Make no mistake about it, ASU football coach Todd Graham's future with the Sun Devils hinges on his success in 2017.
After an unimpressive 5-7 season which dubiously ended with an embarrassing 56-35 Territorial Cup beatdown, many were calling for Graham to be fired once the season ended.
And in all reality, Graham's critics have a point. After starting the season 5-1, the Sun Devils faltered and lost their last six games of the season. Not only that, ASU had some historically awful defensive numbers.
The Sun Devils finished with the worst passing defense in college football this season for the second year in a row. Furthermore, the passing defense was not the only issue, as ASU had the highest percentage of missed tackles in the country at 19.5 per cent being unsuccessful.
But despite the poor statistics, Graham still has his job and will likely be the coach heading into next season. Graham also has the support of ASU Athletic Director Ray Anderson, who said that Graham will return in 2017. Interestingly, Anderson said these statements before the loss in the Territorial Cup, but it doesn't seem likely that his opinion will change in the near future.
However, having Anderson on his side (for now) does not protect Graham from angry ASU fans on the Internet that want Graham to get the boot.
ASU fans, do you want current football coach Todd Graham to be fired?
— Mark Harris (@Harris_Mark7) November 26, 2016
Even if this anger is a bit premature, the pressure is on for ASU to put up some better results in 2017. A large portion of the fanbase is already eager for Graham to go, and if next season is anything like this season, then it could be tough sledding for Graham.
And there are no excuses. If Graham wants to keep his job beyond next season, the Sun Devils need to show significant improvement in a plethora of areas.
First off, the defense has to offer at least some sort of resistance to opponents. Many thought that the Sun Devils' horrid pass defense in 2015 was destined to improve, but that obviously didn't happen.
To put it simply, the pass defense just can't stay this porous next year. It doesn't even need to be good, it just needs to be average, or maybe even slightly below average, but not the worst in the country.
This is where defensive coordinator Keith Patterson comes into play. Graham, who is originally a defensive coach believe it or not, has given some control of the defense over to Patterson, who joined the ASU coaching staff in 2014, and the defense has not been a strong suit since then.
I'm not advocating for Patterson to be fired, because Graham also has a hand in the defense, but there should certainly be some changes with the scheme and/or the philosophy.
Secondly, the Sun Devils need to ramp up their efforts on the recruiting trail. According to Scout.com, Arizona State has the 67th ranked recruiting class in 2017 with just eight commitments.
That is not a good sign for Graham. ASU's roster isn't great as it is and supplementing it with a subpar recruiting class will not help matters much. Maybe ASU can get some late commits before signing day, but the outlook does not look good.
Finally, for Graham to keep his job he just has to win more games. College football is a bottom line business and winning is really all that matters.
I'm not sure exactly how many games ASU has to win next season for Graham to be safe, but my guess is an 8-4 regular season record should do the job.
But that's easier said than done. The Sun Devils have a tough schedule in 2017, where they have to play their Pac-12 South schedule along with Washington and Stanford in the Pac-12 North.
Right now Graham should feel comfortable about his job status, but if the 2017 season is a repeat of this year then Graham could find himself on the hot seat very quickly.
Reach the columnist at mpharri7@asu.edu or follow @Harris_Mark7 on Twitter.
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