Jake Plummer calls out Arizona State fans who are against Herm Edwards hire

It’d be an understatement to say Arizona State went outside of the box with its hire of Herm Edwards as head coach.

Athletic director Ray Anderson laid out a vision completely foreign in college football where Edwards, who last coached in 2008, basically serves as the “CEO” of ASU football that is “similar to an NFL approach using a general manager.” Understandably, some Sun Devil fans are not on board with the setup.

But Arizona State legend Jake Plummer is on board, and he isn’t happy with the fans who have reacted negatively to the Edwards hire.

Plummer expanded on that sentiment in a radio interview with 98.7 FM Arizona.

“I see everybody wanting to spin everything in a negative way and it’s a little upsetting because when we went to the Rose Bowl (in 1997) we remained positive as a team. We stuck together. We were Sun Devils for life, right? Sounds like a lot of the Sun Devil fans out there are, rather than jumping on the boat or the ship or the bus or whatever, to get this thing going in the right direction — whatever direction it’s chosen to go by Ray Anderson and the powers that be — a lot of them are going the other way,” Plummer said Wednesday.

“If I was playing right now, it’d be very unsettling to see to think, ‘Wow, we don’t have a lot of support from these fans that sit in the stands and cheer for us. They don’t really support us.’ It would be hard to deal with as a student-athlete who is excited to be coached by a phenomenal football coach in Herm Edwards. I played against teams he coached and I know what he brings to the table. To me it’s kind of embarrassing that everybody’s saying this is a horrible hire and ‘I can’t wait for two years when they have to hire a new coach.’”

“Sun Devil fans, step up or step off and root for the team down south (Arizona) if you don’t like what Ray Anderson is doing.”

With respect to the “GM structure,” Plummer said whether he believes in everything Anderson is doing or not, he is still going to support the ASU program 100 percent.

“I’m a tad befuddled about the fans that are naysayers out there,” Plummer said. “You look at these two men (Anderson and Edwards) who are highly successful and have done amazing things. They don’t sit around and tweet out negativity. They are in the moment trying to change the culture and fight their butts off to win and do well and exceed and excel.”

Edwards was introduced Monday and scoffed at the idea that he forgot how to coach just because he hasn’t been on a sideline in nearly decade.

“Football ignites my soul. It’s what makes me go. This is what I do. I’ve done this my whole life,” Edwards said. “Some people will say, ‘Well, you haven’t coached in nine years.’ You don’t forget how to coach.

“They’re not bringing me here to play. I can’t play, though I’ll tell you I got one hit left. I’m not here to play. I’m here to build a program.”

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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!

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