Devils in Detail
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ASU Football: The Rebuild Starts Now

By Hunter Robinson

Nov 19, 2016; Seattle, WA, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Todd Graham calls a timeout against the Washington Huskies during the fourth quarter at Husky Stadium. Washington won 44-18. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Buchanan-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 19, 2016; Seattle, WA, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Todd Graham calls a timeout against the Washington Huskies during the fourth quarter at Husky Stadium. Washington won 44-18. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Buchanan-USA TODAY Sports /
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After a season that started off promising ended on a six game losing streak, it is time to look ahead to next season for ASU football.

The honeymoon period with Todd Graham is officially over. After three years of success, the past two seasons have sobered up the ASU fanbase and expectations will weigh down on Graham next season. His first step of business is to figure out how to get a reliable and consistent defense.

Most people will expect a new defensive coordinator, but this isn’t necessarily the answer. A more realistic and well thought out answer would require Graham to make a change in philosophy rather than a change in personnel.

This change is a very simple one to make, allow defensive coordinator Kieth Patterson to control the defense instead of taking control of the defense come game time. Graham is known as being a very controlling coach, he wants to have his hands over everything. If Graham wants the defense to improve then he needs to back up and start acting like a head coach instead of a defensive coordinator.

Another way that Graham could move the program back in the right direction is to figure out a new message to tell his players. Graham has always held a high standard for himself and his players. This high standard is supposed to make the players play up to that standard, but after a while players may begin to stop believing that standard is obtainable. In a season like this past one, Graham needs to find a new message to spin.

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An easy message that Graham could stand by would be to work hard off the field and reap the benefits on the field. This is basically the same thing as having high standards, but by saying it a new way the players can feel a new found sense of energy.

There is no one way to fix the ASU football program, some think that Graham needs to be fired and others think that this season was completely due to injuries and no blame can be put on Graham. No matter what you believe, Graham needs to take steps to improve the program starting now so that those changes can be seen come August of 2017.

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