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- Title
- Head Coach
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- Phone
- 965-5053
From the moment he was introduced as Arizona State University’s head football coach on December 14, 2011, Todd Graham made it clear he was a visionary. A throwback. A teacher who truly believes in the virtues of hard work, dedication and giving back.
He had a plan to infuse the program with a culture that was about winning in all facets of a student-athlete’s life. Graham referred to it simply as, ‘The Sun Devil Way.’
Graham, the 2013 Pac-12 Coach of the Year, concluded his sixth season at the helm of the Arizona State University football program. Under his leadership, Sun Devil football has reached levels of success not seen in more than 30 years.
The Sun Devils won 46 games in six seasons at ASU – the most for a six-year span in Tempe since winning 46 from 1982-87. Graham is one of just three coaches (Frank Kush and Darryl Rogers) to win at least 30 games in their first four seasons at ASU. The 46 wins are third for any head coach in history (behind Kush and Bruce Snyder).
Individually, Sun Devils have accounted for over 50 Pac-12 All-Conference honors (51), numerous All-American awards – including a pair of consensus All Americans in Will Sutton and 2016 Lou Groza Award winner Zane Gonzalez – and more than 30 student-athletes that were either selected in the NFL Draft or signing to free agent contracts.
He became the only ASU head coach to be bowl eligible in each of his first four seasons with the program, and led ASU to bowl eligibility in five of six seasons - second-most at ASU behind Frank Kush’s seven Bowl Games.
During his tenure at ASU, Graham was 10-12 against AP-ranked opponents. Those 10 wins are tied for the school record at ASU with Frank Kush and Bruce Snyder, despite coaching in fewer seasons than both of those coaches. His 10 wins more than doubled the Top-25-win total of Dennis Erickson (3) and Dirk Koetter (2) during their tenures. In the previous 14 seasons prior to Graham’s arrival at ASU, the Sun Devils were a combined 5-40 in games against teams ranked in the AP poll.
Graham successfully instilled a culture of discipline during his tenure in the Valley of the Sun, guiding ASU to an average of just 37.4 penalty yards per game since the 2012 campaign. That mark was good for the fourth-lowest total in the country behind only Navy (27.3), Georgia Tech (36.7) and Army (37.1). The Sun Devils finished 19th or better in fewest penalty yards per game in five of six seasons under Todd Graham, and ranked no worse than 52nd during his time as a head coach in Tempe.
Since Graham arrived in Tempe, ASU has received 45-All-Pac-12 Conference recognitions, and 50 All-Conference academic honors, solidifying a culture of winning on and off the field. 65 student-athletes earned Scholar Baller recognition for the 2016-17 academic year and 431 Football Scholar-Athletes have been named Scholar Ballers in eight semesters under Todd Graham. 33 members on the roster have a cumulative GPA over 3.00.
Additionally, the team as a whole has posted over a 3.00 Team GPA for the first time in program history as of summer school classes entering the 2017-18 academic year.
Other highlights from Grahams six seasons include:
- ASU was 30-10 at Sun Devil Stadium under Todd Graham, the second-highest number of wins for any Sun Devil coach.
- ASU was 31-23 in Pac-12 Conference games since 2012, the second-best total in the Pac-12 South behind USC (36-17).
- ASU was second in the nation in averaging 3.10 sacks per game since 2012. Additionally, ASU was first in the Pac-12 and second in the nation (Clemson) with an average of 7.7 TFL per game under Graham (since 2012).
- The Sun Devils forced 143 turnovers under Todd Graham, which was tied for the 17th-highest total in the country from 2012-17.
- ASU had 16 interception returns for touchdowns under Graham, compared to posting just four total in the three previous seasons prior to 2012. The total was tied with Ohio State for first in the nation in that time.
- ASU added four fumble return touchdowns as well for 20 defensive touchdowns since the 2012 season, good for fourth in the country in that time span behind Ohio State (25), Alabama (22) and Boise State (22).
- ASU was ranked 9th in the nation with a .51 average turnover margin per game since Graham took over the helm and 9th in the nation with a +38 total turnover margin since 2012.
- The Devils were second in the Pac-12 and tied for 10th in the nation with 91 total interceptions in that span.
- The Sun Devils rushed for over 2,000 yards five times in Todd Graham’s six seasons at ASU (2,159 this season) after doing so just one single time from 2000-2011 and only eight times total over 30 years from 1981-2011.
- ASU was ranked second in the Pac-12 and 15th in the nation at 35.9 points per game in the Graham era.
Graham, who is 4-2 vs. Arizona, has already climbed to No. 2 among Sun Devil head coaches in Pac-12 road wins. His 12 victories trail only Bruce Snyder, who won 18 from 1992-2000. Another feat ensconced within that achievement is the Sun Devils brought home conference wins from Los Angeles in three straight seasons – UCLA in 2013, USC in 2014 and UCLA in 2015. Only one other time (1991-93) had ASU accumulated as many successive Pac-12 wins in the City of Angels.
Graham’s influence on ASU football has been just as significant off the field where his student-athletes have been trailblazers in the classroom. In the most recent Academic Progress Rate (APR) – a real-time look at a team’s academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete – the Sun Devil football program reached an all-time high 960, including a single-year APR of 990 for the 2014-15 roster, which was third in the Pac-12 for that year.
In 2015, ASU became the first school to have consecutive winners – quarterback Taylor Kelly in 2014 and quarterback Mike Bercovici in 2015 – of the Pac-12’s Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year, awarded to senior student-athletes that are standouts both academically and in their sports discipline.
Graham’s resolute commitment to help Sun Devil football be the best can also be seen in the recent reinvention of Sun Devil Stadium, a project which Graham has invested in both figuratively and literally. In September 2014, Graham and his wife Penni, and Vice President for University Athletics Ray Anderson and his wife Buffie, each gave $500,000 in personal funds to the Sun Devil Athletics Momentum fundraising campaign.
The three phases of the $256 million project are set to be finished in 2018. The most recent stage of the renovation to be completed is the 118,669-square-foot student-athlete facility that the Sun Devil football team moved into in July 2017. The new building, which includes a 5,750-square-foot locker room, set a new standard for such facilities in excellence and innovation in fulfilling all the daily needs of student-athletes.
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The 2017 Sun Devil squad was among the most improved units in the entire nation after an underachieving 2016 campaign. ASU went 7-5 in the regular season with a victory over No. 5 Washington – the team’s largest upset since defeating top-ranked Nebraska in 1996 – and victories over a Top-25 Oregon program and in the annual Territorial Cup Game against Arizona.
Arizona State was the 31st-highest graded overall team in the nation this season, per Pro Football Focus - a year removed from being the 67th ranked program in the nation. The +36 swing marked the eighth-largest turnaround for a Power Five team in the PFF rankings on the year.
While the 2016 season saw some struggles down the stretch, the highlight of the year came in the form of place-kicker Zane Gonzalez, who was named the recipient of the 25th Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award.
Gonzalez finished his four-year career in Maroon and Gold as the all-time FBS leader in field goals made (96) and points by a kicker (494). His 23 made field goals out of 25 attempts in the 2016 season led the Pac-12 in both makes and percentage.
The Sun Devils proved their mettle with gut-check wins at No. 7 UCLA (the undefeated Bruins were coming off a 56-30 win at Arizona while the Sun Devils were reeling from a 42-14 home loss to USC), a 27-17 home win vs. Washington (ASU overcame back from 17-point deficit to win) and a 52-37 win in the annual Territorial Cup game vs. Arizona and an appearance in the Cactus Bowl in Phoenix.
The Sun Devils piled up 20 wins in two seasons in 2013 and 2014 in addition to claiming the program’s first Pac-12 South Division title.
In 2014, Graham’s Sun Devil squad posted a 10-3 record, including a 6-3 mark in Pac-12 play, a second-place finish in the Pac-12 South Division and a 36-31 victory over Duke in the Sun Bowl.
Tasked with replacing nine starters on defense, Graham led a unit that ranked near the top in the nation in sacks and tackles for loss, forced 27 turnovers and scored five touchdowns during the season.
On the other side of the ball, ASU finished the season ranked 16th in the nation in scoring offense and averaged more than 440 yards per game behind record-breaking quarterback and Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year Taylor Kelly, 1,000-yard rusher D.J. Foster and 1,000-yard receiver Jaelen Strong.
In 2013 Graham’s Sun Devils brushed aside the prognostications from skeptics who felt that an early-season string of games against Wisconsin, Stanford, USC and Notre Dame would be a little bit too much to overcome. Then, sitting with a 5-2 record after seven games and still very much in the race for the Pac-12 South crown, the Sun Devils would have their endurance and desire questioned again as they had to navigate their way through a stretch of three of their next four games on the road. In a hard-fought, 20-19 win at Utah, the Sun Devils dug deep and proved they had the toughness and resilience to fight through any challenge that lay before them.
That belief would serve them well two weeks later in a winner-take-all showdown at No. 14 UCLA. At stake: a trip to the Pac-12 Championship game. There would be no hesitation to seize the moment as the Sun Devils ambushed the Bruins, jumping out to a 35-13 halftime lead. Despite its early dominance, ASU could not leave UCLA’s Rose Bowl Stadium with a win until having to overcome yet another test.
A furious rally by the Bruins got them to within one score. Down 38-33 and with 3:21 remaining, the Bruins took over possession of the ball at their own 35. In a similar situation one year earlier, UCLA responded by taking the ball down the field for the game winning field goal. Despite Hollywood being a short distance away, the Sun Devil defense ensured there would be no sequel on this day as a pair of critical sacks forced the UCLA offense into submission. And just like that, the Sun Devils were champions of the Pac-12 South.
One week later ASU would keep possession of the Territorial Cup after blitzing Arizona 58-21. With the win the Sun Devils clinched a berth in the 2013 Pac-12 Championship Game.
ASU outscored its opponents 146-42 on points off turnovers while posting a +15 takeaway number in 2013. ASU put points on the board following 75.8 percent of opponent turnovers (25-of-33) compared to just the 33.3 (6-of-18) percent clip ASU opponents scored off of Sun Devil turnovers.
The duo of defensive tackle Will Sutton and linebacker Carl Bradford combined to give ASU the most dynamic defensive tandem in the country as the two combined for 24.5 sacks and 44.0 tackles for loss in 2012. Their collective average of 1.92 sacks per game was the highest in the country by two players on the same team since the 2006 season. Bradford racked up 40.5 tackles for loss in two years under Graham, tied for the fourth most by any player in the nation in that time.
Sutton became ASU’s sixth winner of the Morris Trophy and the 18th consensus All-American and first since 2007. Sutton also became the fifth ASU player to win the Pac-10/12 conference Defensive Player of the Year award. After accomplishing all of that as a junior, Sutton returned for his senior season and repeated as the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and Morris Trophy Winner while adding numerous All-American accolades.
Although the 2013 Sun Devils would come up short of their ultimate goal of getting to and winning the annual Rose Bowl Game, they proved they had the right people on board. And leading that ship a captain in Graham, who was named the 2013 Pac-12 Coach of the Year.
“The honor says, ‘Coach of the Year,’ but it really should say ‘Team of the Year,’ because none of this would be possible without the work of our outstanding coaches – I’m very blessed to have tremendous teachers, men of great character that do a tremendous job – and the trust of our kids to believe what we are teaching them is going to take us where we want to go,” said Graham.
In his first season at Arizona State, Graham guided the team to an 8-5 record as the program recorded its first winning regular season since going 10-2 in 2007. ASU ended the season with three straight wins for the first time since 1978 and just the 14th time in school history.
That season, ASU used a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback to defeat Arizona in Tucson and reclaim the Territorial Cup. The Sun Devils would go on to win a bowl game for the first time since 2005 and the 13th time in school history. Additionally, ASU was one of just four Pac-12 teams to win at least three conference road games (3-2) in 2012, doing so for just the fifth time in the program’s Pac-10/12 history.
While known for leading programs that have annually been among the nation’s leaders in offensive production, Graham gained national acclaim for his coaching prowess on the other side of the ball after leading defenses that helped West Virginia (2002) and Tulsa (2003) engineer two of the top single-season turnarounds in recent memory. With head-turning accomplishments like those it is easy to see why Graham believes that defense wins championships.
Employing an approach that emphasizes excellent fundamentals and hard and disciplined play, the Sun Devils’ extraordinary improvement on defense played a paramount role in the team’s rise improvement in 2012. After finishing at or near the bottom of the Pac-12 in several defensive categories in 2011, the Sun Devils experienced an amazing reversal in 2012 as they led the conference in tackles for loss (No. 1 in the nation), pass defense (No. 3 in the nation), and pass efficiency defense (No. 10 in the nation) and finished second in the league in sacks (No. 2 in the nation), interceptions (No. 4 in the nation) and total defense.
Graham was named the 23rd head football coach in program history on December 14, 2011, arriving in Tempe from the University of Pittsburgh.
Graham became well-known on the national scene following a four-year stint at Tulsa (2007-2010) where he led the Golden Hurricane to a 36-17 mark, which included three bowl wins and three seasons of 10-plus wins. Tulsa was one of just 11 schools to post back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2007 and 2008.
The native of Mesquite, Texas, had seasons at Tulsa which included records of 10-4 (2007), 11-3 (2008) and 10-3 (2010) and in his final season the Golden Hurricane won games at Notre Dame and then topped No. 24 Hawaii 62-35 in its own bowl game. The Notre Dame win was dubbed the biggest upset of the 2010 college football season by ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit.
One distinguishing characteristic of Graham-coached teams has been their propensity for lighting up the scoreboard. On two occasions Tulsa led the nation in total offense (2007 at 543.9 yards per game and 2008 at 569.9 yards per game) and ranked fifth in 2010. His 2010 Tulsa team also led the nation in interceptions (24) and was third in turnovers gained (36). His 2007 squad not only led the nation in total offense at 543.9 yards per game, it set 29 school records, 15 conference marks and four NCAA records. Tulsa routed Bowling Green 63-7 in the GMAC Bowl, the largest bowl margin of victory in NCAA history.
Graham’s 2008 team again led the nation in total offense (569.9 yards per game) while ranking second in scoring (47.2 points per game), fifth in rushing (268 ypg) and ninth in passing (301.9 ypg). His team finished 11-3, capped by another large bowl win, a 45-13 victory over No. 22 Ball State in the GMAC Bowl.
Including ASU’s 62-28 win over Navy in the 2012 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, Graham’s offense has enabled three different teams (two at Tulsa) to score 60-plus points in a bowl game, making him the only coach to accomplish the feat multiple times.
Prior to taking the head job at Tulsa, Graham led Rice to its first bowl game in 45 seasons in 2006 and earned Conference USA Coach of the Year honors that same season.
Graham began his coaching career in 1988 as an assistant at Poteet High School/Middle School in Mesquite (1988-90) and then helped lead East Central University from a .500 program to NAIA national champions in his third year as he served as defensive coordinator from 1991-93. One year later he was at Carl Albert High School in Midwest City, Okla., and then spent time from 1995-2000 at Allen High School in Allen, Texas. While at Allen, north of Dallas, he also served as athletic director and led a program that had no district wins in the year prior to his arrival to five playoff berths in six seasons (1995-2000).
Graham was hired as the linebackers coach at West Virginia in 2001 and one year later he was promoted to defensive co-coordinator as the Mountaineers went from 3-8 to 9-4, the top turnaround in the country in 2002.
In 2003 Steve Kragthorpe hired Graham as the defensive coordinator at Tulsa. For the second time in as many years, a Graham-led defense proved instrumental in helping a program post the nation’s best turnaround as the Golden Hurricane went from 1-11 in 2002 to 8-5 in 2003. Graham’s defenses would help lead Tulsa to a pair of bowl games before he moved on to take over the head job at Rice.
Graham was an all-state defensive back at North Mesquite High School and, after graduating in 1983, he played for East Central University in Ada, Okla., where he was a two-time NAIA All-American defensive back.
Born Dec. 5 1964, Graham earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from East Central University. He and his wife, Penni, have six children: Bo, Natalie, Hank, Haylee, Dakota and Michael Todd Jr.
TODD GRAHAM BACKGROUND
Overall Head Coaching Record: 95-60(11th season)
Born: Dec. 5, 1964
Hometown: Mesquite, Texas
Alma Mater: East Central University (1987)
Family: Wife Penni and children Bo, Hank, Natalie, Haylee, Dakota and Michael Todd Jr.
| Year | School | Overall | Conference | Notes |
| 2006 | Rice | 6-6 | 6-2 C-USA | Second in the West Division |
| 2007 | Tulsa | 10-4 | 6-3 (C-USA) | First in West Division |
| 2008 | Tulsa | 11-3 | 7-2 (C-USA) | Tied for first in West Division |
| 2009 | Tulsa | 5-7 | 3-5 (C-USA) | Third in West Division |
| 2010 | Tulsa | 10-3 | 6-2 (C-USA) | Tied for first in West Division |
| 2011 | Pittsburgh | 6-6 | 4-3 (Big East) | |
| 2012 | Arizona St. | 8-5 | 5-4 (Pac-12) | Tied for second in South Division |
| 2013 | Arizona St. | 10-4 | 8-1 (Pac-12) | Pac-12 South Champions |
| 2014 | Arizona St. | 10-3 | 6-3 (Pac-12) | Tied for second in South Division |
| 2015 | Arizona St. | 6-7 | 4-5(Pac-12) | |
| 2016 | Arizona St. | 5-7 | 2-7 (Pac-12) | |
| 2017 | Arizona St. | 7-5 | 6-3 (Pac-12) | Second place in South Division |
| ASU Career | 46-31 (6) 95-60 (12) | 31-23 (6) | ||
POSTSEASON APPEARANCES UNDER TODD GRAHAM
| 2005 | Tulsa | Liberty Bowl | W, 31-24 | Assistant Head Coach |
| 2006 | Rice | New Orleans Bowl | L, 41-17 | Head Coach |
| 2007 | Tulsa | GMAC Bowl | W, 63-7 | Head Coach |
| 2008 | Tulsa | GMAC Bowl | W, 45-13 | Head Coach |
| 2010 | Tulsa | Hawai'i Bowl | W, 62-35 | Head Coach |
| 2012 | ASU | Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl | W, 62-28 | Head Coach |
| 2013 | ASU | National University Holiday Bowl | L, 37-23 | Head Coach |
| 2014 | ASU | Hyundai Sun Bowl | W, 36-31 | Head Coach |
| 2015 | ASU | Motel 6 Cactus Bowl | W, 42-43 | Head Coach |
TODD GRAHAM COLLEGE COACHING EXPERIENCE
East Central University: 1991-93, defensive coordinator
West Virginia: 2001-02, co-defensive coordinator
Tulsa: 2003-05, assistant head coach and defensive coordinator
Rice: 2006, head coach
Tulsa: 2007-10, head coach
Pittsburgh: 2011, head coach
Arizona State: 2012-present, head coach
MEDIA LINKS
Graham finds success in first season at ASU (John Marshall, Associated Press, Jan. 15, 2013)
Wind Sprints (Matt Simpson, Alumni Magazine, Sept. 2012)
Todd Graham is Proud, Content with ASU Football (Dan Bickley, AZ Central, Dec. 19, 2012)
Coach Todd Graham builds momentum before football season's opening kickoff (Matt Simpson, ASU Magazine/Sept. 2012)
Todd Graham embracing his latest challenge at Arizona State (By John Klein, Tulsa World/July 15, 2012)
Graham, players sit down with students on multi-campus tour (By Josh Nacion, The State Press/Feb. 28, 2012)
Recruiting Report Card: Grading how new coaching hires fared (Ben Glicksman, SI.com/Feb. 7, 2012)
ASU football coach Todd Graham's roller coaster ride on Signing Day (Richard Obert, azcentral.com/Feb. 2, 2012)
ASU coach has three No. 1 priorities (Ted Miller, ESPN/Jan. 30, 2012)
Graham catching his breath after month at ASU (Fox Sports Arizona/Jan. 16, 2012)
Like it or not, discipline is coming to ASU football (The Arizona Republic/Jan. 5, 2012)
Coach Graham Press Conference Quotes in PDF Format (9 pages, easy to print)
Todd Graham on The Bertrand Berry Show (Dec. 19, 2011)
Former ASU Head Coach John Cooper on Hiring of Todd Graham
Channel 12 Interview With Todd Graham (Jan. 3, 2012)
Kevin Hunt 1-on-1 Interview with Todd Graham (Jan. 8, 2012)
Since his hire, ASU football coach Todd Graham hasn't stopped (May 19, 2012)
Graham working to rehabilitate ASU program -- and own image (June 7, 2012)
"This is a destination job." (May 1, 2012)
