English brings reputation, experience as Sun Devil triathlon coach

Courtesy: Sun Devil AthleticsBy Craig Morgan, special to TheSunDevils.com

It began as casual curiosity for Cliff English.

As a renowned triathlon coach, he knew the NCAA was moving forward with plans to make triathlon a women's varsity sport. He knew Arizona State was one of 10 schools to receive an emerging sport grant of $140,000 from the USA Triathlon Foundation, making the Sun Devils the first Power-Five conference program to officially adopt the sport.

While he was intrigued by the idea of training athletes at a younger, more impressionable age -- instead of the 30-somethings with whom he regularly worked -- English enjoyed his work as a private coach and this was a busy time of year for…