How Ed and Andrea Zubow Ignite the Sun Devil Spirit
By: Cameron Johnsen | Graduate Assistant, Sun Devil Club
For Ed and Andrea Zubow, Sun Devil Athletics represents a lifetime of bringing friends and loved ones together.
“It’s just part of who I am,” said Ed. “It’s part of who we are.”
Born and raised in the Valley, Ed attended ASU and studied finance, graduating in 1992. Today, he owns his own wealth management company in Scottsdale. But what he remembers most about his time as a Sun Devil isn’t late nights studying balance sheets at the library — it’s the days he spent electrifying Sun Devil Stadium as a trumpet section leader with the marching band.
“I started coming to ASU football games with my parents when I was two,” he remembered. “I watched USC’s band march into ASU Stadium in 1978, and that had a huge impact on me. It made me want to join ASU’s marching band when I got there.”
Ed joined a prestigious group led by Dr. Robert “Coach” Fleming, who served as ASU’s Marching Band Director from 1974 to 2002. Recognized as the driving force behind the growth of the Sun Devil Marching Band, Dr. Fleming guided the program to national acclaim, highlighted by its 1991 Sudler Trophy recognizing the nation’s top collegiate ensemble. His motto, “Expect great things,” remains enshrined on the band’s uniforms today with the iconic “EGT” letter mark.
“He had a massive impact on all of us that are part of our group,” said Ed.
That group is a contingent of marching band alum bonded for life by Sun Devil pride. Some of the friends have known each other since as early as elementary school, and they continue to gather together for every ASU football game to this day.
The extended family spans, parents, children, and grandparents. Ed’s wife, Andrea, grew up in Oregon and moved to Phoenix in 2002. The pair met at an inter-office fantasy football draft and quickly connected over their shared interests. For Andrea, Ed’s Sun Devil family soon became her own.
“When I first started coming to games, I wore Duck gear … it probably wasn’t the smartest move on my part, but it all worked out in the end,” she laughed. “I married into it, but this group really accepted me and brought me in.”
Andrea may have arrived in the Valley a Duck, but today, she proudly calls herself a Sun Devil. After returning to school as a mature student, she earned her business degree in 2021.
“Now, the ASU community brings us together throughout the year,” she added.
The group hosts a pre-game tailgate on the southwest corner of campus before every home game. It’s a historic spot for the old bandmates, as they harken back to their tradition of playing the “concert on the stairs” at Gammage Auditorium ahead of every game before marching down Palm Walk to the stadium. Though the band’s pre-game tradition has now moved to the north campus near Desert Financial Arena, the Zubows’ group honors the location, walking the same path each game day that Ed and his friends marched in the 90s.
The group also hosts an at-home tailgate for every away game, travels to at least one road game per year, and is committed to travelling to any Sun Devil postseason games. They were on site to witness the Sun Devils’ Big 12 Championship victory and Peach Bowl appearance last season.
For Ed and Andrea, giving back felt like a natural next step — a way to ensure future Sun Devils could share in the same experiences that shaped their own lives. In 2023, they established an endowment supporting both the marching band and the football team, and this year, they deepened their commitment to Sun Devil Athletics, committing a portion of their estate to support the programs of the future.
“We wanted to make sure that we funded a lot of memories for a lot of future generations,” Ed explained. “We know that us being involved is helping to ensure that they get to experience what we did.”
“This group has brought together generations of Sun Devil fans. We have grandparents all the way to grandchildren, and great grandchildren will be a part of this group some day as well,” Andrea reflected warmly. “We don’t have children of our own, but we’re proud to support future Sun Devil children and families going forward.”
Ed and Andrea Zubow know that the memories of a lifetime start with the connections forged at ASU. Join them in transforming the lives of future Sun Devils at sundevilclub.org.