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ASU Football: Is Todd Graham on the hot seat?

By Ethan Schmidt

TEMPE, AZ - SEPTEMBER 24: Head coach Todd Graham of the Arizona State Sun Devils reacts on the sidelines in the game against the California Golden Bears at Sun Devil Stadium on September 24, 2016 in Tempe, Arizona. The Arizona State Sun Devils won 51-41. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images)
TEMPE, AZ - SEPTEMBER 24: Head coach Todd Graham of the Arizona State Sun Devils reacts on the sidelines in the game against the California Golden Bears at Sun Devil Stadium on September 24, 2016 in Tempe, Arizona. The Arizona State Sun Devils won 51-41. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images) /
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After leading ASU football to its second straight losing season, head coach Todd Graham is under pressure in 2017 to get the team back to winning ways.

Head coach Todd Graham was hired by Arizona State in 2012. Starting off with three winning seasons, Graham now has had two straight losing seasons.

The former Pittsburgh Panthers head coach has a winning record of 39-26 with the Sun Devils. His teams have a 25-20 record in Pac-12 play.

Since their 10-win season in 2013, the Sun Devils’ record has declined in both conference play and overall record.

Different Translations of Success

However, the standard of having a strong winning season every year to keep your job has not been implemented in the Pac-12. Look at the Southeastern Conference and every coach is on the hot seat going into the season.

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For example, Les Miles never had one losing season with the LSU Tigers AND earned a national championship. But despite going 9-3 in the 2015, he was fired after a 2-2 start in 2016.

Arizona State has always been one to flirt with a top 25 ranking since the AP Poll expanded to 25 teams in 1989. However, the last time the Sun Devils were ranked in the AP poll was the beginning of the 2015 season at No. 15, before getting annihilated by Texas A&M in Week 1.

Is it really the standard for the Pac-12 to portray it’s okay to just barely make bowl games now?

2016 Recap

ASU started the 2016 season off with a 5-1 record only to finish 0-6, including a loss to in-state rival University of Arizona, for a final record of 5-7.

Arizona came into the Territorial Cup game last year with a 2-9 record using a back-up quarterback. This shed light on the fact that Todd Graham was unable to get his team ready for an important rivalry game with bowl eligibility on the line.

The Sun Devils finished 81st in the country in Total Offense with 391 yards per game. And even worse, ASU finished 127 out of 128 in Total Defense, behind only Texas Tech. And if it wasn’t for Kalen Ballage scoring eight total touchdowns against the Red Raiders in week 2, the Sun Devils would’ve finished dead last.

End of an Era?

The Sun Devils missed a bowl game for the first time since 2010 when Dennis Erickson was the head coach. Erickson was fired after the 2011 season (hint, hint).

Due to the inability to reach the six-win mark, Arizona State decided not to extend Graham’s contract after the 2016 season.

According to Jeff Metcalfe of azcentral sports, Graham had been receiving one-year contract extensions before the start of the next season since 2013. This has sustained his contract at five years through his tenure at Arizona State until this season.

Next: ASU Football: Joey Bryant and Ryan Newsome will soon be two-sport athletes

Due to declining success, if Todd Graham and the Sun Devils finish with anything less than a 7-5 record in 2017, the future of his job could be in jeopardy.

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