Todd Graham Todd Graham ( born December 5 , 1964 ) is an American football coach and former player . He is currently the head football coach at Arizona State University , a position he assumed in December 2011 . Graham previously served as the head football coach at Rice University ( 2006 ) , the University of Tulsa ( 2007 – 2010 ) , and the University of Pittsburgh ( 2011 ) . Playing career . Graham was an all - district defensive back at North Mesquite High School , from which he graduated in 1983 . He then went on to play at East Central University in Ada , Oklahoma , where he was a two - time All - NAIA defensive back . After graduation from East Central , Graham had a brief stint with the Arizona Cardinals of the NFL . Coaching career . Graham began his coaching career in 1988 as an assistant at Poteet High School in his hometown of Mesquite . He later held head coaching positions at Carl Albert High School in Midwest City , Oklahoma , and Allen High School in Allen , Texas before becoming linebackers coach under Rich Rodriguez at West Virginia University in 2001 . The following season Graham was assigned to defensive co - coordinator . In 2003 , he was hired by Steve Kragthorpe as the defensive coordinator at Tulsa , where he helped guide the Golden Hurricane to two bowl games in three seasons . Graham built one of the best defensive units in Conference USA and the nation before leaving the position following his third year at Tulsa for his first head coaching stint . Rice . Graham was hired as the head coach at Rice on January 1 , 2006 , following the resignation of long - time coach Ken Hatfield after the Owls had finished 1 – 10 in 2005 . At Rice , athletic director Chris Del Conte helped Graham raise $ 5 . 5 million for renovating Rice Stadium and replacing the dated AstroTurf with FieldTurf . He hired former University of Texas quarterback Major Applewhite as his offensive coordinator , replacing the triple option offense Hatfield had been running with a more balanced attack . Behind quarterback Chase Clement and All - American receiver Jarett Dillard , Rice pulled off the biggest turnaround of the 2006 season , finishing 7 – 5 and earning an invitation to the New Orleans Bowl , the school ' s first bowl game since 1960 . Graham was named Conference USA Coach of the Year , and was rewarded by the Rice administration with the offer of a significant pay raise and contract extension . After signing this extension , Graham left for Tulsa only a few days after . Graham received much criticism for this move . On November 24 , 2007 , when Tulsa played Rice at Rice Stadium , the Rice University Marching Owl Band presented a halftime show named " Todd Graham ' s Inferno " ( based on Dante ' s " The Divine Comedy " ) . This resulted in a formal protest to Conference USA by Tulsa ' s athletic department . Chuck Throckmorton , the marching band ' s director , later apologized for offending anyone , but not for the show . Following Graham ' s exodus , Rice hired David Bailiff , who led Rice to its 2008 Texas Bowl victory . Tulsa . When the Tulsa head coaching position was vacant following the 2002 season , Todd Graham sent in his application . But it was not until five years later that Graham would take over the reins as the Golden Hurricane head coach . After serving three years as Tulsa defensive coordinator and one year as Rice head coach , Graham was introduced as Tulsa ' s new head football coach on January 12 , 2007 . He is the 27th head football coach in Golden Hurricane history . For his offensive coordinators , Graham turned to his good friend Gus Malzahn , then offensive coordinator at the University of Arkansas , as well as then WVU tight end s coach Herb Hand . He also hired former Tulsa quarterback and Tulsa Union HS coach Bill Blankenship as wide receivers coach . With an annual salary of $ 1 . 1 million Graham was the second highest - paid coach in Conference USA , behind SMU ' s June Jones in 2010 . Pittsburgh . Graham was announced as Pittsburgh ' s head coach on January 10 , 2011 , and subsequently led the team to a disappointing 6 – 6 regular season later that fall . Less than one year from his hiring , on the evening of December 13 , Graham informed Athletic Director Steve Pederson that he had discussed a head coaching opportunity at Arizona State . After being informed he did not have permission to talk to the school about the job and refusing conversations with Pederson and another administrator , Graham resigned and subsequently accepted the head coaching job at Arizona State University . Graham informed the Pitt players of his departure the following day by having a text message forwarded to the team by director of football operations Blair Philbrick . Two weeks prior to leaving the University of Pittsburgh , Graham referred to assistant coaches who left to join the staff of Rich Rodriguez at Arizona as " nothing but mercenaries . " In later interviews , Graham claimed those comments were taken out of context . He said he wasn ' t referring to the coaches who left Pittsburgh and that he was having a conversation with reporters generally about college football coaching and said , " A lot of times coaches jump around everywhere , they ' re like mercenaries . " The style in which Graham left , in combination with his quick departures from other universities , lead to criticism of Graham in both local and national media and led ESPN writer Mark Schlabach to title him as " The King of Liars . " University of Pittsburgh players also openly criticized Graham for his quick departure . Defensive tackle Chas Alecxih said most players were " shocked and appalled . " Wide receiver Devin Street ' s comments were a little more severe stating , " It ' s been all a lie this whole time . Everything he told us has been a lie . " Another one of Graham ' s players at the time senior offensive tackle Lucas Nix stated that he felt Graham ' s exiting text message wasn ' t worthy of the trust the team had put into Graham and his program . " We put our trust in him , and all he could do was send us a text message , " Nix said . Arizona State . Graham was announced as Arizona State University ' s head coach on December 14th , 2011 . In his first season at Arizona State , the Sun Devils went 8 - 5 securing their first winning season since 2007 . With a win in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl against the Navy Midshipmen , the 2012 Sun Devils won the final three games of the season for the first time since 1978 . ESPN ' s Pac - 12 Blog writer Tedd Miller called Todd Graham ' s first season at Arizona State an " unquestioned success . "