Jordan Simone was not on Arizona Sports 98.7’s broadcast of Sun Devils football this week and he isn’t coming back. The sideline reporter and studio host says that he was let go because of comments he made on a podcast.
During the Speak of the Devils podcast, Jordan Simone said that the coaching staff’s performance was inexcusable.
“It ain’t working. It was a good experiment,” he said of Herm Edwards and his assitants, who were hired in 2017. “And you know what, no disrespect to any of those coaches as men and as people because I have talked to a lot of them and I know a lot of them, they are good people and good human beings, but it just ain’t working. And so the fans deserve better. These players deserve better. These players don’t even realize that they’re being coached so poorly.”
Simone will be the first to acknowledge that he has a deep emotional investment in Arizona State football. He played safety for the team from 2013 until 2015. He has been on the broadcast crew since 2018. He has largely been a sideline reporter, but has filled in as an analyst this season.
He cited other former players when detailing his frustration with the team’s performance in the October 30 loss to Washington State.
“It’s not what the fans deserve. It’s not what we as alumni deserve, specifically football alumni. We talked about the ’96 Rose Bowl team being there. It was a disgrace and a disservice to all the players and alumni that have come before them.”
Plenty in the Arizona media and the national college football media have been critical of Edwards and his staff. The team is in the middle of an NCAA investigation of improper recruiting allegations. Jordan Simone is not the first Sun Devil fan and certainly won’t be the last demanding a change. AZCentral.com ran a poll on its Twitter page that showed overwhelming support for Simone.
The group that decided to get rid of Jordan Simone has been mum.”Per company policy we do not comment on personnel matters,” a Sun Devil Sports Radio spokesperson responded when AZCentral.com asked for comment.
