After an upset win over Washington at home this past Saturday, interim head coach Shaun Aguano secured quite the endorsement.

The Arizona Football Coaches Association (AzFCA) shared a letter they sent to the Arizona State athletic department wherein they offered their endorsement for Aguano to be the permanent head coach at ASU going forward. Since parting ways with Herm Edwards after the Sun Devils’ third game, the program has been searching for his replacement. The AzFCA thinks the school has him already.

Here’s the letter, written by Brophy head coach Jason Jewell:

“On Friday, October 7th, we sent an email to every high school head coach with a few athletic directors and other members of our association and asked if they would like to write this letter in support of Shaun Aguano to be considered by Arizona State University to be the next Head Football Coach for the Sun Devils. Over the three hundred people emailed in a matter of minutes, there was an immediate response of “Yes” from coaches at small schools, Southern Arizona, and the valley. As of Sunday, October 9th, the tally of responses was over two hundred in support of Coach Shaun Aguano.

“Coach Aguano is a man of high character we feel will do an outstanding job representing Arizona State in a number of ways. One, in particular, is fostering genuine relationships with high school coaches across the state of Arizona. That has been absent for many years from previous head coaches at ASU. Many of us have known Shaun for decades, from his time at Chandler and the elite program he established around “OHANA” and how important of a pillar that is in his everyday life.

“When you look at Coach Aguano, you see charisma, personality, dedication, loyalty, and, most importantly, honor. As an Association, we want to have a genuine relationship with all our state universities and we believe Coach guano can establish that rapport with high school coaches across the state just as Coach Jedd Fisch and Coach Chris Ball have made it a priority in recruiting our state.

“Obviously, it is up to you to decide if Coach Aguano is the man that will ultimately lead ASU in the future, but please know that he has the backing of every single football coach in the state of Arizona.”

Part of the appeal of the Arizona State gig is the recruiting foothold in the state. It’s a talent-rich area, and recent demographic trends suggest the level of play in the state could continue to grow in the coming years. If Aguano — who has made a concerted and very public effort to prioritize the state — has the backing of high school coaches, that could do well for his ability to keep more of the top talent in the region home.

The public endorsement of Aguano from the AzFCA also creates a potentially tricky situation for ASU to manage if he’s not the man who ultimately gets the job. Would another hire, regardless of who, be viewed as a rebuke of high school coaches around the state?

It will be curious to see how Arizona State handles this situation going forward.

Aguano has the team playing better, there’s no doubt. The Sun Devils beat Washington 45-38 on Saturday to move to 2-4 on the year. They also hung with USC early on two weeks ago. ASU is on its bye week this week, but returns to the field on Oct. 22 against Stanford.