Dec. 14, 2011

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ASU: Arizona State University named Todd Graham as its 23rd football coach in December 2011 and he led the Sun Devils to the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl in his first season at the helm of the program, finishing 7-5.

While known for leading programs that post many of the top offensive numbers in the nation in recent seasons, Graham also is known as tough defensive coach who served as defensive coordinator at both Tulsa and West Virginia. He also has had an eye for hiring some of the nation's top assistant coaches on his staff.

"What we sought in a football coach was someone who would be in it for the long term at Arizona State, who would build and guide a program that would be competitive in the Pac-12 and on a national level year after year after year, who would communicate and connect with the community, and represent our University with honor. In Todd Graham we have that person," says ASU President Dr. Michael Crow.

2013: In his second recruiting class at ASU, Graham signed 27 Student-Athletes on National Signing Day in Feburary. The class consists of 16 freshman, five sophomores and six juniors -- nine of those Student-Athletes were rated in the top-40 at their position as high school recruits and seven transfers rated in the nation's top-100 overall junior college prospects.

2012: In his first season at Arizona State, Graham took the Sun Devils to their first winning season since 2007 with a 7-5 record (5-4 in Pac-12 competition) and to their second consecutive bowl game.

Graham's attention to discipline paid immediate dividends to the Sun Devils as the team finished the 2012 regular season ranked 10th in penalty yards per game (35.75) and 14th in penalties per game (4.42) - a far cry from the team that finished dead last (120th) in both categories among FBS institutions last season after averaging eight penalties for 79.77 yards per game.

Graham is also a stickler for defense and the results were immediate for ASU in that category this season, as well. The ASU secondary unit ranks 11th in passing efficiency defense (105.16) and 12th nationally in passing defense (178.83) this season, and leads the Pac-12 in both. The 2011 team finished ninth and 11th, respectively, in those categories in the conference last season and was 94th and 108th in those categories, nationally.

A good secondary benefits from a good pass rush and the Sun Devils job in the trenches in 2012 helped the team towards their success in defending the passing game. The Sun Devils have 48 sacks in 2012, a mark that trails only the 1978 and 2002 Sun Devils, who had 64 and 52 respectively. Averaging 4.00 sacks per game, the Sun Devils finished the 2012 regular season ranked second in the nation. ASU has two Sun Devils with over 10 sacks this year (Carl Bradford and Will Sutton) - a feat that had not been achieved since the 1994 season.

Prior to coming to Arizona State,Grahamled Rice to its first bowl victory in 45 seasons in 2006 and then led Tulsa to back-to-back 10-plus win seasons for the first time in school history in 2007 and 2008.

Born Dec. 5, 1964, Graham is 56-34 in his seven-year head coaching career and most recently was head coach at Pittsburgh in 2011 prior to coming to ASU. He is well-known for his four-year stay at Tulsa from 2007-2010 when he led the Golden Hurricane to a 36-17 mark, which included three bowl wins and three seasons of 10-plus wins. The Golden Hurricane 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.

His team's have been scoreboard changers, as Tulsa twice 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 comprised of mainly his first recruiting class notched 505.6 yards per contest, but on the other side of the line of scrimmage the Golden Hurricane 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.

His 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.

The Sun Devil position will mark Graham's fourth head-coaching position, as he also led Rice to its first bowl game in 45 seasons in 2006 and earned Conference USA Coach of the Year honors that same season. What made the year even more impressive is the Owls started the year 0-4 before winning seven of its next nine. Three of the wins were on the last play of the game.

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 defensive back. He began his coaching career in 1988 as an assistant at Poteet High School in Mesquite (1988-90) and then helped lead East Central University from a .500 program to NAIA national champions in his second 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).

He was hired as the linebackers coach at West Virginia in 2001 and one year later he was named defensive co-coordinator as West Virginia went from 3-8 to 9-4. The 2002 Mountaineers forced 34 turnovers (19 interceptions) and ranked fourth nationally in turnover margin (+19).

In 2003 Steve Kragthorpe hired Graham as the defensive coordinator at Tulsa and he helped guide the Golden Hurricane to two bowl games in three seasons and led one of the conferences best defenses before taking over the Rice position. His 2005 team finished 9-4, won the Conference USA Title and shut down a high-flying Fresno State squad 31-24 in the Liberty Bowl. His defense ranked among the top 40 in takeaways (third), interceptions (third), pass efficiency defense (11th), pass defense (17th) and total defense (40th).

Graham earned a bachelor's degree in education in 1987 from East Central and then later earned his master's degree.

TODD GRAHAM BACKGROUND
Overall Head Coaching Record:56-34 (7 seasons)
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.

TURNING IT AROUND
Todd Graham was part of two of the NCAA's top single-season turnarounds in recent history. In 2002 Tulsa was 1-11, but under Graham's defensive leadership the team went 8-4 in 2003. At West Virginia, the Mountaineers were 3-8 but then jumped to 9-4 in his second season.

TULSA UNDER TODD GRAHAM
--In his first two seasons, the Golden Hurricane posted consecutive 10-win seasons for the first time in school history.
--Tulsa won a school-record 11 games in 2008.
--Tulsa led the nation in total offense in back-to-back seasons in 2007 and 2008, a first for any NCAA team since Nevada in 1995-96.
--His first hire as his offensive coordinator at Tulsa was Gus Malzahn. He also hired current Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris and current Texas co-offensive coordinator Major Applewhite.
--His 2010 squad ranked fifth in total offense (505.6 yards per game) and was sixth in scoring (41.4) but also led the nations in interceptions (24) and was third in turnovers gained (36).
--Tulsa's 661 points in 2008 was the second-highest total in modern era of NCAA at the time (second only to Oklahoma's 716 in 2008).

TODD GRAHAM HEAD COACHING RECORD YEAR-BY-YEAR