(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
ASU football ran away from rival Arizona 42-30 on Saturday in Tempe. The Sun Devils, picked to finish fifth in the Pac-12 South, end the regular season with the second-best record in their division at 7-5 (6-3 Pac-12).
For that reason, and many others, head coach Todd Graham should not be fired.
ASU entered the 2017 season with tempered expectations after finishing 5-7 last year and losing key starters in a porous secondary. When all was said and done, Graham was kissing the Territorial Cup while a raucous crowd cheered louder than it has all season. The Sun Devils are on the verge of eight wins if all goes well in their bowl game.
Somewhere along the way, the expectations of many Sun Devil fans rose beyond any realistic outlook. A result like Saturday’s should be viewed as a positive moment for the program — not a participation trophy handed to an undeserving team.
If you think that, through some magical overnight solution, ASU football is going to become a perennial national championship contender, you’re kidding yourself. Graham is the best man for this job under realistic circumstances. His team is bowl eligible for the fifth time in six years.
“But being bowl eligible isn’t enough. We want Pac-12 titles, Rose Bowls, National Cha—”
Let me stop you right there. That doesn’t become any more likely if you fire Todd Graham. If anything, it makes it less likely.
ASU is not a “sleeping giant” with immediate powerhouse potential. It’s a mid-level college football program with a .543 win percentage since 1988. Graham has the best record (44-30) of any coach in that span, so his efforts shouldn’t be chastised.
College football is a sport with high expectations and a short window of patience. ASU Athletic Director Ray Anderson has no patience for incompetence, and he issued an ultimatum of sorts for Graham before the season by not extending his contract.
“You make the business decision like you would with any other leader,” Anderson said at the time. “Do you award after a performance that was substandard? The answer to that is ‘no, you don’t.’”
This season — especially if ASU wins its bowl game — was not substandard. By Anderson’s logic, Graham shouldn’t be fired, and yet all reports point to Graham’s dismissal in the coming days.
With everything Graham has done for this program, that’s completely unfair.
Graham made the most of a limited recruiting scope with the likes of USC and UCLA growing longstanding roots in ASU’s territory. He’s given at least half a million dollars to the athletic department and played a key role in other investments and renovations by the university. His team boasts a 3.0 GPA and hasn’t had an off-the-field incident (that we know of) all season.
Take the moment after Saturday’s win for example. The stadium was still packed, fans were still applauding and Graham had a seemingly permanent smile on his face as he clutched the Territorial Cup.
Ray Anderson’s vision for the program exists within this moment. The only way that vision becomes reality in the foreseeable future is with Todd Graham at the helm.
