Reflecting on the Todd Graham Era: Why he leaves a lasting legacy

Todd Graham runs with his team before a game against the Oregon State Beavers at Reser Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports

January 4, 2018
Brittany Bowyer

To many, Todd Graham was nothing more than an NCAA college football coach at the largest university in the country. To some, Graham was the driving force behind a positive change in college football culture. While some were outraged with his firing and others were pleased, his imprint on the program cannot be denied.

It’s a well-known fact that when Graham arrived at Arizona State the program was an absolute wreck. There were a number of off the field incidents taking place, there was no sense of “student” in the term “student athlete” and relational turmoil between players was clearly visible on the field.

This all took place under the Dennis Erickson era, which spanned from 2007-2011. When the former athletic director Lisa Love announced that Todd Graham would be taking over at Arizona State, few could have imagined how much of a legacy he would be to the program.

It was not just his ability to raise graduation rates by putting an increased importance on the scholastic aspect of the student-athlete experience. Nor was it his ability to bring the school back into the national spotlight for the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

It was his ability to motivate the players to be the best they can be both on and off the field. It was his ability to build character, and turn boys into men.

It was his ability to bring back a sense of tradition within the program, such as the installation of the Pat Tillman statue in Sun Devil Stadium and the tradition of giving the players a picture of someone special, reminding them of who they play for. It was bringing back camp Tontozona, where Sun Devil Great Frank Kush used to take the team to practice. It was bringing Frank Kush around as a guest, to remind the players of what it means to rep maroon and gold as a Sun Devil.

It was his generous contributions to the program in order to help build a state-of-the-art facility, which would have a positive impact on the current players as well as bringing in recruits. It was his ability to improve local recruiting efforts, which was lacking for many years in the past.

Among the many things unmentioned about Graham was how he believed in players that many coaches would overlook, and he would be able to get the most out of those players. It was his ability to bring in top Junior College recruits like Jaelen Strong and Marcus Hardison, giving them a chance to shine on the big stage when the NCAA wasn’t in the cards the first time around.

Graham also had a good number of players enter the draft and go on to play in the NFL, which was something that was lacking under Erickson.


Nov 25, 2017; Todd Graham celebrates after defeating the Arizona Wildcats during the Territorial Cup at Sun Devil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Also often forgotten was how he was able to unite the players so they played as a team and got along better. He made the team feel like a family, truly embodying the term “Sun Devil Brotherhood”.

His faith in God helped play a part in this too, as he and a small group of players and coaches started going to church together every Sunday at the beginning of the season. By the end of the season, it became something that nearly every player looked forward to each week.

Finally, it was his 4-2 record over the Arizona Wildcats and his 46-32 overall record with the Sun Devils that will leave a lasting impact.

It says something when fans are pleading on social media to keep a head coach, even after a 7-5 regular season record. For Graham, and much of Sun Devil Nation, it was about more than just football… A culture that they hope will stick with the program despite Graham’s absence.

Academic Milestone

By Doug Haller and Jeff Metcalfe
August 23, 2017

For the first time in school history, ASU football is carrying a cumulative 3.0 grade point average into the fall semester. That includes work through summer school for more than 100 players.

It’s an amazing accomplishment. It’s been a goal of coach Graham’s for his team since he’s gotten here and part of larger goals surrounding academic performance in all sports include grade point average.

Jean Boyd, executive senior associate athletic director, said the football cumulative GPA was 2.2 when Graham became coach in 2012. "We saw an immediate jump into the 2.5 to 2.6 range then it's been incremental improvement each year," Boyd said.

The cumulative GPA for all ASU men's teams reached 3.0 for the first time in the spring.

"Now to have football in that same category is tremendous," Boyd said. "Coach Graham has done an incredible job of talking about it incessantly. One of the pillars of the program is smart. As part of being smart, one metric is your grade point average. This is a way to say to the team we’re living up to one of our standards in this way and let’s keep doing it together. It reinforces that you’re living up to a standard of the program and it should reinforce that as we do this it’s going to improve our play on the field too because you have a football classroom, which is the meeting room and the film room. The same practices you employ to get a 3.0, you employ in those places too."

Coach Graham’s Success Versus The Pac-12 South

July 26, 2016

The measure of any football coach can start with a comparison against his peers, specifically against his own division. So, here’s a quick look at ASU football Coach Todd Graham and how he has fared against his coaching rivals over three and four year periods in the extremely tough Pac-12 Conference South Division.

Here’s a look at ASU’s record versus the Pac-12 South teams over the past three seasons:

2013-2015 (Last Three Years)
ASU vs. Arizona (2-1)
ASU vs. USC (2-1)
ASU vs UCLA (2-1)
ASU vs. Utah (2-1)
ASU vs. Colorado (3-0)

Now for a look at the record versus the Pac-12 South for the last four years (during Coach Graham’s tenure).

2012-2015 (Coach Graham’s Tenure)
ASU vs. Arizona (3-1)
ASU vs. USC (2-2)
ASU vs. UCLA (2-2)
ASU vs. Utah (3-1)
ASU vs. Colorado (4-0)

Some takeaways from this…

* Coach Graham is the ONLY coach in the Pac-12 South with a winning record against every opponent in the South within the past three years.

* If you combine the won-loss records versus the Pac-12 South for the past three years, ASU enjoys an 11-4 (.733) mark.

* Additionally, ASU has won two of the last three against USC, UCLA, Arizona and Utah.

* ASU is undefeated against Colorado.

* If you combine the won-loss records versus the Pac-12 South for the past four years, ASU enjoys a 14-6 (.700) mark.

* ASU does not own a losing record against any Pac-12 South team in that span. Only ASU and UCLA can make that claim.

Todd Graham tops the list of PAC-12 head coaches

By Lorenzo Reyna

August 11, 2015

One of the most pressurized jobs in America is head football coach of an NCAA Division I university.

In the PAC-12, every head coach deals with more than drawing plays. He has to recruit, hire a top notch staff, draw community interest to fill the home stadium, keep the players who don’t play right away happy, maintain or rebuild a winning tradition, challenge for a national title and finally, convince the community that they’re there to stay even if a luscious offer from another university gets placed on their table.

Coaching is one of the reasons why the PAC-12 has been on the rise. Eight PAC-12 leaders led their teams to a bowl game last season. The other four who were left out still tasted success at previous stops.

But who are the top coaches to play for in the conference? This was a hard list to compile considering that most of these guys have done more than maintain a winning culture or resuscitate a struggling program. Nevertheless, here’s the top PAC-12 head coaches heading into the 2015-16 season.

1. Todd Graham, Arizona State
Record at ASU: 28-12 in three years
Career record: 77-41 in nine years
Before he arrived at Tempe, ASU was an underachieving team. Since taking over, the Sun Devils have averaged nine wins per season while contending for the PAC-12 South crown with Arizona, UCLA and USC.

He’s not only won with top 25 recruiting classes, but has reeled in immediate impact freshmen like defensive tackle Tashon Smallwood, outside linebacker D.J. Calhoun and inside ‘backer Christian Sam. He also has a future head coach in the making in offensive wiz Mike Norvell.
Lastly, Graham snatched three prominent Class of 2015 California recruits in quarterback Brady White, defensive end Joseph Wicker and defensive back Stanley Norman. All three turned down offers from the Big 10, Southeastern Conference and pledges from ASU’s coastal conference rivals to join the Sun Devils.

2. Jim Mora, UCLA
Record at UCLA: 29-11 (three years)
Career record: 29-11 (three years)
Like Graham, Mora took control of a Bruins program in need of a winning attitude.
He now has UCLA contending for PAC-12 titles, beating chief rival USC and averaging six conference victories per year. The former Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks head coach has been a hard-nosed recruiter too. He’s locked in the top quarterback in the state in Josh Rosen, 5-star outside linebacker Kesian Lucier-South and 4-star wideout Cordell Broadus, who turned down his father Snoop Dogg’s favorite college team USC to join Mora.

3. David Shaw, Stanford
Record at Stanford: 42-12 (four years)
Career record: 42-12 (four years)
Shaw and Stanford had a down year at 8-5 last season, but his past success places him in the top three.
Shaw has taken the Cardinal to Rose and Fiesta Bowls since succeeding Jim Harbaugh in 2011. Against the PAC-12 slate, Shaw has helped the Cardinal take down conference heavyweights Oregon, USC and UCLA. On the recruiting trail, Stanford has ranked in the top 25 annually under Shaw’s direction.

4. Rich Rodriguez, Arizona
Record at Arizona: 26-14 (three years)
Career record: 146-98-2 (21 years)
He was once ran out of Ann Arbor after a tumultuous three years at Michigan. But Rich Rod has revitalized his career nicely in Tuscon, as he’s turned the Wildcats into a rising PAC-12 power.
Rodriguez’s Arizona resume includes a PAC-12 title game appearance last season and upsets over USC and Oregon when both were ranked in the top 10.

5. Kyle Whittingham, Utah
Record at Utah: 85-43 (10 years)
Career record: 85-43 (10 years)
Before transitioning to the PAC-12, Whittingham and Utah enjoyed years of dominance in the Mountain West that included bowl streaks and upending Alabama in the 2009 Sugar Bowl.

Since then, Whittingham has created Utah into a conference powerhouse after four years in the PAC-12. Stunning wins last season against UCLA, USC and Stanford substantiates that the Utes are on the rise. Whittingham, who was once an assistant under former Utah head coach Urban Meyer, has taken his team to eight bowl games in his 10-year run at Salt Lake City.

6. Mark Helfrich, Oregon
Record at Oregon: 24-4
Career record: 24-4
Helfrich took the electrifying Ducks back to the national title game, but their championship hopes got trucked by a physical Ohio State team.
The big question is can Helfrich elevate Oregon to places that Chip Kelly couldn’t do in Eugene, such as winning a national title? Oregon continues to produce highly ranked recruiting classes and boast top notch facilities, but Helfrich must prove that he can replace Marcus Mariota at quarterback and continue Oregon’s streak of success. The talent remaining in Eugene should keep Helfrich and Oregon in the top 10 polls.

7. Chris Petersen, Washington
Record at Washington: 8-6
Career record: 100-18 (nine years)
Petersen – with limited resources and overlooked recruits – turned Boise State into a household name in college football by winning Western Athletic Conference titles and two Fiesta Bowls.

At UW, Petersen has more talent to work with based on the pieces that predecessor Steve Sarkisian left behind. But this season could be more challenging with replacing Shaq Thompson and perhaps starting a true freshman at quarterback in Jake Browning. Still, Petersen is considered one of the brightest and most work-friendly head coaches to be around.

8. Steve Sarkisian, USC
Record at USC: 9-4 (one year)
Career record: 43-33 (six years)
Coach Sark’s main task at Washington was turn the Huskies into a bowl contender again, especially in the aftermath of the disastrous Tyrone Willingham era and following the controversial Rich Neuheisel tenure.

Sarkisian did just that by getting UW back into December bowl games. Now, he’s being counted on to take a USC program that was once rocked by NCAA sanctions to national title victories again. If USC emerges as a challenger for both the PAC-12 championship and college football playoff, look for Coach Sark to move up on this list.

9. Gary Andersen
Record at Oregon State: first season
Career record: 49-38 (seven years)
Andersen is the rookie coach in the PAC-12 this fall, but considering his past success, he could turn the underachieving Beavers into a competitive bunch right away.

Andersen took a laughingstock Utah State team and turned the Aggies into a perennial bowl unit by going 26-24 there. He then continued his success at Wisconsin before having differences in opinion with university administration; particularly with athletic director Barry Alvarez.
In Corvallis, Andersen will have a young team. An untested quarterback will likely line up behind center and only two starters return on defense. But if Andersen can win at Logan, UT., then he should have little problems turning around Oregon State.

10. Sonny Dykes, Cal
Record at Cal: 6-18 (two years)
Career record: 28-33 (five years)
Dykes – who’s first season in Berkeley was a 1-11 disaster – has Cal on the move, as the Golden Bears became one of the conference’s most improved teams by going 5-7 plus losing four games by eight points or less.

His offenses have been surgical against PAC-12 defenses, as the Bear Raid averaged 495.2 yards per game last season and scored 38.3 points per game. Dykes returns a possible Heisman Trophy finalist and first round pick in quarterback Jared Goff this fall.

11. Mike Leach, Washington State
Record at WSU: 12-25 (three years)
Career record: 96-68 (13 years)
After leading Texas Tech to an 84-43 mark in his 10 years at Lubbock, TX., Leach has had a rough transition in Pullam.

His best season was a 6-7 mark in 2013 that concluded with a trip to the New Mexico Bowl. But the Cougars fell to 3-9 last season. There’s also this significant recruiting loss: 3-star quarterback Ian Book of Oak Ridge in El Dorado Hills, who verbally pledged to Leach and WSU in April 2015, has since de-committed and joined Notre Dame’s 2016 class on Aug. 4.

12. Mike McIntyre, Colorado
Record at CU: 6-18 (two years)
Career record: 22-39 (five years)
McIntyre does provide this glimmer of hope for the Buffaloes’ fan base: four losses last season were decided by a margin of five points or less. But that means CU would’ve finished 6-6.

Granted, McIntyre has inherited a Buffs team with little talent left behind by former coach Jon Embree, plus a program that hasn’t recovered from the controversial Gary Barnett regime. If McIntyre gets his guys to finish football games this fall, CU could see a 13th game come December, which hasn’t happened since 2005.

Arizona State's Todd Graham ranks No. 1

By Steven Lassan

May 7, 2015

Success with any college football team starts with coaching. Even if a program doesn’t have the resources of the nation’s elite jobs, a good coach can elevate a program into national title contention. However, similar to any position on the field, statistics may not tell the full story when judging a coaching tenure.

This is not simply a list of coaches ranked by accomplishment or wins. While those aspects are important, it doesn’t provide a complete picture of how successful coaches are. Winning 10 games at Alabama is different than winning 10 games at Kentucky. Also, every program has a different amount of resources available. Hierarchy in college football also plays a vital role in how successful programs are. It's always easier for programs with more built-in advantages to contend for a national title on a more consistent basis.

A couple of other factors to consider when ranking coaches: How well are the assistants paid? A staff with two of the nation’s top coordinators could be a sign the head coach is better as a CEO and may not be as strong in terms of developing gameplans. How is the coach in the X’s and O’s? Can the coach recruit? Are the program’s facilities on par with the rest of the conference? Much like assistants, a program needs good facilities to win big. If a team is winning at a high level with poor facilities and a small budget, it reflects positively on the head coach. Is the coach successful at only one stop? Or has that coach built a solid resume from different jobs?

Again, wins are important. But our rankings also take into account a blank slate. If you start a program from scratch, which coach would you hire knowing what they accomplished so far and their career trajectory? Remember, you don't get the assistants - only the head coach. And head-to-head wins do not matter for this ranking.

Ranking the Pac-12's Football Coaches for 2015

1. Todd Graham, Arizona State
Record at Arizona State: 28-12 (3 years)
Career Record: 77-41 (9 years)

It’s a close call between Graham and Arizona’s Rich Rodriguez for the No. 1 spot among current Pac-12 coaches. The Sun Devils enter 2015 as one of the favorites for the conference title, and Graham has guided the program to 28 wins over the last three seasons. The Sun Devils won the South Division in 2013 and tied for second in '12 and '14. Under Graham’s watch, Arizona State has clearly removed the label of a program that struggles to reach expectations. And the Sun Devils are in the midst of a stadium renovation that will only help Graham and this staff sell a program that has inked back-to-back top-25 signing classes. Graham’s success isn’t just limited to Arizona State, as he helped Rice make a six-game improvement in the win column in 2006, won 36 games in four years at Tulsa and went 6-6 in his only season at Pittsburgh.

Coach Todd Graham In Super Elite Company With 10-Win Seasons

As every Sun Devil football fan knows, in 2014 ASU secured back-to-back 10-win seasons for the first time since Frank Kush notched double-digit victories from 1970-73. That is a drought of 31 years since it last happened, providing further evidence of how difficult an achievement back-to-back 10-win seasons are to come by. In fact, Head Coach Todd Graham now has a school-record 28 wins in his first three seasons as head coach at ASU, one more than College Football Hall of Fame Coach Dan Devine (1955-57).

And, the Pitchfork Posts blog has previously stated that Coach Graham has now recorded 10 wins in five of his nine seasons as a head coach (Tulsa 2007, 2008, 2010; ASU 2013, 2014). ASU Athletic Media Relations student intern alumnus Joe Healey got us started and conducted the research. How does Coach Graham’s five seasons of 10-wins stack up in comparison with other active Division I coaches since 2007? Well, quite well, to be sure. Using 2007 as a cutoff and FBS only, Coach Graham currently sits tied for No. 4 nationally in most 10-win seasons with five.

Here is the criteria:

• The cutoff is a minimum of three 10+ win seasons since 2007
• Only FBS seasons are taken into consideration (whether that means the coach was at the FCS level or the school promoted from FCS to FBS in that span)
• The school listed for the coach is where the wins occurred, not necessarily where the coach is now (Petersen and Bielema are the only cases, we believe)
• This list only includes active head coaches for 2015.

So, what we see is only three active coaches (Nick Saban, Bob Stoops, Chris Petersen) have more 10-win seasons since 2007 than Graham. And, among active coaches, only Graham and Urban Meyer have recorded multiple 10-win seasons at multiple FBS schools since 2007.

Here is the chart:

An act of selflessness from Todd Graham

March 8, 2013

By Kevin Gemmell | ESPN.com

A tip of the cap to Arizona State head coach Todd Graham for continuing to be a class act and a strong ambassador for the school, the state and the coaching profession.

The following letter appeared in yesterday's Arizona Republic -- from an Arizona fan. But as you'll read (navigate to the bottom middle of page C2 in the sports section to see the original), school allegiances don't really matter all that much in the grand scheme of things.

Coach Graham a hero off the field

I am an alumnus and fan of the University of Arizona, and bleed Wildcat red and blue. I watched ASU coach Todd Graham lead the Sun Devils to a very good season, and by all appearances he has restored some class and discipline to the football program.

But I write about something more important that happened before last football season, when coaches were recruiting players who had been released from their commitment to Penn State. A dear friend of my sister-in-law is a nurse in Phoenix, and his closest friend, also in his early 20s, was dying of cancer in a hospice facility. The nurse left a message for Graham describing the situation with the cancer patient, a big ASU fan. When Graham called, he explained he was about to board a plane to go to Pennsylvania to recruit, and asked if he could visit when he returned. Two days later, when his plane landed at Sky Harbor, Graham did not go to his office or home to see his family. He went immediately to the hospice to see the dying young man. He spent 90 minutes with him -- talking football, encouraging him and praying with him. The young man was in and out of consciousness, but the coach stayed and prayed, even when the patient was not awake. The young man died six hours later.

What Graham did that day meant a lot to the young man and his family. The coach will not blow his own horn but I thought this story should be known. As a U of A fan I will still root against ASU, but I will always root for Graham, a quality coach and more importantly, a quality man.

— J. Gregory Osborne, Tempe

This isn't the first time we've seen this from Graham. We posted a similar letter back in August. Same scenario, different people. And I'm willing to bet this happens a lot more than is actually written about. So once again, kudos to Graham.

Coach Graham still at Tulsa, but it might not last for long

By Fred Lewis

December 21, 2010

It is little surprise that the University of Tulsa football team is 9-3, on the verge of a national ranking and playing in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl on Friday.

That the Golden Hurricane's head coach, Todd Graham, is still with them at this point is, however, quite remarkable.

History tells us that the 46-year-old Graham should be saying "aloha" -- as in good-bye -- to Tulsa about now. Tradition suggests that he should be doing it from a podium at Pittsburgh or some other Bowl Championship Series member school.

As much as the folks at TU like to be known as the Golden Hurricane, in coaching circles the place has long been known as Steppingstone U. It is a launching pad for upwardly mobile coaches, a trampoline to bigger bucks.

Four of the five head coaches before Graham who won seven or more games in a season eventually found their way to greener pastures. Average stay at TU was less than five seasons.

Tiny Tulsa was a springboard to Louisville for Steve Kragthorpe, Wisconsin for Don Morton, Arizona State and Ohio State for John Cooper and Texas Christian for F.A. Dry. Only Dave Rader, one of TU's own, stuck around to be a fixture at the Rib Crib.

It is a situation hardly confined to football at the school, either. At one time -- a brief moment, usually -- Nolan Richardson, Tubby Smith, Steve Robinson, Bill Self and Buzz Peterson all were head basketball coaches at TU before moving on to Arkansas, Georgia (and Kentucky), Florida State, Illinois (and Kansas), and Tennessee, respectively, among other stops.

If you can win at Tulsa -- which has the smallest Football Bowl Subdivision enrollment (3,084 undergraduates) and is hardly an owner of a big bankroll or eye-popping facilities -- experience suggests you can win at a number of places.

So it was hardly unexpected when, in the wake of TU's success this season -- and recent years -- that Graham's name became linked with any number of openings. Not overlooked was that he had fled Rice after one season to come to Tulsa.

At 35-17 in four seasons at Tulsa, including a victory at Notre Dame this year, Graham merited a look. Leading the nation in total offense twice made for a good, long look.

At an annual salary of $769,264, according to USA Today, that puts him midrange in Conference USA, how could Graham afford not to think about it, if asked?

Minnesota and Pittsburgh have since filled their pukas, but not before Tulsa fans had some all-too-familiar fears of here we go again.

Through it all, Graham has said all the right things. He's made a point of saying any consideration of him is a validation of TU's success and how he is concentrating on the job at hand.

The University of Hawaii and its much-coveted No. 24 ranking might well have his full attention this week.

But for how much longer the Golden Hurricane keep him is anybody's guess. And, as history reminds us, the odds are not in TU's favor.