ASU legend White happy with Graham hire

Discipline.

It’s a word that gets thrown around a lot in the sport of
football.

Unfortunately it isn’t a word that was associated with
Dennis Erickson’s tenure as head coach at Arizona State.
That lack of discipline and a late-season collapse led to
Erickson’s firing in November.

Last month, ASU hired Todd Graham, who made it abundantly
clear at his introductory press conference that discipline
would be a huge part of his regime.

That’s music to the ears of any close to the program,
including legendary quarterback Danny White, who was a
guest of “The McMahon Group”, hosted by broadcasting
legend Pat McMahon on News-Talk 92.3 KTAR.

“He is saying all the things that a lot of us former
players want to hear. It can be summed up in one word and
that’s discipline,” White told McMahon. “He’s talking
about laying down some pretty strict rules like hair
length, earrings, work ethic, being on time, going to
class.”

When asked by McMahon if those types of policies would
cost ASU some talented players, White didn’t hesitate.

“When you change a culture, you don’t do it without some
risk,” he said. “The Vontaze Burficts of the world will
have to find another place to play football.”

In 2011 under Erickson, the Sun Devils ranked last out of
120 FBS teams, racking up an average of eight penalties
for 79 yards per game. Too many of those flags were
thrown for unsportsmanlike conduct infractions and
personal fouls, many picked up by Burfict himself.

Graham has already laid down the law with defensive Junior
Onyeali, who was suspended indefinitely “for not meeting
the high standards of the Sun Devil football program.”

White was also a guest of Pat’s Personal Portraits on
KTAR.com. Check it out below.

Follow @Vincemarotta