Arizona State is a college football program in real long-term trouble. A giant wave of outgoing transfers followed news of an NCAA investigation into serious recruiting violations by assistant coaches on head coach Herm Edwards' staff. Three games into the 2022 season, Edwards is gone following a 30-21 loss to Eastern Michigan.

The Sun Devils sit at 1-2 staring down a remaining schedule that still contains three ranked opponents in Utah, USC and Washington in each of the next three weeks. It's fair to say this season is a failure, and the program must look to the future.

Since we're focusing on the long-term future for the Sun Devils, coaches who are currently employed but on the hot seat are not off the table, so let's jump right in.

3. Scott Frost – Unemployed

The beleaguered former Nebraska head coach is fresh off his own firing in Lincoln, but there is still a good head coach somewhere inside Scott Frost. Just ask UCF, who he guided to a 19-7 record in two seasons in Orlando, culminating in a 13-0 record in 2017 and a Peach Bowl win over Auburn.

Frost was unbelievably unlucky in close games, going 5-22 in games decided by one score or less, and while, yes, a good deal of that can be attributed to poor coaching decisions, it's also just impossible for that to be a sustained trend into Frost's next gig. Recruiting is a relative strength of Frost, who procured top-20 recruiting classes in three of his five seasons at Nebraska (plus a 23rd-place finish in 2018).

This kind of hire would bring a bit of stability to an Arizona State football program that desperately needs it, though it remains to be seen if Frost would want to coach on the west coast.

2. Bryan Harsin – Auburn (for now)

Someone who does know how to coach on the West Coast is Bryan Harsin, and it is no secret that he and Auburn's boosters do not like each other. You'll remember the various stories that came out this past offseason about Harsin about both his character and his credentials as coach. Those were all put out by Auburn boosters who dislike the former Boise State head man.

This very well could boil over once again, and in fact, it's expected that Harsin will leave the Plains this offseason regardless. Harsin has experience recruiting the West Coast and would bring a high profile to a program that could use some positive PR at the moment. He's certainly a good enough head coach to do some damage in the Pac-12.

1. Shaun Aguano – Arizona State interim coach

The reality of the situation is that Arizona State needs someone to keep the ship above water right now. If Aguano can do that the rest of the season and keep the locker room intact, he deserves a go as a full-time head coach.

Stability is the name of the game for the Sun Devils, and if Aguano can do even a half-decent job with what he has, he's almost certainly going to be the guy calling the shots in 2023. Perhaps that's the best thing for a program that's staring down the possibility of serious scholarship reductions and/or a bowl ban for a season or two.

Either way, it's going to take some serious effort to dig the Arizona State football program out of this 25-foot hole they've found themselves in. Their strategy for getting out determines who they'll consider hiring this offseason.