Calm Down, Fans. Todd Graham is doing a Great Job...
Following a heartbreaking loss to Washington State, the Sun Devils are 5-3 (1-3 in the PAC-12) and some fans are starting to call for Todd Graham's job. Let's all just take a deep breath and take an objective look at the state of the program...
1. No one picked us to beat Washington State. NO ONE.
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2. Over half our team is underclassmen, and we return all but THREE players next year from both sides of the ball. As a result of that youth, every expert picked us 9th in the PAC-12 this year, and 4th in the South. Until our starting QB was injured, we were 5-1 and contending for the South. Due to his injury (and the injuries of the 2nd, and third QB) we are playing our FOURTH string QB who is a true freshman. By the way, he also missed much of spring practice.
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3. Todd Graham has seasons of 8,10,10, and 6 wins, respectively. His percentage is better than all, but Frank Kush (who ended up in the Hall of Fame), Dan Devine (left for Notre Dame in three years), Darrell Rogers (left for the NFL), and John Cooper (left for Ohio State in three years). None of these other coaches ever coached in the PAC-12. Only Cooper achieved a Rose Bowl win. When you compare Graham to Marmie, Erickson, Koetter, and even Coach Snyder, he is ahead by a large margin.
4. No ASU coach has had four straight Top 25 recruiting seasons (currently two consecutive in the Top 16) or a better team GPA. This year, two of the top three Arizona kids committed to ASU and they just happen to be the TOP two recruits in the state. That is a first for ASU football. Entering his fifth season, Graham is 34-19 at ASU, with four consecutive bowl-game appearances. The Sun Devils have also have unprecedented academic success under his watch, recently posting a four-year Academic Progress Rate score of 960, the program's highest mark since the NCAA introduced the APR in 2003. The team's grade-point average for 2014-15 was 2.55.
Bottom line: the Sun Devils football team is going through some serious adversity and is still only one win away from being bowl-eligible. This says a lot about the character of the team, which reflects greatly on Todd Graham. He isn't going anywhere and anyone who knows anything about ASU football understands why he is so important to the program.
FORK 'EM SUN DEVILS!
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