the Kansas City Chiefs), in exchange for a player to be chosen in round four of the 2006 draft. Overall, Edwards' tenure as head coach of the Jets was marred by chronic clock management problems, an ultra-conservative "play not to lose" mentality, and a lack of any discernible defensive philosophy, despite Edwards' supposed expertise in the Cover 2 defense.[7][8] The Jets replaced Edwards by hiring Eric Mangini, a senior assistant coach with the New England Patriots.

Following the 2005 season, Chiefs president Carl Peterson hinted to the press about interest in hiring Edwards that could have been considered tampering. The Jets granted permission to the Chiefs to speak with Edwards.[9] At the time, Edwards had two years remaining on his contract with the Jets. However, Peterson wanted Edwards (a longtime personal acquaintance) to succeed head coach Dick Vermeil, who had just retired.

As the rumors started swirling, a war of words between the two teams began to start up in the media. In the midst of all the speculation, Edwards tried to use what leverage he thought he had with the Jets to get a contract extension and hefty pay raise from the Jets, which only served to further anger the club's owner. Eventually, the two teams worked out a deal, and the Chiefs sent the Jets a fourth-round pick in the 2006 NFL Draft as compensation (the Jets later used this selection to take Leon Washington).[10]

Edwards' regular season coaching debut with the Chiefs was a 23–10 home loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on September 10. His first win with KC came in the third game of the season on October 1, a 41–0 shutout of the San Francisco 49ers.

The 2006 season would see many highs and lows. Starting quarterback Trent Green suffered a serious concussion in the first game of the season. Despite Green's injury, the Chiefs continued to stay in contention, largely thanks to backup quarterback Damon Huard and Pro Bowl running back Larry Johnson. In a move some considered controversial, Edwards chose to sit Huard and start Green when he returned from injury.[11] At the time, Huard's performance at quarterback was one of the best in the league, having thrown 11 touchdowns and just one interception, averaging 7.7 yards per pass attempt, and posting a quarterback rating of 98.0[12] (2nd best rating in the NFL, second to only Peyton Manning).

Additionally, the Chiefs were 5–3 in games started by Huard in 2006. Upon his return, Green struggled and failed to perform at the level of play that he had achieved in previous seasons, throwing seven touchdowns (against nine interceptions) and going 4–4 as a starter. Green's poor play led to Edwards placing more of the offensive burden on the shoulders of Larry Johnson, who ultimately ended up setting a record for rushing attempts in a season.

The Chiefs finished at 9–7, edging out the Denver Broncos (who lost in OT to the San Francisco 49ers in the final game of the season) by divisional tiebreaker for second place in the AFC West, and making the playoffs as the sixth seed in the AFC.[13] This was their first playoff appearance since 2003.[14]

On January 6, 2007, the Chiefs were soundly defeated by the Indianapolis Colts 23–8. In the first half, the Chiefs offense failed to produce a single first down. This was the first time in the modern NFL era (post AFL–NFL merger), and the first time since 1960, that any team had been held without a first down in the first half of a playoff game.

In 2007, Edwards' streak of losses on opening day continued as the Chiefs lost to the Houston Texans 20–3. This loss marked the first time since the opening day of the 1970 season that the Chiefs had lost by a margin of 17 points on opening day, and was the first time in a decade that the Chiefs had been held to three points or less on opening day. The Chiefs under Edwards ended the 2007 season 4–12 with a nine-game losing streak, which tied the then-longest losing streak in the history of the Chiefs franchise.

In the 2007 season, the Chiefs were plagued with quarterback, running back, kicker and offensive coaching controversies. Damon Huard started the season and compiled a 4–5 record. He was benched in favor of Edwards' 2006 draft choice Brodie Croyle, who split time with Huard mid-season, was injured, then finished most of the season. Croyle played in a total of nine games and did not win any. Running back Larry Johnson injured his foot mid-season and was replaced by Priest Holmes who came out of retirement late in the year[15] and was ineffective, averaging just three yards per carry and recording no touchdowns.[16]

Kicker Justin Medlock was Edwards' draft choice but was cut after the first game and replaced by Dave Rayner. He was cut late in the year and replaced with John Carney. Finally, after promoting Mike Solari from offensive line coach to offensive coordinator in 2007, Edwards fired Solari and replaced him with Chan Gailey in early 2008. He also fired his offensive line coach, receivers coach, and running backs coach.[17]

Chiefs owner Clark Hunt set the tone for the 2008 season by expressing his support for Edwards and general manager Carl Peterson and their plan to rebuild the team. However, Clark did warn that he expected the Chiefs to be competitive for a playoff spot.

In an attempt to rebuild the team, the Chiefs cut numerous aging veterans in the offseason, and the team traded Pro Bowl defensive end Jared Allen to the Minnesota Vikings. As a result, Edwards fielded one of the youngest teams in the NFL. Edwards' streak of opening day defeats continued as the Chiefs lost to the New England Patriots 17–10. The team eventually skidded to a franchise record of 12 consecutive regular-season defeats. The Chiefs finally ended the streak after defeating the Denver Broncos 33–19 at home on September 28. However, they were defeated the following week at the Carolina Panthers. During that game, the Chiefs managed to gain only 127 total yards, which was their worst offensive performance in 22 years. In a game against the San Diego Chargers on November 9, Edwards opted to go for a 2-point conversion to win (rather than tie the game) after the Chiefs has scored a touchdown to bring the score to 20–19. The controversial decision backfired, as the two-point conversion attempt failed, resulting in another loss.[18] He was fired January 23, 2009.

Edwards was hired in 2009 to be an analyst for the network's NFL Live program.

Edwards speaking at Arizona State University in September 2019.

On December 3, 2017, Edwards was named the head coach of the Arizona State football team.[19] Edwards earned his first win with Arizona State on September 1, 2018 against UTSA. He earned his first win against a ranked opponent on September 8, 2018 against the 15th-ranked Michigan State Spartans. Arizona State finished with a 7-6 record in Edwards' first season.

The 2019 season began with Edwards choosing true freshman Jayden Daniels to quarterback the Sun Devils. Arizona State would start the season with a 3-0 record, including Edwards' second consecutive win over a ranked Michigan State Spartans team. The team finished 8-5 with a Sun Bowl victory against the Florida State Seminoles.

Edwards is a professor of practice at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.[20]