Arizona State's Ray Anderson, Michael Crow face backlash after college football bowl ban
Arizona State University announced that its football team was self-imposing a bowl ban for the 2023 season on Sunday amid the NCAA's investigation into alleged recruiting violations by the program under coach Herm Edwards.
The news did not sit well with many, who slammed the move by Arizona State's leadership, and the timing, on social media.
It did not go well at all.
The announcement created a firestorm on social media, angering some media members, fans of the team, and others, who wondered why new coach Kenny Dillingham and a roster full of new players had to pay the price for the previous head coaching staff's actions (and why Athletic Director Ray Anderson did not).
Arizona State president Michael Crow also drew ire for his role in the ongoing saga.
Many didn't expect the Sun Devils to be great this season, but the loss of a chance to play in a bowl game still is disheartening to the players, especially the seniors, who had thoughts of competing in a bowl game on their mind prior to Sunday's announcement.
How do you feel about Arizona State's self-imposed bowl ban for the 2023 season?
More: Herm Edwards slammed for hypocritical comments after Arizona State football's bowl ban
More: What Arizona State players, coaches are saying about the bowl ban for 2023
Social media slammed Arizona State over its self-imposed college football bowl ban:
Why are we still doing this? 1. Postseason bans are not a deterrent and sanction the blameless. 2. Self-imposed penalties are useless. Unless part of a negotiated plea, they sacrifice players to protect institutions. 3. Funny how this was timed for after the portal closed.…
— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) August 28, 2023
ESPN hired Pete Thamel after (not because) he broke the NCAA investigation story, then hired Herm Edwards back... then Pete Thamel broke today's bowl ban story, and ESPN will have Herm on TV this week next to a man whose son won't get to play in a bowl this year. It's a lot. https://t.co/SsR4dlvTsW
— Ralph Amsden (@ralphamsden) August 28, 2023
Damn shame that the 15 seniors on the team won't get an opportunity to be part of postseason play. Again, ZERO RATIONALE not to execute the bowl ban in 2022. There is so much justified excitement around the program, but this is certainly not helping in that manner. https://t.co/LtjXuFXFqA
— DevilsDigest.com (@DevilsDigest) August 27, 2023
Ray Anderson hired his former client with no college coaching experience, it led to the program imploding and now under a bowl ban … but of course Ray Anderson is still there. https://t.co/FyFut8FtzM
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) August 27, 2023
COLUMN: Nepotism at its finest guided Ray Anderson in protecting Herm Edwards from hire to fire and is reflected in the timing to self-impose a bowl ban. It is a sanction that should not have been delayed, and the same goes for a change in ASU's Athletic Director…
— DevilsDigest.com (@DevilsDigest) August 27, 2023
Says the driver of the getaway vehicle for the cheater who robbed this university and its student athletes. Disgusting. https://t.co/lYTseO2LGS
— PHX Fans (@PHXFansAZ) August 27, 2023
This is what sticks with me about the situation at Arizona State: On a difficult day, Kenny Dillingham and players had to answer questions about something they didn’t have anything to do with, all while those who were actually at fault have yet to experience consequences.
— Justin Toscano (@JustinCToscano) August 27, 2023
Beyond the obvious fact that ASU probably wasn’t making a bowl game this year anyway…
This decision doesn’t penalize the responsible parties, while penalizing people who weren’t responsible, including many who weren’t even at the university when it happened. https://t.co/1vUrhLeEOJ— Shane Dale (@ShaneDaleAZ) August 27, 2023
It’s surprising to me how much @michaelcrow fails to appreciate the extent to which standing by Ray Anderson will permanently tarnish his legacy.
— ASU_SuperFan (FIRE RAY!) (@ASU_SuperFan) August 27, 2023
Ray threw a grenade on the ASU Football program. Crow threw a grenade on the Pac-12 Conference.
Banner few years for those two.
They should be really proud. https://t.co/AIEOix8K9i— Tim Ring (@timringTV) August 27, 2023
Industry source on timing of ASU announced bowl ban (i.e., week before the season/no recourse for players): "It's utterly unconscionable"
Second source: Eligibility waiver for seniors in 2024 would be "worth exploring."— Jon Wilner (@wilnerhotline) August 27, 2023
Everyone at Arizona State experiencing consequences for Ray Anderson's actions except Ray Anderson pic.twitter.com/RuqbpiUAxj
— Ralph Amsden (@ralphamsden) August 27, 2023
Why does the head coach get to commit all these violations, get canned and wipe out the roster, and then it’s the current batch of kids getting the rug pulled out from under them a week prior to the season?
Make it make sense. https://t.co/xaRyLLPhzX— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) August 27, 2023
And sadly it won’t mitigate this at all. Had Herm been fired, as he should have been, and a self-imposed bowl ban implemented immediately, maybe that would have meant something to the NCAA. https://t.co/Yr6ZR1c022
— Bob Young (@BobYoungTHI) August 27, 2023
It’s baffling how much ASU’s leadership continues to screw things up… More failures from Ray Anderson and Michael Crow. Help kill the Pac-12… and now all the goodwill built up over these past several months activating the Valley is gone thanks to years of incompetence.
— Cameron Cox (@CamCox12) August 27, 2023
New staff. New culture. New players. And loyal ones who stayed. And punish them?
1. This should’ve been done last year.
2. At this point why not play it out and wait for the NCAA’s punishment?
3. See the Tennessee case.— Matt Barrie (@MattBarrie) August 27, 2023
There’s absolutely no reason ASU shouldn’t have self-imposed a bowl ban last season. There’s no new info about the NCAA investigation that we didn’t know a year ago. Now, the new staff that had nothing to do with the violations will suffer the consequences.
— Chris Jenkins (@SmartSunDevil) August 27, 2023
Devastating failure by Michael Crow and Ray Anderson, who appeared to favor trying to protect the legacy and reputation of Herm Edwards rather than do the prudent thing, which is also indicated by paying him $4.4 million rather than firing for cause.
There is no excuse for this. https://t.co/vITxDbZYWN— Chris Karpman (@ChrisKarpman) August 27, 2023
ASU has 50+ new scholarships players including seniors who were not even with the team last year. They did nothing wrong. The new coaches did nothing wrong.
Ray Anderson and Michael Crow should look all of them in the eye, explain themselves and answer their questions.— Chris Karpman (@ChrisKarpman) August 27, 2023
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Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona State faces backlash after college football bowl ban for 2023
