Now that Brock Purdy has four playoff wins to his name and a Super Bowl berth under his belt, there’s been a lot of revisionist history being written about his recruitment, which ended up with a Gilbert (Arizona) native at Iowa State playing under head coach Matt Campbell. Purdy boasted offers from Iowa State, Alabama, Boise State, Texas A&M, and UCF, but Arizona State was notably missing despite being in his backyard.
But according to former Arizona State head coach Herm Edwards, it wasn’t for a lack of effort.
“I always knew what kind of quarterback Brock Purdy was,” Edwards said Monday night via Arizona Sports’ Tim Ring. “I recruited him out of high school. But he ended up going to Iowa.”
But, those claims by Edwards have since been debunked, as he’s attempted to re-write the history of Purdy’s recruitment. And, of course, many have kept receipts, which includes Al Michaels saying back in 2022 that Purdy didn’t even get a sniff from Arizona State.
The legendary play-by-play broadcaster didn’t make that up out of thin air.
At the center of the controversy stands Edwards, who claims he “always knew” Purdy’s potential and actively recruited him. However, these claims are contradicted by Purdy himself, who stated Arizona State showed minimal interest until after other Power Five programs had already jumped on board. Supporting Purdy’s account is Edwards’ own recruiting coordinator, Donnie Yantis, who has publicly expressed regret over not offering Purdy a full scholarship sooner — and did so again Tuesday.
Purdy was keen on attending Arizona State, but unfortunately, the Sun Devils were not interested in him. However, after head coach Todd Graham was fired in November 2017, Edwards took over the team. In December of the same year, Yantis visited Purdy’s high school in Gilbert and offered him a preferred walk-on opportunity as a three-star pro-style quarterback, according to Chris Karpman, publisher at SunDevilSource.com for 247Sports.
Here is the timeline of Purdy’s recruitment. ASU could have been the first major school to offer but instead pursued a few other QBs.
To be fair, Purdy was not widely recruited nor rated as a four-star. Group think, as opposed to individual evaluations with self-confidence. pic.twitter.com/YZGyzA3Mw2
— Chris Karpman (@ChrisKarpman) January 30, 2024
This was the only contact Arizona State made with Purdy. They did not make any further attempts until Iowa State and other programs showed significant interest in his recruitment. Arizona State eventually tried to offer Purdy, but the Arizona native rejected their overtures due to their lack of initial interest.
Yantis, who went on record with Karpman, took to social media to confess his disappointment in the coaching staff’s initial disinterest in Purdy. It was too late when Arizona State was finally ready to extend a full scholarship, as Purdy had already pursued other opportunities and had extensive interest from other Power Five programs.
I’ve said this since the day I first watched his HS film… Brock Purdy is a winner…. @brockpurdy13
And to think our staff didn’t offer him… I shook my head then and have been since then… all the young man has done is win.. at Perry HS, @CycloneFB , and now w the @49ers— Donnie Yantis (@donnieyantis) January 29, 2024
This timeline of events directly contradicts Edwards’ assertions and paints a picture of a missed opportunity rather than proactive recruitment. The former New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs head coach and current ESPN personality started in Tempe two months before Purdy signed his Letter of Intent (LOI) with the Cyclones.
If Edwards actually recruited Purdy, which every recounting of his recruitment says that he did not, and Yantis was presumably the only staff member advocating for Purdy, then either Edwards didn’t watch any games that Purdy played in, or he was “recruiting” Purdy before he even got the job.
Neither seems likely.
Instead, the Sun Devils focused on Jack Tuttle, who later committed to the University of Utah and is now with Indiana after a brief stint in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan. Arizona State would not sign a quarterback in its 2018 recruiting class but would later ink Jayden Daniels — yes, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner — as Edwards’ first quarterback recruit.
Purdy’s recruitment is a cautionary tale about the dangers of revisionist history. While coaches and programs are eager to claim credit for successful players, sometimes the truth is less glamorous. In Purdy’s case, the facts speak for themselves: Arizona State missed out on a hometown hero, and now they’re left watching him lead the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl from afar.
