Brad Cesmat
Todd Graham takes his team to Utah on Saturday to find out if the Sun Devils have turned the corner on the 2015 season. The Utes are ranked 4th in the nation, the Sun Devils haven’t lost to Utah since Graham took over as head coach.
Arizona dispatched of a young Oregon State team last week within the first half. As I wrote last week, the Wildcats are in a stretch of games that they should be able to take care of business. Going on the road to beat Colorado is nothing to sell short, but having watched the Buffs a few times this season it’s pretty clear to me that if the Wildcats don’t turn the ball over, they should win.
Let’s get to the bigger matter at hand. Are Rich Rodriguez and Todd Graham going to chase some of the college football jobs that are open or may open? Sun Devil and Wildcat fans don’t want to hear this, but South Carolina and USC are better jobs than both of the in-state schools. Don’t agree?South Carolina is in the SEC, with the SEC Network. Presently I must have friends and family over to the house to watch the Pac-12 Network on cable since the powers that be haven’t figured out how to distribute their Network on 2015 technology like….Direct TV…..
Nationally, there are still/always media who can’t tell the difference between Wildcats and Sun Devils. We are an outpost. I love living in the outpost, but facts are, as we sit here today the Pac-12 still doesn’t have the national reach of the SEC.
USC vs ASU or UofA…c’mon…Even though USC stands for “University of Spoiled Children” in many people’s minds, the Trojans history, tradition and heritage are far, far deeper than the two in-state schools. Both coaches have done a VERY good job at their respective programs, both would deny they would have an interest, both would say “I haven’t been contacted”. Both would be crazy to stay at their present positions if they had a chance at either job. At the mid-point of the season I could see Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin looking at the USC job. If he were to leave, I can easily see Graham going after the A&M job. There’s not many jobs that I could see Graham bolting from Tempe, but College Station and some of the connections(R.C.Slocum) would get Graham at least in the door.
Rich Rod would play great at USC and South Carolina and a couple of other SEC jobs that may come open.
Neither Arizona State or Arizona are national brands when it comes to football programs. I would be more than a bit surprised if both coaches names don’t pop up in this years hiring cycle.
