Head Coach Todd Graham
Moderator: Good evening and thank you for joining us. On behalf of all staff and volunteers, I am pleased to welcome Arizona State University to the 27th Annual Motel 6 Cactus Bowl. The Sun Devils ended the 2015 regular season at 6-6 and will be making their fifth consecutive bowl appearance, their fourth in four years since head coach Todd Graham’s arrival in Tempe. The Cactus Bowl marks just the second time in history that Arizona State and West Virginia have met, the previous matchup resulting in a 48-7 Sun Devil victory during the 1979 regular season. At this time, please join me in welcoming Arizona State head coach Todd Graham.
Todd Graham: Well that was a great welcoming, it’s an honor for us to be here. Obviously we want to thank the Fiesta Bowl and Cactus Bowl Selection Committee for selecting us. Obviously for us and Sun Devil Nation to have the opportunity to be able to see this group of seniors at home is very important for us – we have a very special group of seniors that have been here. Coming off the four best years, academically, in the history of our football program as well as these guys, going back to 1970s was the last time that they had as much success on the football field. And so, we’ve got a really special group that we’re bringing here and just want to thank the Fiesta Bowl Committee and the Cactus Bowl Committee for selecting our team and we’re looking forward to Saturday and to obviously having a great time this week in an unbelievable facility and start it off in a big way with a great welcome. We’re excited to be here, looking forward to Saturday. I think it has two really good teams going at it and it should be a heck of a game on Saturday.
Q: What is it like to be playing kind of a home game here in the bowl?
Graham: I think it’s great for us. I know when we went through when we got to the end of the season, we’re sitting waiting to decide where we want to go, I sat down with our seniors and this is where we wanted to go. One, we knew what kind of a bowl this was and the reputation that the Fiesta Bowl/Cactus Bowl Committee has as well as for our seniors and for our Sun Devil fans to be able to play here locally and especially for this group and what they’ve meant to our university is very special. We’re excited about the opportunity to play right here in front of our home crowd.
Q: Coach, you mentioned the seniors, can you talk a little bit about Mike Bercovici and D.J. Foster and what they’ve meant to the program?
Graham: Yeah, collectively if you just look at the body of work that these guys have had. I mentioned a couple of things there, obviously what they’ve done academically, on the field, off the field, in the classroom it’s really these guys have been winners and have done a tremendous job with the amount of football games that we’ve won and obviously this year we lost four very close ones – two of them on the last play of the game – and that’s always tough but what Mike and D.J., being a local product, have been able to do and accomplish here is pretty special. Mike, the type of young man that he is and his legacy here – he could’ve left and went other places. You know, the character that both of those guys possess is just remarkable. It’s just reflective, collectively, of the type of young men that we have at Arizona State and I’m really, really proud of them, not just, you know, of as far as being a football player but what they are as young men. Those two guys epitomize what we’re all about.
Q: How do you think your team will do in the bowl?
Graham: That’s a good question, they better do well. No, I think, I’ll tell you this: I was speaking to some of the committee members earlier and I was saying that the records of these two teams are pretty non-indicative of just how good a football team they both are. I know, like I just said we had four games where with four minutes left in the game we were winning, that we wound up losing those four games – two of them on the last play of the game – and they’ve won four of their last five games and they had a stretch where they lost some close games as well. It should be a good football game. I know how our guys are going to play, I know how they play here in the Valley, and I expect them to play extremely well.
Q: Coach can you talk a little bit about new offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey and how he’s fitting into the program so far and obviously the value of these bowl practices. What will his role be during the bowl game?
Graham: For us moving forward, obviously it was great to get him in here, get him working with our players. I know Mike Bercovici has really loved getting to work with him and getting to know him. He’s just done a remarkable job. You know, having Coach Norvell gone it was great for him to get in here and get rolling, especially for the future. Coach Thomsen will be ultimately in charge of the offense but Chip will be right there working in partnership with him. I’m very grateful to him for getting here because, obviously, the void that we had. He’s going to do great things as he’s a great teacher and comes from a similar background that I come from. Our model here is that we’re educators, we take a different approach to how we go about the business of college football when it comes to how we work with our players and how we do things and so I couldn’t have had a better fit for us than to have a guy that has a background as a high school teacher and coach, and obviously the success that he’s had on the field, but most importantly it’s the type of person that he is and the fact that his passion is being a teacher and making a difference in young people’s lives. I know our team has loved getting to know him and his willingness to come in here and roll his sleeves up and go to work and he’ll have a big role in our game and he’s been very respectful of the fact that he’s not been here for 12 games. Our players have welcomed him with open arms and he’s helping Coach Thomsen in every way he can to help make sure we give our guys every opportunity to be successful. I’m looking forward to moving along with Coach Lindsey and throughout that whole process there was no doubt in my mind that he was who we wanted to target and just how well he fit who we are. That’s not an easy fit because people is what make the organization. The type of man that he is first and foremost is the most important thing, so he’s already made an impact in building those relationships. Just the relationship in a few weeks that he’s built with Mike Bercovici will tell you all about him.