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Another bites the dust. ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported early Wednesday that Arizona State defensive and recruiting coordinator Antonio Pierce was expected to resign. Later in the day, an ASU spokesperson confirmed that Pierce was no longer employed by the football program.
Sources: Arizona State defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce is expected to resign from his position. He plans to seek NFL opportunities. He's the fifth ASU coach implicated in the NCAA dead period allegations to leave the ASU staff.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 2, 2022
Pierce is the fifth piece of the coaching staff to officially leave in the past two weeks. Former offensive coordinator Zak Hill and tight ends coach Adam Breneman resigned, and both defensive backs coach Chris Hawkins and wide receivers coach Prentice Gill were fired.
Of the 10 coaches and staffers mentioned in the dossier under the section “Individual Staff Members to Investigate,” only three remain employed at the school.
This leaves people wondering why head coach Herm Edwards is still at the program. Arizona State announced its recruiting class Wednesday for nationally signing day, which ranked No. 105 nationally and last in the Pac-12 according to 247Sports.
A poor recruiting class, a large number of key players graduated and its all following a season of disappointment. It’s fair to ask, why not just fully restart? What are you thoughts?