:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/57745045/usa_today_10437549.0.jpg)
First reported by Devils Digest—the Rivals site for the Arizona State Sun Devils—the school decided to fire head coach Todd Graham.
BREAKING #ASU has just fired Todd Graham, a source has told me.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) November 26, 2017
The timing is surprising, but not completely inexplicable. In his six years with the Sun Devils, Graham posted four winning seasons, one season that ended 6–6 before a bowl loss, and one losing season. ASU had a winning Pac-12 record during Graham’s tenure, once winning the Pac-12 South and thrice having at least some share of second in the division. The team never reached the same heights as they did in 2013 and 2014 where they reached 10 wins. In 2017 specifically, the Sun Devils tied for second in the division and had just beaten their archrivals—the Arizona Wildcats—for the Territorial Cup. So firing a coach who was overall fairly successful is a bold statement that Arizona State is serious about football.
We have a new leader in the clubhouse in buyouts. Todd Graham had 43 months left on his contract and is owed $11.2 million.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) November 26, 2017
To try to make a grand statement while saying nothing at all, it will be key to see how this change—as well as all nationwide coaching changes—affect the California Golden Bears’ staff and when we next have to play them in 2019.