Honor, Integrity, Commitment, High Octane….. None of the Above

This
was written by John Wagner from out good friends at Steel Nation Magazine. Check
them out at www.steelnationmagazine.com

The
setting is the Pederson Event Center 11 months ago. The newly announced head
coach Todd Graham and his entourage walks to center court. The fans are in a
frenzy. Coach Todd Graham proceeds to tell the student faithful and rabid
Pittsburgh fans how things are about to change. “High Octane” has come to the
city of Pittsburgh…trust me. Listen to what I have to say and what I have done
in the past…trust me. I am 100% committed to this university and am going to
bring a national championship to the city of Pittsburgh…trust me. The fans
bought into this hook, line and sinker. And why shouldn’t they? Todd Graham
came in boasting the top offense in the country the last couple years. He
conducted an offense that moved up and down the field at will. He would surely
bring in the type of athletes that would run his offense to a tee. He sold
himself to the Athletic Director Steve Pederson, he sold himself to the Pitt
Alumni, he sold himself to the student body and he sold himself to the fans.
Things were finally looking up. We had an enthusiastic up beat coach ready to
take on everything that comes his way. What a welcome sight it was after the
embarrassment that Michael Haywood brought to the university after being
arrested for domestic violence shortly after being hired as the Pitt coach. But
it wasn’t to be.
​
This brings us to today. When I heard Todd Graham resigned his position to
become the Arizona St head coach I was shocked. But the more I thought about
it, the less shocked I became. This is a person who has coached 4 teams in the
last 6 years. He said the same thing when he bolted Rice for Tulsa. He said the
same thing this morning when he bolted Pitt for the desert. We really shouldn’t
be shocked. The character of Todd Graham wasn’t damaged today, it was just confirmed.
Not only was he on a plane to the west coast before his players knew they no
longer had a coach, he sent a text to the assistant AD and asked that he
forward his message to the players. Not only did he not have the respect to
address his team or at least the team captains of his decision, he sent a
generic text message. He didn’t have the same honor, commitment and integrity
that he expected from his players. The same players that he called into his
office and sat them down and told them how their word was gold. How they should
be fully committed to his system because he was fully committed to them. One of
the many players that believed and bought into everything Coach Graham had to
say was wide receiver Devin Street. When Street heard about the events of this
morning, he had one thing to say. “Coach Graham is a liar” said Street. That’s
pretty strong words, however extremely fitting. This is the sentiment of many
of the Pitt players. They feel betrayed, and they should. These are 18, 19, and
20 year old kids that trusted their coach and would have run through a wall for
him. They did everything he asked without question because he was going to
eventually lead them where he promised. Well all that changed when hopped on a
flight with a bright red tie on and his wife wearing a Sun Devil red blouse.
​
Coach Graham was recruiting for the University of Pittsburgh as late as
yesterday afternoon. He was sitting in a young man’s living room talking to him
and his parents on how Pitt was the right place to come and play football. He
looked at that kids parents and told them to trust him, he would take care of
their son. He would look out for him and mold him into not only a great athlete
but a great student and person. I wonder if he will have even the respect or
courtesy to call that recruit and his parents and explain his decision on why
now Arizona St is the best place. I’m guessing he will show them the same
respect he showed all his players this morning.
​
The Arizona St AD in her press conference this morning said it was finally nice
to get someone that was totally committed to winning at Arizona St. Well it
looks like the car salesman made another sale. Todd Graham will stay at Arizona
St just long enough that benefits him and nobody else. He will come in with all
that enthusiasm spouting all about his promises about commitment, Integrity and
national championships. He should have that speech down pat by now considering
this is the 4th team he has coached in the last 6 years. But in this day in age
with the media, facebook, and twitter everyone knows the story. People know
exactly how Coach Graham has conducted himself in the past and the Arizona St
AD has nobody to blame but herself if he decides to leave after a short 11
months.