Mornin Mates...
Today's Topic = Fixing the Wire, Sir
I've followed ASU football closely now for over 45 years and watched the program go from Frank Kush, when the Devils were basically the Boise St of their day, to now when they are competing in the PAC South that very likely is the toughest college football division in the land, IMHO...
I've seen the highs and lows over the years and have concluded that under Coach Graham that the Devils are now really headed upwards again on a sustainable basis because he matches Kush in terms of leadership, teaching and discipline...Kush ran his program the way Patton ran the Third Army in WWII, which was his way and seldom very diplomatic...
He oftentimes spoke of his faith unabashedly and used liberal cussing to get his points across to his troops...
He always talked about winning and embracing the grind and talked about the team and how it worked together to get things accomplished...
He told this anecdote related to true bravery and what it meant to not fold under pressure and to do your job as drilled into each and every soldier...
While engaging the Germans in North Africa during a very heated battle and with bullets and artillery rounds flying all around, he came upon one of his soldiers up on a telegraph pole working to repair the line and Patton asked him 1) what he was doing up there, and 2) if it might be wiser to be on the ground under cover and the soldier replied...
"I'm fixing the line, sir"...(and I'll come down when the job is done)...
And that's what knowing your job and teamwork is all about when the chips are down in a nutshell...
Patton was not politically correct in any way and was a Prima Donna, which Graham is not, but they are both no nonsense, my way or the highway type men, who know where they are going and how best to get there...
Daryl Rogers, who replaced Kush after Frank was fired, coached the Devils in the early 80s and put together some really good teams but couldn't win a championship with the talent he inherited from Kush, coupled with his elite recruiting, because his teams were not as disciplined as they needed to be...he ran a very loose ship and suffered the consequences...his last team was rated #1 in the country in the preseason, based on talent and returning players, but they only finished around 6-5 which caused him to leave ASU for the Detroit Lions...
I bring up D Rogers because the talent level under Graham has now reached what was at ASU under Rogers in the early 80s, in my estimation...of course, back then, Oregon was a sure win, as was Stanford a good portion of the time, while Washington was a power under Don James and neither USC or UCLA were dominant teams so the PAC was easier by far...
Therefore, I do not think Graham is blowing smoke when he says this team will be his best at ASU, since there are now a couple dozen players or more that will be drafted into the NFL once they leave the Sun Devils and many will be picked in the first three rounds...
Additionally, the depth is the best across the board since some of the better Snyder years, to go along with the overall improved talent level...
They will not be outmatched, either talent or experience wise, by any other team in the PAC this year but they will have some problems if there are some key injuries (knock on wood) especially if Berco, Moeakiola and Simone, among a few others, go down, as they are intuitively, for lack of a better term, way ahead of others at their positions...
I am really looking forward, as I've noted previously, in seeing these guys practice at Camp T...
In closing, it's great to see Corey Smith return to the DL where he looks to be making a name for himself this preseason...
It's also great to have D Lucien on board...I caught a little of The Drive on the PAC Network yesterday that did a feature on him last season at UCLA, as he had dedicated the season to his mom, who was suffering from breast cancer and it was very illuminating as you can imagine...
He's a very articulate and compassionate young man with great character who worked through a lot last year to help his team succeed...
"I'm fixing the wire, sir"...that's what a Band of Brothers is all about...bring on Camp T and the season...
Championships or Bust...Go Devils!!!
Today's Topic = Fixing the Wire, Sir
I've followed ASU football closely now for over 45 years and watched the program go from Frank Kush, when the Devils were basically the Boise St of their day, to now when they are competing in the PAC South that very likely is the toughest college football division in the land, IMHO...
I've seen the highs and lows over the years and have concluded that under Coach Graham that the Devils are now really headed upwards again on a sustainable basis because he matches Kush in terms of leadership, teaching and discipline...Kush ran his program the way Patton ran the Third Army in WWII, which was his way and seldom very diplomatic...
He oftentimes spoke of his faith unabashedly and used liberal cussing to get his points across to his troops...
He always talked about winning and embracing the grind and talked about the team and how it worked together to get things accomplished...
He told this anecdote related to true bravery and what it meant to not fold under pressure and to do your job as drilled into each and every soldier...
While engaging the Germans in North Africa during a very heated battle and with bullets and artillery rounds flying all around, he came upon one of his soldiers up on a telegraph pole working to repair the line and Patton asked him 1) what he was doing up there, and 2) if it might be wiser to be on the ground under cover and the soldier replied...
"I'm fixing the line, sir"...(and I'll come down when the job is done)...
And that's what knowing your job and teamwork is all about when the chips are down in a nutshell...
Patton was not politically correct in any way and was a Prima Donna, which Graham is not, but they are both no nonsense, my way or the highway type men, who know where they are going and how best to get there...
Daryl Rogers, who replaced Kush after Frank was fired, coached the Devils in the early 80s and put together some really good teams but couldn't win a championship with the talent he inherited from Kush, coupled with his elite recruiting, because his teams were not as disciplined as they needed to be...he ran a very loose ship and suffered the consequences...his last team was rated #1 in the country in the preseason, based on talent and returning players, but they only finished around 6-5 which caused him to leave ASU for the Detroit Lions...
I bring up D Rogers because the talent level under Graham has now reached what was at ASU under Rogers in the early 80s, in my estimation...of course, back then, Oregon was a sure win, as was Stanford a good portion of the time, while Washington was a power under Don James and neither USC or UCLA were dominant teams so the PAC was easier by far...
Therefore, I do not think Graham is blowing smoke when he says this team will be his best at ASU, since there are now a couple dozen players or more that will be drafted into the NFL once they leave the Sun Devils and many will be picked in the first three rounds...
Additionally, the depth is the best across the board since some of the better Snyder years, to go along with the overall improved talent level...
They will not be outmatched, either talent or experience wise, by any other team in the PAC this year but they will have some problems if there are some key injuries (knock on wood) especially if Berco, Moeakiola and Simone, among a few others, go down, as they are intuitively, for lack of a better term, way ahead of others at their positions...
I am really looking forward, as I've noted previously, in seeing these guys practice at Camp T...
In closing, it's great to see Corey Smith return to the DL where he looks to be making a name for himself this preseason...
It's also great to have D Lucien on board...I caught a little of The Drive on the PAC Network yesterday that did a feature on him last season at UCLA, as he had dedicated the season to his mom, who was suffering from breast cancer and it was very illuminating as you can imagine...
He's a very articulate and compassionate young man with great character who worked through a lot last year to help his team succeed...
"I'm fixing the wire, sir"...that's what a Band of Brothers is all about...bring on Camp T and the season...
Championships or Bust...Go Devils!!!
