Forget those pesky Xs and O's. Maybe all it takes to win the Pac-12 South is redirecting one's vast internal resources to foster a multidimensional approach that will leverage innovative synergies into elevated results.
Arizona State either provided a novel blueprint for success when it hired coach Herm Edwards and announced a new NFL-style management structure or merely took corporate-speak to unprecedented levels of gobbledygook.
Either way, it figures to be fascinating.
Edwards was one of three new coaches hired to help shift the balance of power away from defending Pac-12 champion USC in the South Division.
UCLA brought in Chip Kelly in hopes of making the Rose Bowl a regular destination beyond its home games. It may take at least a year to get there, considering that sports betting web site Bovada listed the over-under on the Bruins' victory total this season at 5{.
Arizona imported Kevin Sumlin from the football hotbed of Texas, where he won twice as many games as he lost during a decade at Texas A&M and Houston. The Wildcats probably would settle for seven or eight wins a season and an absence of the allegations of workplace misconduct that accelerated predecessor Rich Rodriguez's dismissal.
The heavy turnover in the South leaves USC's Clay Helton, entering only his third full season, as something of a dean in the division alongside the more established Mike MacIntyre (entering his seventh season at Colorado) and Kyle Whittingham (entering his 14th season at Utah).
The Sun Devils didn't seem to mind that Edwards had not coached in nine years (other than a high school all-star game) or worked at the college level since he was an assistant at San Jose State in 1989. At 64, Edwards is giving new meaning to giving it the old college try.
Here's a look at the division heading into training camps, in predicted order of finish:
