Arizona State and Texas A&M have a lot of incredible similarities. The main coaching staff at each university (HC, OC, DC) have shared uncanny familiarity the last three years. I honestly couldn't be more excited to have ASU as our first opponent this season.
Here are some interesting break downs if you need to kill/waste time:
HEAD COACH
Name................Age...YR Hired....W-L.....Career W%....Bowl W-L...Pres Conf COY....CUSA COY.
Graham (ASU)...50......2012.......28-12... 65% (77-41)......5-2.............2013....................2006
Sumlin (A&M)....50......2012.......28-11....69% (63-28)......4-1.............2012.................2009 & 2011
*COY = Coach of the Year
CUSA Head to Head: 2-1 Sumlin.
Sumlin (UH) competed against Todd Graham (Tulsa) from 2008-2010. After a 70-30 blowout of Tulsa in '08, Sumlin won by 1 in '09 (46-45) and lost by 3 in '10 (25-28). All three years were played against the same HC/DC combo that ASU will have on opening day (Graham/Keith Patterson).
Note: Todd Graham was born in the DFW area (Mesquite) and coached high school football prior to his NCAA coaching career. His most notable stop was Allen HS from 1995-2000. Graham is known to heavily recruit the DFW area, pulling 6 recruits from the region in the last 3 years (none over three stars). ASU is playing at least one football game in Texas for the next three years (Houston, Lubbock, and San Antonio). *Smart* _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR
ASU's Mike Norvell (Age 33) and A&M's Jake Spavital (Age 29) were members of Graham's coaching staff on the 2008 Tulsa team. Spavital entered the Sumlin/Holgersen pipeline in 2009 while Norvell stayed with Graham through present day. Both OCs employ a spread offense.
Norvell is the highest paid assistant coach in the PAC-12 and 8th highest paid in the country. He was a 2013 Broyles Award nominee (Coordinator of the Year) and has produced a Top 20 scoring offense in each of his three seasons at ASU.
Here is a breakdown of his consistency by end of year NCAA ranking:
Year......Total Offense......Pass Offense......Rush Offense...... Scoring Offense
2012............#24........................#40.....................#25...............................#13
2013............#17........................#23....................#27...............................#8
2014...........#37......................#28................... #56.............................#19
Texas A&M has produced similar numbers during this time but with Johnny:
Year....Total Offense....Pass Offense....Rush Offense.....Scoring Offense
2012...........#2.......................#10......................#14.......................#4...**Kingsbury Finalist for Broyles Award**
2013...........#9.........................#6......................#46........................#6
2014.........#32......................#13....................#78.....................#30
Excluding Johnny, ASU and A&M have comparable offensive numbers that may indicate similar production in 2015.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR
ASU hired a new DC in 2014 (Keith Patterson) and A&M hired a new DC in 2015 (Chavis). Both defenses have under performed compared to their offenses the last two seasons.
In 2012, ASU boasted the #32 overall defense accompanied by a #2 pass defense ranking. However, in 2013, they slipped to #105 in pass defense, #78 in total defense, and #82 in points allowed. Patterson's first year produced even worse defensive rankings.
Here is a list of each school's rankings side-by-side from the last two seasons. Texas A&M is on the left, ASU on the right.
Year.......Total Def........./Pass Def.........Rush Def.........Points Allowed
2013.......#121/#78.......#106/#105........#119/#43.........#103/#82
2014........#103/#84.......#58/#103.........#112/#51...........#69/#73
Both schools hope for defensive improvement in 2015. Texas A&M's hope is obvious with Chavis. ASU's, however, is more complex. Prior to being hired at ASU, Patterson produced two seasons of forgettable defenses at West Virginia University. In 2012, WVU fielded a #120 overall ranking succeeded by a #93 overall campaign in 2013.
Patterson was hired due to his working relationship with Graham. He was the DC for Graham's 2011 PITT team (featuring Norvell as OC) which featured a Top 35 defense. Additionally, they're life long friends. Patterson and Graham played college football together (East Central U), coached at Allen together, and stayed together in the NCAA with the exception of Patterson's position at WVU. This is the opposite approach of Sumlin by bringing in Chavis.
Player Note: Both Defenses will return a FWAA Freshman All-American. DE Myles Garret for A&M and DJ Calhoun LB for ASU.
Coach Note: Spavital was the WVU QB Coach while Patterson was the DC.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MISCELLANEOUS
The three year team records are similar but trending in opposite directions:
Year........Texas A&M........ASU
2012........11-2 (#5)............8-5
2013.........9-4 (#18).........10-4 (#21)
2014.........8-5...................10-3 (#12)
Recruiting classes are favored toward A&M (Rivals):
Year........Texas A&M........ASU
2013...............11.................34
2014................6...................21
2015...............10..................20
Both have defeated Duke in a recent Bowl Game:
2013 Chik-Fil-A Bowl..........TAMU 52 - 48 Duke
2014 Sun Bowl....................ASU 36 - 31 Duke
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
That is all. It's just awesome to see two schools, two head coaches, two OCs, and two defenses in similar circumstances square off to set the tone for the season.
End Note: I promise I have a life. This is the sum of staying entertained during a very long, uneventful shift
(Edit to fix formatting)
Here are some interesting break downs if you need to kill/waste time:
HEAD COACH
Name................Age...YR Hired....W-L.....Career W%....Bowl W-L...Pres Conf COY....CUSA COY.
Graham (ASU)...50......2012.......28-12... 65% (77-41)......5-2.............2013....................2006
Sumlin (A&M)....50......2012.......28-11....69% (63-28)......4-1.............2012.................2009 & 2011
*COY = Coach of the Year
CUSA Head to Head: 2-1 Sumlin.
Sumlin (UH) competed against Todd Graham (Tulsa) from 2008-2010. After a 70-30 blowout of Tulsa in '08, Sumlin won by 1 in '09 (46-45) and lost by 3 in '10 (25-28). All three years were played against the same HC/DC combo that ASU will have on opening day (Graham/Keith Patterson).
Note: Todd Graham was born in the DFW area (Mesquite) and coached high school football prior to his NCAA coaching career. His most notable stop was Allen HS from 1995-2000. Graham is known to heavily recruit the DFW area, pulling 6 recruits from the region in the last 3 years (none over three stars). ASU is playing at least one football game in Texas for the next three years (Houston, Lubbock, and San Antonio). *Smart* _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR
ASU's Mike Norvell (Age 33) and A&M's Jake Spavital (Age 29) were members of Graham's coaching staff on the 2008 Tulsa team. Spavital entered the Sumlin/Holgersen pipeline in 2009 while Norvell stayed with Graham through present day. Both OCs employ a spread offense.
Norvell is the highest paid assistant coach in the PAC-12 and 8th highest paid in the country. He was a 2013 Broyles Award nominee (Coordinator of the Year) and has produced a Top 20 scoring offense in each of his three seasons at ASU.
Here is a breakdown of his consistency by end of year NCAA ranking:
Year......Total Offense......Pass Offense......Rush Offense...... Scoring Offense
2012............#24........................#40.....................#25...............................#13
2013............#17........................#23....................#27...............................#8
2014...........#37......................#28................... #56.............................#19
Texas A&M has produced similar numbers during this time but with Johnny:
Year....Total Offense....Pass Offense....Rush Offense.....Scoring Offense
2012...........#2.......................#10......................#14.......................#4...**Kingsbury Finalist for Broyles Award**
2013...........#9.........................#6......................#46........................#6
2014.........#32......................#13....................#78.....................#30
Excluding Johnny, ASU and A&M have comparable offensive numbers that may indicate similar production in 2015.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR
ASU hired a new DC in 2014 (Keith Patterson) and A&M hired a new DC in 2015 (Chavis). Both defenses have under performed compared to their offenses the last two seasons.
In 2012, ASU boasted the #32 overall defense accompanied by a #2 pass defense ranking. However, in 2013, they slipped to #105 in pass defense, #78 in total defense, and #82 in points allowed. Patterson's first year produced even worse defensive rankings.
Here is a list of each school's rankings side-by-side from the last two seasons. Texas A&M is on the left, ASU on the right.
Year.......Total Def........./Pass Def.........Rush Def.........Points Allowed
2013.......#121/#78.......#106/#105........#119/#43.........#103/#82
2014........#103/#84.......#58/#103.........#112/#51...........#69/#73
Both schools hope for defensive improvement in 2015. Texas A&M's hope is obvious with Chavis. ASU's, however, is more complex. Prior to being hired at ASU, Patterson produced two seasons of forgettable defenses at West Virginia University. In 2012, WVU fielded a #120 overall ranking succeeded by a #93 overall campaign in 2013.
Patterson was hired due to his working relationship with Graham. He was the DC for Graham's 2011 PITT team (featuring Norvell as OC) which featured a Top 35 defense. Additionally, they're life long friends. Patterson and Graham played college football together (East Central U), coached at Allen together, and stayed together in the NCAA with the exception of Patterson's position at WVU. This is the opposite approach of Sumlin by bringing in Chavis.
Player Note: Both Defenses will return a FWAA Freshman All-American. DE Myles Garret for A&M and DJ Calhoun LB for ASU.
Coach Note: Spavital was the WVU QB Coach while Patterson was the DC.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MISCELLANEOUS
The three year team records are similar but trending in opposite directions:
Year........Texas A&M........ASU
2012........11-2 (#5)............8-5
2013.........9-4 (#18).........10-4 (#21)
2014.........8-5...................10-3 (#12)
Recruiting classes are favored toward A&M (Rivals):
Year........Texas A&M........ASU
2013...............11.................34
2014................6...................21
2015...............10..................20
Both have defeated Duke in a recent Bowl Game:
2013 Chik-Fil-A Bowl..........TAMU 52 - 48 Duke
2014 Sun Bowl....................ASU 36 - 31 Duke
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
That is all. It's just awesome to see two schools, two head coaches, two OCs, and two defenses in similar circumstances square off to set the tone for the season.
End Note: I promise I have a life. This is the sum of staying entertained during a very long, uneventful shift
(Edit to fix formatting)