Todd Graham discusses tough schedule, QB race

After a whirl-wind seven months, first-year Arizona State head football coach Todd Graham is finally going to get a break.

After he and his family enjoyed Pinetop’s cool weather and fresh air at the annual White Mountain Sun Devil Club alumni event this past weekend, Graham and his family are headed to the Caribbean for eight days of rest and relaxation before returning to Tempe to focus on the upcoming season.

Graham, who has recharged the ASU fan base with his high-energy approach on and off the field, has also committed endless hours to spreading the word of Sun Devil football through local and national interviews since officially taking over for Dennis Erickson following the Maaco Las Vegas Bowl loss to Boise State in late December.

With several experienced players lost to graduation or the draft, the experts aren’t giving the Devils much of chance in the Pac-12, especially with tough road games at Missouri, Cal, and USC and a home contest against Rose Bowl champion Oregon.

Graham doesn’t seem too concerned, though.

“Our schedule’s tough, but that’s why I wanted to be a part of this conference, a part of ASU,” Graham told Brad Cesmat Friday on ‘Big Guy on Sports.’ “This is big time. It doesn’t get any more big-time than the Pac-12.”

The biggest question from spring practice and heading into pre-season camp is who will be taking over for Brock Osweiler, who skipped his senior season and is now a Denver Bronco.

The three-man race includes sophomores Michael Bercovici and Taylor Kelly, as well as duel-threat  redshirt freshman Michael Eubank who Graham recruited at Pitt.

“We’ve got a real good idea of where we’re at on it,” Graham explained to Cesmat. “There is some evaluation left to go and that’s going to be critical the first two weeks of camp.”

ASU will return to Camp Tontozona outside of Payson for the first time since 2008 from August 14-18 with a scrimmage planned for the final day.