Shaun Aguano has been named the interim head coach of the Arizona State football program
After what was possibly the most embarrassing home loss in decades at the hands of Eastern Michigan, ASU finally made the decision to part ways with Herm Edwards. The Sun Devils coach for five seasons, Edwards was brought in to turn ASU into a nationally ranked and respected program and failed to deliver on that promise.
Many fans had been growing increasingly upset with Edwards’ tenure which was only compounded by the NCAA allegations of recruiting misconduct that has hung over the program for more than a year at this point. Most would probably agree that it was time to part ways with the head coach and the impetus finally came when EMU came into Tempe and controlled the game nearly the entire way. Ray Anderson and Michael Crow finally made the decision to move past the Herm Edwards era.
So what is next and who is taking over in the meantime?
Running backs coach Shaun Aguano has been named interim head coach
The new interim head coach Shaun Aguano has been with the Sun Devils since 2019 when he came onboard as a running backs coach, the position he has held ever since. In that space he has coached some great ASU running backs like Eno Benjamin and Rachaad White who are both suiting up on Sundays for the Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, respectively. Transfer running back Xazavian Valladay has also been off to an impressive start with 330 yards in 3 games so far in 2022.
Before his time at Arizona State, Aguano spent eight seasons as the head coach of the elite Chandler High School football program in Chandler, AZ. While there he had an incredibly impressive record of 88-19 and brought home 4 state championship trophies.
While at Chandler he coached a slew of players that would go on to have great college and NFL careers including Cameron Jordan (California/New Orleans Saints), N’Keal Harry (ASU/Chicago Bears), and Chase Lucas (ASU/Detroit Lions). Former Arizona Cardinals backup quarterback Brett Hundley also played under Aguano at Chandler HS.
Who will eventually take the head coach position?
While we wish Aguano the absolute best, it is unlikely that he will return in 2023 as the full-time head coach for the Arizona State Sun Devils.
Hopefully, Anderson and Crow do a deep, national search for the best candidate to come in and revive a football program that should be good. Tempe is a great recruiting ground, Arizona and nearby California/Texas produce some of the best high school football players in the nation. It shouldn’t be hard to recruit good talent to the Phoenix area which is now the 5th largest metro area in the country. There are a lot of factors that point toward the possibility of success at ASU.
Due to those factors, Arizona State would be an attractive destination for top coaching talent if not for the myriad unknowns facing the program from the NCAA allegations they are still facing. Those could turn off a number of candidates who don’t want to walk into a program that could very well be facing a postseason ban in the next few years.
A handful of potential candidates have been put forward by various sources that include:
- Dan Mullen (former Florida head coach, current ESPN analyst)
- Todd Monken (Georgia offensive coordinator)
- Tom Herman (former Texas head coach)
- Blake Anderson (Utah State head coach)
- Jeff Grimes (Baylor offensive coordinator)
