A look back: The tenures of Todd Graham and Rich Rodriguez in AZ

Now that college football is over for 2017 following Alabama’s stirring 26-23 overtime win over Georgia in Atlanta, we thought it was a good time to take a look back.

Not just a look back over the last season, but to the tail end of 2011, when the Arizona State Sun Devils and Arizona Wildcats both ushered in new eras with coaching hires. ASU lured Todd Graham from the University of Pittsburgh, where he coached the Panthers for only one year. A month earlier, Arizona tabbed former West Virginia and Michigan head coach and CBS Sports Network analyst Rich Rodriguez to take over the program in Tucson.

There was a connection between the coaches. Graham served as a linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator on Rodriguez’s West Virginia staff in 2001 and 2002.

Through the six-year tenures of each coach at his respective school, there were similarities throughout, starting with the tenure length itself. The two were hired 23 days apart and fired 37 days apart.

Here’s a closer look back at the last six years for both men in the Grand Canyon State.

Todd Graham, ASU	VS.	Rich Rodriguez, UA
December 14, 2011	Hired	November 21, 2011
November 26, 2017	Fired	January 2, 2018
2,174	Days on the job	2,234
46-32	Overall Record	43-35
31-23	Pac-12 Record	24-30
1	Pac-12 South Titles	1
4-2	Head-to-head Record	2-4
2-3	Bowl Record	3-2
10-12	Record vs. Ranked Teams	8-18
27 (7th)	Weeks in AP Poll (Highest Rank)	19 (8th)
Beat #5 UW 13-7 in 2017	Best Win	Beat #5 Oregon 42-16 in 2013
Lost at Arizona 56-35 in 2016	Worst Loss	Lost to Wash. St. 69-7 in 2016
39.4 (20th in 2015)	Average National Recruiting Rank/Highest (Rivals.com)*	39.8 (28th in 2014)
12/18/39	All-Pac-12 Players (1st/2nd/Honorable Mention)	3/5/28
1	Pac-12 Coach of the Year Awards	1
10	Players Drafted by NFL Teams	5
Shaky Todd Graham introductory press conference footage	Back When It Started	Shaky Rich Rodriguez introductory press conference footage
Graham’s final ASU press conference	Finishes	Rodriguez’s final Arizona postgame press conference

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