Herm Edwards

Herman Edwards Jr. (born April 27, 1954) is an American football coach and former professional player who was most recently the head coach at Arizona State.

He played cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons, primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Edwards played college football at the University of California, Berkeley in 1972 and 1974, at junior college Monterey Peninsula College in 1973, and at San Diego State University (SDSU) in his senior year, 1975.

He graduated from SDSU with a degree in criminal justice.

He helped promote Monterey County Special Olympics for several years.

His public involvement helped educate Monterey County residents about the importance of athletics with the developmentally disabled.

In the National Football League (NFL), Edwards played nine seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles from 1977 to 1985, making a championship appearance with the team in Super Bowl XV.

His 33 career interceptions is one short of the franchise record.

As a player, Edwards is known for scoring the game-winning touchdown off a fumble recovery in 1978's Miracle at the Meadowlands.

During his NFL coaching tenure, he reached the playoffs four times, three times with the Jets and once with the Chiefs.

The highlight of Edwards' playing career occurred in the twelfth game of the 1978 season, in the final seconds of a game against the New York Giants at the Meadowlands on November 19.

The Giants led 17–12 and the Eagles had no time-outs remaining, but instead of simply taking the snap from center and kneeling, Giants quarterback Joe Pisarcik attempted to hand the ball off to running back Larry Csonka.

However, the ball came loose and Edwards picked it up and returned it for a touchdown, enabling the Eagles to win 19–17.

This play became known in Philadelphia as "The Miracle at the Meadowlands" and in New York City as simply "The Fumble."

The Eagles made the playoffs and the Giants finished at 6–10.

Philadelphia's implementation of the victory formation, which was designed as a result of “The Miracle at the Meadowlands”, was known as the "Herman Edwards play."

He never missed a game in his nine seasons with the Eagles, remaining active with the team for 135 consecutive regular season games until being cut by incoming head coach Buddy Ryan in 1986.

Edwards went on to play briefly for the Los Angeles Rams and Atlanta Falcons in 1986 before announcing his retirement.

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.

Edwards was also a head coach in the NFL from 2001 to 2008 with the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs.

On January 28, 2001, 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 regular season record, including a 5–15 stretch during his final twenty regular season games with the club, and a 2–3 record in the playoffs.

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.

His most successful season was in 2002 when he led the Jets to a division title, which is the franchise's most recent.

Edwards became popular as a coach and broadcaster for short, punchy declarations dubbed "Hermisms" by fans.

The message "You play to win the game!", which he delivered during a Jets press conference, would become the title of his self-help book.

Edwards was born on an Army base in Eatontown, New Jersey, the son of an American World War II veteran and his German wife.

He graduated from Monterey High School in Monterey, California.

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.

Following the conclusion of his NFL coaching career, Edwards was a football analyst at ESPN from 2009 to 2017.

He returned to coaching in 2018 when he was named the head coach of Arizona State.