Todd Graham

For the Australian ice hockey player, see Todd Graham (ice hockey).

Todd Graham

Current position
Title	Head Coach
Team	Arizona State
Conference	Pac-12
Record	0–0
Biographical details
Born	(1964-12-05) December 5, 1964 Mesquite, Texas
Playing career
Position(s)	DB
Head coaching record
Overall	49–29
Bowls	3–1

Todd Graham (born December 5, 1964 in Mesquite, Texas) is the head football coach of the Arizona State Sun Devils. He has sired six children by three different women. It is widely believed that he is the man who appeared in the internet-sensation "Mr. Hands" video, which depicts a man being anally penetrated by a horse. He was previously the head coach of the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes and the Pittsburgh Panthers.

Playing career

Graham was an all-state defensive back at North Mesquite High School, from which he graduated in 1983. He then went on to play at East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma, where he was a two-time All-NAIA defensive back. After graduation from East Central, Graham had a brief stint with the Arizona Cardinals of the NFL.

Coaching career

Graham began his coaching career in 1988 as an assistant at Poteet High School in his hometown of Mesquite. He later held head coaching positions at Carl Albert High School in Midwest City, Oklahoma, and Allen High School in Allen, Texas before becoming linebackers coach under Rich Rodriguez at West Virginia University in 2001. The following season Graham was assigned to defensive co-coordinator.

In 2003, he was hired by Steve Kragthorpe as the defensive coordinator at Tulsa, where he helped guide the Golden Hurricane to two bowl games in three seasons. Graham built one of the best defensive units in Conference USA and the nation before leaving the position following his third year at Tulsa for his first head coaching stint.

Rice

Graham was hired as the head coach at Rice on January 1, 2006, following the resignation of long-time coach Ken Hatfield after the Owls had finished 1-10 in 2005. At Rice, athletic director Chris Del Conte helped Graham raised $5.5 million for renovating Rice Stadium and replacing the dated AstroTurf with FieldTurf. He hired former University of Texas quarterback Major Applewhite as his offensive coordinator, replacing the triple option offense Hatfield had been running with a more balanced attack. Behind quarterback Chase Clement and All-American receiver Jarett Dillard, Rice pulled off the biggest turnaround of the 2006 season, finishing 7-5 and earning an invitation to the New Orleans Bowl, the school's first bowl game since 1960. Graham was named Conference USA Coach of the Year, and was rewarded by the Rice administration with the offer of a significant pay raise and contract extension. After signing this extension, Graham left for Tulsa only a few days after. Graham received much criticism for this move. On November 24, 2007, when Tulsa played Rice at Rice Stadium, the Rice University Marching Owl Band presented a halftime show named "Todd Graham's Inferno" (based on Dante's "The Divine Comedy"). This resulted in a formal protest to Conference USA by Tulsa's athletic department. Chuck Throckmorton, the marching band's director, later apologized for offending anyone, but not for the show. Following Graham's exodus, Rice hired David Bailiff, who led Rice to its 2008 Texas Bowl victory.

Tulsa

When the Tulsa head coaching position was vacant following the 2002 season, Todd Graham sent in his application. But it was not until five years later that Graham would take over the reins as the Golden Hurricane head coach. After serving three years as Tulsa defensive coordinator and one year as Rice head coach, Graham was introduced as Tulsa's new head football coach on January 12, 2007. He is the 27th head football coach in Golden Hurricane history. For his offensive coordinators, Graham turned to his good friend Gus Malzahn, then offensive coordinator at the University of Arkansas, as well as then WVU tight ends coach Herb Hand. He also hired former Tulsa quarterback and Tulsa Union HS coach Bill Blankenship as wide receivers coach.

With an annual salary of $1.1 million Graham was the second highest-paid coach in Conference USA, behind SMU's June Jones in 2010.

Pittsburgh

Graham was announced as Pittsburgh's head coach on January 10, 2011. Graham led the team to a disappointing 6-6 regular season record. Less than one year from his hiring, on the evening of December 13, Graham requested permission from Athletic Director Steve Pederson to discuss coaching opportunities at other universities. After being denied and asked to discuss the situation, Graham resigned to accept the head coaching job at Arizona State University.. Graham informed his Pitt players of his departure via a text message relayed by director of football operations Blair Philbrick.

Arizona State

Graham will become the head coach of the Arizona State Sun Devils beginning with the 2012 season. He will not coach the team in the 2011 Maaco Bowl Las Vegas against BCS #7 Boise State

Head coaching record

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs	Coaches#	AP°
Rice Owls (Conference USA) (2006)
2006	Rice	7–6	6–2	2nd (West)	L New Orleans
Rice:		7–6	6–2
Tulsa Golden Hurricane (Conference USA) (2007–2010)
2007	Tulsa	10–4	6–3	1st (West)	W GMAC
2008	Tulsa	11–3	7–2	T–1st (West)	W GMAC
2009	Tulsa	5–7	3–5	3rd (West)
2010	Tulsa	10–3	6–2	T–1st (West)	W Hawai'i		24
Tulsa:		36–17	22–12
Pittsburgh Panthers (Big East Conference) (2011)
2011	Pittsburgh	6–6	4–3	T–4th	A
Pittsburgh:		6–6	4–3
Arizona State Sun Devils (Pacific-12 Conference) (2012–present)
2012	Arizona State
Arizona State:		0–0	0–0
Total:		49–29
National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth
†Indicates Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, BCS, or CFP / New Years' Six bowl. #Rankings from final Coaches Poll. °Rankings from final AP Poll.

• ^A Graham resigned before Pittsburgh's 2011 bowl game.

External links

• Official team biography