ASU football's Todd Graham coaching for his job vs. Arizona Wildcats in Territorial Cup

Todd Graham didn't want the focus on him, but it's pretty much undeniable: The sixth-year Arizona State coach is coaching for his job in Saturday's Territorial Cup.

“I don't have anything to say about that,” Graham said Monday when asked about the situation.

In many ways, the Sun Devils (6-5 and 5-3 in the Pac-12) have overachieved this season. Picked to finished fifth in the Pac-12 South, they reached bowl eligibility in last week's win at Oregon State. With a win over rival Arizona, the Sun Devils will lock up second place in the South division.

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“We've made tremendous progress,” Graham said. “I know as a staff it's been a lot of fun getting to build these guys, and I couldn't be more proud of the job that they've done. You look at the things that we've done and the teams that we've beaten, the progress that we've made I think has been very impressive.”

It still might not be enough.

After going 28-12 his first three seasons, winning the 2013 South title, Graham's program has slipped. Despite this season's improvement, the Sun Devils are 17-19 over the past three seasons. Even a win over the Wildcats won't make that look much better.

All season, several within and around the program have felt that ASU needed to reach at least seven regular-season wins for Graham to have a chance to keep his job. In August, ASU president Michael Crow said that losing seasons “without some transformational explanation are unacceptable.”

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On the same day, Vice President of Athletics Ray Anderson told azcentral sports that everyone at the university is expected to “produce results” and that those who didn’t should expect to be held accountable. He added that the football program was out of excuses. The recently opened football facility and continued reconstruction of Sun Devil Stadium – completion set for the summer of 2019 – has positioned ASU to compete at a high level.

“Winning is important but winning can be defined in a number of ways,” Anderson said. “When you get down to it, we don’t have any specific numbers that we’re looking at. You want to see how a program is changing that gives you confidence that this is a sustainable improvement and it’s not just going to be a blip and then you fall back. You want to get a sense that there’s continuity here, there’s upside here, where you look at it and say, ‘This makes sense, we’re heading in the right direction.’ ”

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Through a school spokesman, Crow declined a recent interview request, referring questions about the football program to Anderson. Reached through text message, Anderson said he will not comment on Graham’s situation until after the regular season.

If ASU decides to fire Graham, the decision likely will come shortly after the Territorial Cup. Wanting to start the transition as quickly as possible, schools rarely wait until after the bowl season. In 2011, ASU fired coach Dennis Erickson on Nov. 28, just three days after the regular-season finale against California. A few weeks later, Erickson coached the Sun Devils in the Las Vegas Bowl while recently hired Graham watched from a stadium suite.

A quick decision also may help recruiting. Entering this week, the Sun Devils had 15 known commitments in their 2018 recruiting class. In addition to the traditional signing period in February, high school seniors for the first time can sign with schools early. That period runs Dec. 20-22.

A change would not come cheap. According to terms of his contract, ASU would owe Graham the balance of his contract. In June, the school decided not to give Graham a one-year rollover extension, which previously had been a formality. Even so, the coach’s contract runs through June 30, 2021, meaning ASU would owe Graham a sum approaching $10 million.

Not long ago, an industry source couldn’t see ASU making a change simply for that reason. Indeed, the school has several athletics needs, the biggest involving football. In September, the Arizona Board of Regents approved an additional $38.9 million for the Sun Devil Stadium remodel, bringing the total cost to $307 million. But according to those close to the situation, Graham’s buyout will not factor heavily into Anderson’s decision.

Shortly after his hire in 2011, Graham changed ASU’s culture and inspired an often reluctant fan and donor base. He brought back the Camp Tontozona tradition after Erickson had abandoned it. He made Pat Tillman the centerpiece of the program and stressed academics. This past spring, ASU boasted a team GPA of 3.0, the first time it had done so. One day at practice, Graham – who receives hefty academic-based bonuses – called two reporters over and told them he didn’t think the achievement had gotten the attention it deserved.

For these reasons, Pac-12 analyst Yogi Roth – who will work Saturday’s Territorial Cup – said ASU faces a tough decision. First off, he doesn’t think last year should factor much into Graham's overall evaluation simply considering the injuries the Sun Devils faced. After all, Roth said, who loses three quarterbacks in one season?

“Now, are there hundreds of other elements that I don’t know about? 1000 percent,” Roth said. “But (academics?) They’re doing great there. Off the field? Doing great there. How are they doing in recruiting? How are they doing in the development of NFL prospects? How are they doing in the Pac-12 footprint? Do they feel they’ve reached a level where they need to reinvigorate the program? Those are all fair questions.”

Last week, ASU players made it clear they were playing for the program's seniors, trying to send them out with two final wins and a decent bowl game. But they weren’t blind to the situation. They knew their performance would affect Graham’s future.

“He’s a dude I got to respect,” senior linebacker DJ Calhoun said. “Sometimes we’re like, ‘I don’t like him …’ but when you get older and you see what he does with players and everything like that, you understand. But you have to have respect for that man. I’ve been doing this since I was 17. We have a huge bond.”

Former ASU lineman Jamil Douglas has a hard time believing this is even a discussion. He has much respect for Erickson, who signed him in 2010, but he wonders if people forget where the football program was before Graham’s arrival.

“He’s not somebody that’s going to cut corners and try to take the easy way out,” said Douglas, who’s on the Atlanta Falcons practice squad. “There were times when Coach Graham was sleeping in his office. The guy cares about the team and the program and the university. People forget, that when I was there, the core players, we spent two to three years together before things started to happen. It takes time. He’s going to get it right.”

azcentral sports' Jeff Metcalfe contributed to this report.

Contact Doug Haller at 602-444-4949 or at doug.haller@arizonarepublic.com. Contact him at Twitter.com/DougHaller.