The reign of Herm Edwards as the Arizona State University Head Football Coach is already a weird one.
It all started on November 30th when the Sun Devils for some reason decided to hire Herm Edwards.
It continued on December 4th with an incredibly weird introductory press conference.
Then on December 12th, ASU’s staff began to fell apart as their Defensive Coordinator decided to leave despite Edwards wanting to keep the staff together.
With just a couple days left in 2017, it wouldn’t be fair if there wasn’t one last weird ASU coaching story to end the year. This time it comes courtesy of former University of Arizona product, NFL linebacker, and new ASU linebackers coach Antonio Pierce.
The former New York Giants and Washington Redskins player signed up for a partnership with the sports betting website ‘Sports Betting Dime’ back in September.
Pierce’s deal with the website stated he would offer up his weekly picks and analysis for gambling players to consider.
“We’re thrilled to be teaming up with a proven winner like Antonio Pierce,” Sports Betting Dime co-founder, Randy McInnis said at the time. “He’s won at every level, and his knowledge and feel for the game are unparalleled. He’s a fabulous addition to our team.”
When Pierce signed on to become ASU’s new linebackers coach, one could’ve assumed that he was done working with Sports Betting Dime. But that didn’t seem to be the case early Friday morning when Pierce tweeted about a contest on the website only to later delete the tweet.
This was in clear violation of NCAA rules as it doesn’t allow any forms of legal and/or illegal betting.
The NCAA opposes all forms of legal and illegal sports wagering, which has the potential to undermine the integrity of sports contests and jeopardizes the welfare of student-athletes and the intercollegiate athletics community.
Well that’s not good. According to Yahoo Sports, student-athletes that get caught betting while in college can be banned for life.
The NCAA will almost certainly look into the Pierce tweet and his relationship with Sports Betting Dime, but it may not punish ASU or its new coach. Pierce’s last picks for the website occurred back on December 8th, so this tweet might have been scheduled and never canceled. The new Sun Devils coach was hired well after those December 8th picks on December 22nd.
Welcome to Tempe, Antonio Pierce!
The long-time NFL veteran, Super Bowl Champion and most recently head coach of Long Beach Poly High School will join the Sun Devils as our linebackers coach!
— Sun Devil Football (@ASUFootball) December 22, 2017
ASU hasn’t commented yet on the tweet and neither has the NCAA.
[Yahoo Sports/Screenshot from Yahoo Sports/Photo: Getty Images]
