Arizona State has hired former Super Bowl champion head coach Brian Billick to its staff as an offensive analyst and advisor to head coach Herm Edwards.
"I am pleased to announce to Sun Devil fans that Brian Billick has accepted the position as Offensive Analyst, Advisor To The Head Coach, on my staff at Arizona State University," says Edwards. "I have known Brian since the 1980s and he is a person whom I completely trust. He has built one of the finest reputations the NFL has ever known, serving as a head coach, an assistant coach and as a respected television analyst. Brian has one of the brightest offensive minds in football today and that is especially why I hired him. He will serve as a valuable resource to our entire coaching staff, but specifically to our offensive staff."
The move ties Arizona State with Alabama for most former NFL head coaches on a current college staff. Billick joins Edwards and special advisor Marvin Lewis, matching Alabama's three: Nick Saban, Bill O'Brien and Doug Marrone.
"I have known Coach Edwards for over 40 years and both and for almost that long," says Billick. "I was working the Hula Bowl two weeks ago with Mike Smith and ASU reached out to me at that time. I really enjoyed tapping into the players there and helping them to highlight their abilities. They proposed this opportunity to me, to have another set of eyes looking at and evaluating Sun Devil football and I thought it was the right time for me to make this move. I love what they are doing at ASU. It's all about structure in the NFL and hopefully that's what I can bring to the table at ASU. My work for the last 12 years in television at Fox and the NFL Network has allowed me to take a step back and see the game from a different angle. It broadened my perspective and that is what I will bring to this position."
Billick led the Baltimore Ravens to a Super Bowl XXXV victory, defeating the New York Giants. His teams went 80-64 from 1999-07, which happens to be the last time the 67-year-old Billick worked in coaching full-time.
He has since worked in television for ABC/ESPN, NFL Network, and Fox.
Billick worked in college football from 1978-91, starting as a graduate assistant at BYU and rising to become the assistant head coach at Stanford before entering the NFL as the Minnesota Vikings' tight ends coach in 1992. He was promoted to offensive coordinator in 1994 and remained there until landing the Baltimore job in 1999.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.