This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Arizona State head coach Todd Graham rode into last year's media day brimming with confidence.
The Sun Devils were coming off back-to-back 10-win seasons, and Graham was thinking — and talking often — about a championship.
One 6-7 season later, and ASU athletic director Ray Anderson wanted his head coach to tone it down.
"One of the things, very frankly, that we're trying to do better around here is to talk less and deliver more," Anderson said in a local radio interview. "We'll be minimum on the bravado and all the predictions about greatness and just let our play speak for us."
On Friday, Graham said he didn't make much of Anderson's edict.
"If you walk down the hallway, our goals are written on the wall," he said.
And after trying to "produce men of character" and graduate 100 percent of their players, the Sun Devils' goals are pretty clear.
"Obviously we want to be Pac-12 champions, and then it says Rose Bowl champions and then it says national champions. Why would you have any other goal?" Graham said. "Obviously we learned some lessons last year. The good news is we put ourselves in position of having high expectations because we had back-to-back 10-win seasons. We lost a lot of close games is the really. We've got to win those football games.
"Our motto is rise up. We got knocked on our can. Rise up, you go at it."
— Aaron Falk
Twitter: @aaronfalk