Hansen: No love lost between UA, ASU coaches

A: The best thing to happen to the Territorial Cup rivalry is that it again breeds a healthy football-type hate. After the widely feared Frank Kush was fired in 1980, the Sun Devils hired a series of coaches who didn’t bump the needle.

Darryl Rogers was an outcast even among the Sun Devils. John Cooper was Mr. Rogers. Larry Marmie came across as Mr. Magoo. Bruce Snyder was a softie. The brusque Dirk Koetter was more disliked inside ASU than out. Dennis Erickson’s flame had gone out.

But Graham is in his prime. He’s loud, profane, a me-first mercenary who is about as hard to like as any coach in the Pac-12 since Henry Bibby.

Six UA football staffers have either worked with or for Graham over the last dozen years. If somehow Tony Dews, Jeff Casteel, Matt Caponi, Calvin Magee and Bill Kirelawich collaborated on a tell-all book about Graham’s foibles, it would be a must-read.

Dear Mr. Football: So does RichRod get a pass? Is it all on Graham?

A: The unspoken code inside college football is that nobody spreads insider stories in an industry in which coaches are disposable and itinerant. These are tough guys. They don’t snitch. If you tell the wrong story to the wrong person, you might find it difficult ever to get another job.

RichRod is not an easy guy to like, either. Outsiders aren’t trusted. He can stir up a storm on a moment’s notice. He reminds me most of Jim Young, Arizona’s head coach from 1973 to 1976, a Hall of Famer who went about his business as if commanding troops on the front line.

The desire to be popular can get a coach fired. That’s straight out of the book of John McKay, the man who brought Pac-12 football out of the wilderness 50 years ago. RichRod and Graham subscribe to that book.

Dear Mr. Football: How far back do RichRod and Graham go?

A: They met in, of all places, Ada, Oklahoma, in December 1993. RichRod’s Glenville State Pioneers met Graham’s East Central (Oklahoma) Tigers for the NAIA national title. Graham, EC’s defensive coordinator, prevailed, shutting down RichRod, 49-35. Strangely, that game attracted them to one another. Graham, then 29, was impressed by RichRod’s sizzling spread offense. RichRod, 30, must have liked what he saw, too. He hired Graham straight out of a Texas high school job to be part of his West Virginia staff in 2001.

Two years later, Graham left the Mountaineers to be an assistant at Tulsa. Yes, Tulsa. If you willingly move from football power West Virginia to an outpost like Tulsa, there must be some discord.

Dear Mr. Football: Why don’t they give the MVP of this game the Dan White Trophy?

A: ASU quarterback Danny White went 3-0 against the Wildcats (1971-73), and Arizona QB Dan White was 3-0 against the Sun Devils (1993-95). Both became as successful after the Territorial Cup as in it.

ASU’s White was superb, a 13-year NFL quarterback who now lives much of the year in Vernon, a small town in the White Mountains. He does some TV analyst work and, at 62, has experienced post-NFL physical trauma.

Arizona’s White, who was a Sun Devil Killer of note, completed 65 percent of his passes in the Territorial Cup (by comparison, ASU’s Jake Plummer completed 51 percent and was 1-3 as a four-year starter against Arizona).

White, 42, now goes by Daniel J. White and, after graduation from the tony Wharton School of Business in Philadelphia, has become vice president of Morgan Stanley investments in San Diego.

Best QB in Territorial Cup history? Maybe it’s Ronald Veal, Arizona’s option-quarterback who was 3-0-1 against the Sun Devils (1987-90), although he did share the QB duties in 1990 with George Malauulu.

Dear Mr. Football: Will there be any Sun Devil fans at Arizona Stadium today?

A: Given a diminished Zona Zoo presence over Thanksgiving weekend, Sun Devil fans have managed to buy almost 10,000 tickets. You’ll see gold everywhere.

The incivility between UA and ASU fans is widely known. Arizona will spend about $30,000 for security and police squads, which isn’t unusual. A year ago, the UA spent about $10.2 million for game-day expenses in all sports, and a large part of that was for security.

That’s not an exception. The Oregonian newspaper reported that the Oregon Ducks spend almost $50,000 per game to hire off-duty policemen at Autzen Stadium. You’ll see RichRod flanked by two deputies wearing those silly Texas-style hats from “Smokey and the Bandit.” Those hats don’t come cheaply.

Dear Mr. Football: Is there any nepotism in college football?

A: ASU’s running backs coach is Bo Graham, Todd’s son. He’s just one in a crowd in the Pac-12. UCLA’s quarterbacks coach is Taylor Mazzone, son of UCLA offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone.

Utah’s director of player personnel is Fred Whittingham, brother of head coach Kyle Whittingham. Arizona assistant director of operations Billy Kirelawich is the son of Arizona’s masterful defensive line coach Bill Kirelawich. Colorado defensive assistant A.J. Baer is the son of CU defensive coordinator Kent Baer.

And Oregon State coach Mike Riley hired the quarterback from his high school team, Gary Beck, to be part of OSU’s operations/support staff.

Here’s a dead-lock prediction: Rhett Rodriguez, 16-year-old son of RichRod, will be an offensive coordinator or QBs coach in a Power 5 conference near you before he is 30.

Dear Mr. Football: Can Arizona possibly go 10-2 in a season that 6-6 might have been more reflective of its overall talent?

A: Beating ASU almost always requires a Pac-12 Player of the Week type of performance by someone. Arizona has seven times produced a POW in a victory or tie over the Sun Devils, and all were epic games.

Fullback Hubie Oliver did so in a 1979 shocker in Tempe. Linebacker Ricky Hunley was POW when the Wildcats knocked ASU out of the 1982 Rose Bowl. Kicker Max Zendejas was POW as the UA ended ASU’s 1985 Rose Bowl dreams.

And then came Chuck Cecil, Pac-12 Player of the Week in 1986 and 1987 in unforgettable Territorial Cup games.

RichRod longs to start a three-word anthem for next season. “Keep the Cup.” If so, it’ll require someone like Scooby Wright or Jared Tevis to play Cecil-like football.

The postgame handshake, RichRod and Graham, should be can’t-miss TV.

Wildcats 31, Sun Devils 30