Statement from ASU President Michael M. Crow on football coach search

Because of the extraordinary fan interest in Arizona State University's search for a new football coach, I want to state what we are looking for in a new coach and for our football program. We want consistency, not a team that is up one year and down the next, not a program that has one mostly good decade followed by a mostly mediocre one. We intend to be in the hunt for the conference championship every year, winning our division and playing for the Rose Bowl.

Our objectives are long range, not short term. And we don't want or need a quick or temporary fix. We made significant progress under Coach Dennis Erickson and indeed, that is what made this last season so disappointing. For the first eight games we were nearly where we aspire to be. But that is not enough. Now we need to progress further, and we have a nucleus of returning players and a recruiting class that has ASU positioned to move our football program to the next level.

What we seek is a football coach who will lead that effort, who will focus on the basics of building a football program that will excel over time, who will communicate with and connect to the community, who will represent the University with honor and demonstrate the highest standards of integrity, who will have a demonstrated ability to lead young men to successfully compete at the highest levels on and off the field of play, and who will teach our student-athletes to be responsible and conduct themselves at the highest level at all times.

Thank you Sun Devil supporters for continuing to be such great fans.

- Dr. Michael M. Crow President, Arizona State University