ASU New Coach - Todd Graham from Pitt

[wilycoyote24]

The near universal bewilderment or anger about this signing says something (from Pitt, ASU fans, ESPN types). And I haven't heard from anyone at his other stops. Wonder if they would have ANYTHING good to say about him.

 

[Diamondback Jay]

part of football...happens over & over.

Yeah and yet its still dirty.

 

[O]

There's one staff hire I think he'll make that would make this mess look a lot better. Waiting word ...

Such a tease!

 

[Buckybird]

I will say this...Graham got former Tulsa & Pitt players involved in those programs. I guarantee you he already knows much of ASU's history, former players (greats) & maybe their fight song. He's a fiery, motivational, traditionalist who will expect the best from his players and coaches.

Just like I said, even before his press conferance...I know him so well. Looks like I'll be visiting him on the ASU campus when I head to Cards camp next year.

Great hire guys, I'm telling you!!!

 

[Diamondback Jay]

The near universal bewilderment or anger about this signing says something (from Pitt, ASU fans, ESPN types). And I haven't heard from anyone at his other former stops. Wonder if they would have ANYTHING good to say about him.

I'm no Pitt fan. I could give a rats ass less about Pitt football, just calling a joke a joke.

 

[HooverDam]

Sorry everyone, but watching this guy, I like him and predict his success here. He's all about football, is excited to be here, and will bring discipline to this program.

Anyone can get hopped up on a mound of caffeine and sound excited, that doesn't make for a good football Coach.

Besides at this point you ought to expect him to be pretty good at introductory press conferences.

 

[Azlen]

I'm not worried about him jumping at all. If he did it would mean he would have some success here because Texas etc. would not give him a second look if he didn't make ASU football relevant again. While ideally you want a top coach who will build a program and stay for years, I would still rather have a young coach who was looking at building his resume for a bigger job than a retread who just wants to play out the string.

 

[Diamondback Jay]

There's one staff hire I think he'll make that would make this mess look a lot better. Waiting word ...

I'm hearing some of the same noise you are here...

 

[Brian in Mesa]

He must know how to pick his assistant coaches ... since Rich Rod wanted them so badly...

 

[Renz]

The near universal bewilderment or anger about this signing says something (from Pitt, ASU fans, ESPN types). And I haven't heard from anyone at his other stops. Wonder if they would have ANYTHING good to say about him.

It's from a MB, so for what it's worth.

Preston Thompson, a close close friend of mine from El Paso was a 3 year starter on the OLine at Rice, he played for Coach Todd Graham the year they went to the bowl game. Here is our phone conversation about 20 minutes ago..

Me: Your coach is our coach
Preston: Hahahah I heard, enjoy that one.
Me: Its' that bad huh?
P: Look, he will suck every penny out of your boosters and fans and he will definitely bring energy, he is always yelling at the players and even the f*cking coaches, but I didn't know ONE player that liked the guy. We all hated his a$$.
Me: You're confusing me idk what to think.
Preston: I don't know what to think either, we just hated the guy. He is a pretty good program builder, I just dont see how this is an upgrade from your old coach. He has never coached in a big conference.

Still don't know what to think, but Preston did have some interesting stuff to say.

 

[Lefty]

Just like I said, even before his press conferance...I know him so well. Looks like I'll be visiting him on the ASU campus when I head to Cards camp next year.

Great hire guys, I'm telling you!!!

He's a douchebag, period. If you didn't know him you wouldn't be supporting him. All his actions in the past years speaks volume about his character, and in the end it will bite him in the butt. Pac-12 coaches are salivating when it comes to him and recruiting.

 

[PoolBoy]

I'm hearing some of the same noise you are here...

do tell....

 

[Dr. Jones]

I'm glad I'm not alone being pissed....


I was silently hoping we might go after Tressel. This seems like a really poor decision.

 

[Absolute Zero]

He must know how to pick his assistant coaches ... since Rich Rod wanted them so badly...

 

[Absolute Zero]

He's a douchebag, period. If you didn't know him you wouldn't be supporting him. All his actions in the past years speaks volume about his character, and in the end it will bite him in the butt. Pac-12 coaches are salivating when it comes to him and recruiting.

I read on the AzCentral Board that Pitt had the 18th best recruiting class under Graham. No Pac12 team was higher than 22.

 

[Renz]

Brian was joking. They were Rodriguez's guys to begin with. See how many of RichRod's assistants leave to join Graham.

 

[Renz]

Maybe Graham will win, maybe he won't, but it seems clear that he's a me-first guy and a complete tool. He's also very Mike Stoops-like on the sideline, so at least he won't be boring.

Pitt has to start over -- again
Dec 14 5:39PM ET
By Andrea Adelson

Todd Graham arrived in Pittsburgh talking a big game, throwing around his ideas for a high-octane offense, for doing everything the Pitt way, for making the city and its fans get behind him and his players with the special brand of football he had to offer.

But from the start, it was obvious Graham did not do anything the Pitt way.

He did it the Graham way.

Graham took a sledgehammer to Pitt football in every way imaginable, gutting the true essence of what this program represented. He was flashy. Self-absorbed. Concerned for his own advancement. When his high-octane offense looked as exciting as a jalopy riding in a NASCAR race, he blamed his players -- not himself.

Todd Graham notified his players via text that he would be leaving Pitt for Arizona State.And when his first opportunity came to bolt, he did, taking a page out of the "Randy Edsall Book of Class" to deliver the message to his players via text message. Graham lasted less than a year at Pitt, compiling a 6-6 record after setting preseason expectations so high, the Panthers were picked to finish second in the conference.

The Graham way indeed.

The disaster started before Graham, of course, when athletic director Steve Pederson decided to fire coach Dave Wannstedt even though he delivered a share of the Big East championship last December. Wannstedt failed to live up to some pretty high expectations, but he never wounded his school, his players or his fans with such a reckless, selfish attitude. Nothing about Wannstedt ever screamed, "Me first." It was Wannstedt last week who astutely pointed out that Graham treated quarterback Tino Sunseri with little respect throughout the entire season.

After getting rid of Wannstedt, Pederson turned to Mike Haywood, but that turned out to be a disaster itself. Haywood was arrested on domestic violence charges a short time later, leaving the Panthers desperate. Graham had lobbied hard for the job before Haywood was hired, so Pitt already was familiar with him and his background at Tulsa.

So in came Graham, who professed his love for Pitt, for this being a dream opportunity, for all the amazing things he could do to get this team back into a BCS game. I sat down with him for the first time during the Big East spring meetings last May, and he went over all his talking points when I asked him why he wanted to coach at Pitt.

"I’ve spent my whole life working to get this job," he said. "This is the best job I’ve ever had. To get an opportunity in a conference like this in a place like Pitt where you can compete to win it all ... our goal is to win championships. We’re extremely motivated."

Not motivated enough. In hindsight, perhaps Pederson should have seen the signs. Graham now has two one-year tenures on his résumé, a man so completely consumed with finding a bigger, better opportunity that he has no sense of loyalty, relationships or how to tell the truth.

Just ask Pitt receiver Devin Street, who took to Twitter on Wednesday to deliver one harsh message after another:

"I feel like dirt and I was just abused. For a year"

"I'm literally sick. That man pulled me in his office one on one and lied to me"

"He's an actor he did it to rice then us now he's gonna do it to ASU... That energy is fake he has them fooled"

Or defensive end Brandon Lindsey, who tweeted, "For someone who said they read the bible everyday, he must've missed the pg that said 'thou shall not lie'"

It is understandable for the players to be reacting this way. They are going on their fourth head coach in a year. But we all know coaching changes are a necessary part of college football. Coaches lie to advance themselves. None of this is new to Pitt or to the sport itself.

What is so unsettling about this situation is the way Graham went about leaving. He asked for permission to interview at Arizona State but was denied. So he resigned anyway, after 11 months on the job and a .500 record to show for all his bravado. Whatever his reasons, his final day proved to fit Graham to a tee:

He did it the Graham way.

http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/tag/_/name/todd-graham-to-asu

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

The reality is that of the day after the Cal game had Lisa Love announced a press conference to fire Dennis Erickson then brought Todd Graham on stage then Tempe would have gone up in a mushroom cloud. ASU fans are fine with this hire simply because the process is over and Graham in their mind is superior to June Jones.

Me? I don't know what to expect since the guy has never coached out here. That makes him a bit of a wild card just like Rich Rod. If he is willing to cherry pick from Texas and is willing to recruit primarily from SoCal and Arizona he has a chance to do good things. But I will warn people that Texas football people are a different breed. They think their brand of football is in another world and are often oppsed to recruiting elsewhere unless forced to. See a good portion Mike Stoops' assistants during his tenure here. Graham has to recruit SoCal or he's done. We shall see if he can and/or will.

 

[Renz]

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

 

[Absolute Zero]

Brian was joking. They were Rodriguez's guys to begin with. See how many of RichRod's assistants leave to join Graham.

I understand and never expected them to come to ASU.

 

[Buckybird]

He's a douchebag, period. If you didn't know him you wouldn't be supporting him. All his actions in the past years speaks volume about his character, and in the end it will bite him in the butt. Pac-12 coaches are salivating when it comes to him and recruiting.

Yeah you know him so well.

Plenty of other coaches have done the same things & had the same things written about them...Petrino & Saban come to mind & I think they're pretty damn good at their jobs. I don't agree with the way Todd handled those coaching exits, but it happens & I can tell you from knowing the guy he's a great man and a damn good coach. Go ask his Tulsa players or Allen Eagles, where he actually spent some time about him.

 

[Absolute Zero]

The live feed of the news conference cut off right when Graham was asked about the rivalry with UofA and his relationship with Rod. After he said it was his expectation to win the Territiorial Cup every year, Did anyone catch what he said about Rich Rod?

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Him and RichRod hate each other. But I imagine they play nice for the cameras.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

Just ask Pitt receiver Devin Street, who took to Twitter on Wednesday to deliver one harsh message after another:

"I feel like dirt and I was just abused. For a year"

Probably not the best choice of words by Mr Street, but at least he reminds us that things could have been worse. We could have hired Jerry Sandusky.

 

[Mainstreet]

The live feed of the news conference cut off right when Graham was asked about the rivalry with UofA and his relationship with Rod. After he said it was his expectation to win the Territiorial Cup every year, Did anyone catch what he said about Rich Rod?

This was a bummer. I'm hoping there is a complete recording of the news conference somewhere or at least a transcript.