After 17 days ASU finally hired a new coach. I will be honest, when I read the name for the first time, I had no idea who the guy was. I will be even more honest, I still don't have a clue who this guy is. Sure, I know he was at Tulsa and then Pitt for a year. Not helping. But he is the coach so I will stand behind him. But first a few thoughts on how the whole thing went down.
I was probably one of the few people who didn't want Kevin Sumlin. In my opinion, we have had him before, his name was Dirk Koetter. The up and comer from a mid major who tears through a softer schedule and is the next big thing. Sure Sumlin was better with the media, but that doesn't win football games. I didn't want June Jones, we've had him before too, his name was Dennis Erickson. An older coach with an impressive resume but has really been out of the mainstream for awhile. And on top of that, Jones has been the only non automatic qualifier whose team played in a BCS game and wasn't even competitive. I will say this though, if he was indeed offered the job it was extremely poor taste of ASU to pull it off the table.
My vote was actually for Jim Tressel. Yes, I am well aware of his baggage. But he would have moved the needle. Even with the baggage he would have peaked fans interest. I see Tressel kind of like Shaq when he came to the Suns. Everyone knew Shaq wasn't the Shaq of old, but he still peaked our interest for the first year. Unlike Shaq though, I think Tressel could have delivered. If you can recruit to Columbus, OH you can recruit to Tempe. And truth be told, except for a guy named Kush, he would have instantly become the best coach ASU has ever had. He's won big games. He lived in the BCS. He knows how to coach, no one can deny that. And by the time the whole Jones thing happened, was there really any face to save for ASU nationally?
I am willing to give Graham a chance. My response to the "job hopper" is this... if in 3 years a bigger school is coming after him, he must be winning. Not since John Cooper has a coach left of his own will to go to a better job. So if he leaves for a Texas or USC or Florida, I can guarantee our program is the best it has been in a very long time. Now, as for how he left Pitt, there are a lot of stories out there. If the worst thing Graham does is resign from a job and let kids know by text message he is leaving, I'll take that. Is it ideal? No. But was anything with this search ideal? Absolutely not.
The one thing this coaching search has done is verify what only a few locally have been willing to admit. ASU is not a big time program. It is not a job coaches dream about. It is not a place the 5 star athletes want to come. It is the 4th best show in town. If Graham can win and win early, he has the chance to turn it into something big. There is definitely talent in this cupboard. That is one thing Erickson did do, bring talent here. The question is can Graham coach it.
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