Time for Graham to build a winner
Arizona State football now has just about all the tradition a fan could want.
Each year, a new group of incoming freshmen hikes up Hayden Butte and paints the giant “A” with a fresh coat of white. Then before the first game, the alumni association sneaks up and paints it back gold.
Ever since coach Todd Graham took over, the team has held preseason workouts 100 miles north of Tempe at Camp Tontozona. It restores a custom instituted decades ago by legendary coach Frank Kush to instill toughness and togetherness.
And now, Sun Devil and American war hero Pat Tillman will lead the team onto the field each home game, thanks to a newly installed bronze statue that players will touch before storming out of the tunnel.
But there’s something missing: consistent winning.
The pressure is on for Graham. The season opener against New Mexico State on Thursday evening could be the start of a new era of success in Tempe. Build a winner, and the last two seasons are overlooked as a fluke. But if he pulls up with a third consecutive sub.500 season, it could cost him his job.
He’s made ASU into a Top 25 program before, with two consecutive 10win seasons.
He’s also looked about as bad as possible, with last year’s a limp to the finish where the team lost seven of the last eight, including the 56-35 thrashing by Arizona that even Graham called embarrassing.