ASU New Coach - Todd Graham from Pitt

[chickenhead]

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It's neither here nor there, but the dude looks at least 10 years older than 47.

And despite the new uniforms, this still looks like it was taken in 1962...!

 

[HooverDam]

He looks like he should be teaching Metal Shop.

 

[Mainstreet]

Because it's a done deal. Because even if he fails from day one we're stuck with him for at least a few years. And because he will fail if we don't support him. And if he fails that!s just one more nail in the ASU coffin. At least, that!s the way I see it. Go Devils, in Graham I sort of trust!!!

Steve

I agree with AzStevenCal. The vote is in. Graham is ASU's new football coach. I believe we need to support him and give him an opportunity. Certainly ASU fans still have the right to criticize the hire but there does come a time where the fans need to support ASU football. We will find out soon enough if this is a bad hire.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

I do find it amusing how easy it is to sway the fence-sitting masses with these scripted introductory press conferences that come off more like a politician sucking up for votes than anything informative.

Like Rich Rod's: "Something, something Desert Swarm. Something, something Rose Bowl. Something, something Bear Down." Crowd erupts in cheers and back-slapping about he is one of us! In reality Rich Rod couldn't name more than Tedy Bruschi off those Swarm teams and had never uttered 'Bear Down' until that morning.

Or Todd Graham's: "Something, something Frank Kush. Something, something Pat Tillman. Something, something Rose Bowl." Crowd exclaims how passionate he is for the university and understands the traditions of ASU unlike his predecessors! In reality Todd Graham up until yesterday couldn't even tell you what number Pat wore at ASU and 24 hours prior was lauding the great past of Pitt.

Lol, firing up the plebs is always high comedy.

 

[chickenhead]

I honestly don't know enough about him to comment 100% on the hire. But I'm not going to get too worked up about the mercenary aspect (him saying it or being it). RichRod left a good program to go to Michigan before arriving in Tucson. Saban, Meyer, and Spurrier have a MWC school, an ACC school, 2 MAC schools, 2 Big 10 schools, 5 SEC schools, a USFL team, and 2 NFL teams among them. John Cooper used ASU as a stepping stone. Koetter left Boise State to come here. It's just the nature of things: the coach who stays for years and years is a rarity and even then it doesn't always end well.

For sure I would expect an ASU coach to be intrigued if any of college football's crown jewels came calling. But they need to have success first, and if they do, it puts ASU in postition to attract a good coach of that happens. The other thing is--and I know this is cliche--that ASU has a high ceiling. No one was surprised when Urban Meyer left Utah for Florida. He was rising to another level of competition and had the chance to win national championships rather than go undefeated and boxed out of the BCS title game. That kind of success at ASU could very well put you in the title game.

 

[Diamondback Jay]

Especially when you consider he did the EXACT SAME THING to Rice.

Guy agreed to a contract extension and by the end of the night, he was gone to coach Tulsa.

From what I'm gathering with local sports talk radio, the Pitt fan base could care less and is even RELIEVED he's gone, but they're sore with HOW he left.

 

[wilycoyote24]

So UofA fans don't think much of the guy ASU hired.

I'm not shocked.

Most non-UofA fans aren't impressed with Rich Rod either.

We'll just have to wait and see how both of these hires pan out, IMHO.

Don't imply this has anything to do with a rivalry. As a UA fan, I truly want a competitive ASU. It makes for a better rivalry. This is just a terrible hire. Rich Rod is an unknown. You or anyone else should feel free to criticize the pick, but the process? We had our coach weeks ago. And our first pick (unless you think UA thought they could have signed Meyer).

 

[AzStevenCal]

Don't imply this has anything to do with a rivalry. As a UA fan, I truly want a competitive ASU. It makes for a better rivalry. This is just a terrible hire. Rich Rod is an unknown. You or anyone else should feel free to criticize the pick, but the process? We had our coach weeks ago. And our first pick (unless you think UA thought they could have signed Meyer).

It's understandable that you're upset because UA rushed out and hired the first guy they could find while ASU went through an exhaustive search before choosing the man who will lead them into the future. I feel your pain bud.

Steve

 

[jf-08]

The whole selection process makes me sick. If I was an AD, I would have a folio of all potential candidates I would want to pursue and update it all the time. For Erickson, who knows if he was going to keel over with a heart attack or get hit by a dump truck. Always be prepared in case something happens.

My understanding of how this went down was Graham contacted ASU about the job Tuesday. He was delivered Wednesday. If he didn't raise his hand. we still wouldn't be close to hiring a coach.

Lisa Love doesn't have the skills, power, or foresight to be an effective AD.

 

[Dback Jon]

The whole selection process makes me sick. If I was an AD, I would have a folio of all potential candidates I would want to pursue and update it all the time. For Erickson, who knows if he was going to keel over with a heart attack or get hit by a dump truck. Always be prepared in case something happens.

My understanding of how this went down was Graham contacted ASU about the job Tuesday. He was delivered Wednesday. If he didn't raise his hand. we still wouldn't be close to hiring a coach.

Lisa Love doesn't have the skills, power, or foresight to be an effective AD.

So I screwed up by not putting my name in the hat on Monday? I could have been hired!

 

[Kel Varnsen]

The whole selection process makes me sick. If I was an AD, I would have a folio of all potential candidates I would want to pursue and update it all the time. For Erickson, who knows if he was going to keel over with a heart attack or get hit by a dump truck. Always be prepared in case something happens.

My understanding of how this went down was Graham contacted ASU about the job Tuesday. He was delivered Wednesday. If he didn't raise his hand. we still wouldn't be close to hiring a coach.

Lisa Love doesn't have the skills, power, or foresight to be an effective AD.

Sounds like the money spent on search firms was well worth it.

 

[Mulli]

The whole selection process makes me sick. If I was an AD, I would have a folio of all potential candidates I would want to pursue and update it all the time. For Erickson, who knows if he was going to keel over with a heart attack or get hit by a dump truck. Always be prepared in case something happens.

My understanding of how this went down was Graham contacted ASU about the job Tuesday. He was delivered Wednesday. If he didn't raise his hand. we still wouldn't be close to hiring a coach.

Lisa Love doesn't have the skills, power, or foresight to be an effective AD.

So now we know how Sendek got the extension. He just called and asked.

 

[wilycoyote24]

So now we know how Sendek got the extension. He just called and asked.

I'm pretty sure that is all it takes a high school student to get accepted to ASU, call and ask.

 

[Diamondback Jay]

So now we know how Sendek got the extension. He just called and asked.

I'm coming back to Arizona in June for good and certainly could use a job in the Sports Information or Communications Department..

Heyyyyyyy Lisa?????

 

[AsUdUdE]

Again, and I seem to be in the minority, but soo much of this depends on what kind of staff he hires..

If Matt is right and he brings in a couple stud assistants, this hire becomes a lot better than it is at the present state..

And maybe, just maybe, the wildcard is the reason to at least be somewhat optimistic about how successful we can be.

And really anyone arguing June Jones would have been a much better hire needs to take a deep breath and step back, because June Jones would have been a disaster, and while Graham may be one as well, at least we don't KNOW that, and there is still a chance he can be successful.. just my opinion..

time will tell if this is a good hire or not, but who HE hires will tell how likely it will be..

 

[Mulli]

I'm pretty sure that is all it takes a high school student to get accepted to ASU, call and ask.

Touché!

 

[Gaddabout]

I really don't understand this insane "We have to support whomever ASU hires" mentality. Its like some kind of bizarre Stockholm Syndrome. It reminds me of the people who no matter how awful a job a President is doing say "well he's the President of my country, I have to support him!"

ASU is never going to be excellent until we demand excellence. If we all fall in line and keep the money flowing in when mediocre hires are made and bring us the expected mediocre results, then we're too stupid to deserve anything better. If 48 Hours ago I would've floated Graham's name everyone would've been apoplectic and/or laughed at me, but now since Lisa Love has hired the guy, we have to try to dilute ourselves into liking him?

Thats not to say I'm going to stop watching ASU, but until this guy proves he's not a total scum bag, my investment in the team is going to be much less than it otherwise would be if they brought in a classy winner (i.e. English). Like most folks, my sporting budget is limited, I'll still go to an ASU game or two per year, but the Diamondbacks (the only team in the Valley that seems to have it together) just got a lot more of my money.

This mentality is more likely the reason ASU hired a guy like this. ASU fans are just that, fans. They're not really boosters. They'll throw a few dollars at ASU when they're good but generally aren't committed to the program. ASU fans have been voting by abstaining from giving money or buying tickets for 20 years. How's that message working you think? Takes money to make money in this business.

Good for you. Don't waste your dollars. But don't complain when ASU is bleeding red ink and can't buyout a coach on a bad decision. They've borrowed $9 million from the general fund, which is the No. 1 reason ASU gave Erickson another year and were limited by how much they could offer a new coach. It's also why Sendek got an extension -- they know they can't afford to hire another coach in a market of rapidly accelerating market prices.

People keep talking about the TV money. Well, maybe it will actually mean something when ASU gets a portion closer to what's been reported. This year I think they got $500k more than last year. They need to DOUBLE what they've been getting just to get out of the whole.

 

[Mulli]

Ya, I am going to send money to the program that gives Sendek an extension? Or hires retread Erickson? Ya, sure. I will complain about the program as much as I want.

This mentality is more likely the reason ASU hired a guy like this. ASU fans are just that, fans. They're not really boosters. They'll throw a few dollars at ASU when they're good but generally aren't committed to the program. ASU fans have been voting by abstaining from giving money or buying tickets for 20 years. How's that message working you think? Takes money to make money in this business.

Good for you. Don't waste your dollars. But don't complain when ASU is bleeding red ink and can't buyout a coach on a bad decision. They've borrowed $9 million from the general fund, which is the No. 1 reason ASU gave Erickson another year and were limited by how much they could offer a new coach. It's also why Sendek got an extension -- they know they can't afford to hire another coach in a market of rapidly accelerating market prices.

People keep talking about the TV money. Well, maybe it will actually mean something when ASU gets a portion closer to what's been reported. This year I think they got $500k more than last year. They need to DOUBLE what they've been getting just to get out of the whole.

 

[jf-08]

From my brother:

Coach Graham spoke to a group gathered at the ICA building tonight. He explained how things went down at Pitt, that 18 hours ago, he would not believe how rapidly his life would change after he picked up the phone call from his agent. Things moved fast and Pitt didn't want to cooperate so he had to make a decision on his own.

I spoke with Sun Devil Club directors/officers Steve Ponder, Bob Vossoughi, and Dave Kinard tonight at the SDC meet and great, and you can tell that a million pounds were lifted off of their chests.

All 3 said that they have had little to no sleep the past 3 weeks. Phones were ringing off the hook, thousands of emails were being received..they said it was chaos....kind of a good chaos though.

They also said that they were impressed with the fans' passion and if there wasn't uproar that there was a 99% certainty that June Jones would be our coach.

I also spoke with Dr Crow, introduced myself and his eyes grew a little big. He said that he read every email that everyone sent and I doubted him on it. He laughed and quoted one of the things that I said to him about the search (not disrespectful, but very matter of fact). He said that they took bits and pieces from everyone's responses and really did listen.

Take it for what it is worth...

I am glad that we hired Coach Graham. He spoke to a group of us and he seems to be a no-nonsense, get 'er done type of guy. He is personable and wants to get the students, former players, alumni involved. He loves the game of college football and his excitement was infectious.

I approve of the hire.

I forgot some other good info: He also said that he is pretty close with John Cooper. They share common ties with the Tulsa job and he looks to Coop as a mentor. He asked Cooper about working at ASU, pluses, minuses, if he had any regrets etc.

He said that Cooper's biggest regret was leaving ASU for Ohio State. He said that they were worlds apart. At ASU, he was the top dog, pressure was high but not anything like Ohio State. For the most part it was laid back, pretty good booster support, but the AD & President at the time didn't have a priority in football.

He said that Coop said that the pressure at OSU was unreal, like a pressure cooker 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Coop told him that if you get the chance to coach at ASU, don't make the same mistake that I did and leave. Take the program to greatness, which is something that I should have done.

 

[Mulli]

Thanks, jf-08!

 

[Dback Jon]

Good stuff!

 

[Bert]

Like I said earlier, I knew nothing about this guy, and to say the least the things I've heard about him in the last 24 hours have been less than flattering. But seriously, he cant be worse than Erickson who hurt the program, hurt young players by not developing them, had one of the least diciplined teams in the country (penalties).

We needed change so bad that I'll give this guy a chance before I judge him for things in his past that we really dont know all the details of. Just my opinion.

It doesn't matter anyway, if he wins it will just be "These are all Ericksons kids!" lol

 

[FArting]

Love this guy already. I like his passion and that he wants to win the Territorial Cup every year.

 

[HooverDam]

Takes money to make money in this business.

It takes $0 per year to be intelligent.

Make intelligent hires, the program will start to win, the money will flow in. You don't throw money at bad leaders, bad coaches, etc. and then hope they become good.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

It takes $0 per year to be intelligent.

Make intelligent hires, the program will start to win, the money will flow in. You don't throw money at bad leaders, bad coaches, etc. and then hope they become good.

Yep...there were assistants out there (many championed by Matt himself) that would have created a much better situation than what we're in currently. For the same money, get an up and comer or English, supplement them with a great staff, and we're all feeling much better about our chances.

Of course it's not enough money to get Saban or Miles, but ASU like everyone else has to do more with less. Instead we have tweedle dee and tweedle dummy at the helm.