By Craig Morgan, thesundevils.com Writer
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Todd Graham took the podium at Sun Devil football's signing-day press conference last week, wearing a perfectly tailored maroon sport coat that lent him a professorial look.
"I don't do this too often," Graham said while grinning.
Maybe he should do it more. The impressive production of that Feb. 1 press conference was emblematic of the direction the program has taken under Graham. Accessibility has been a hallmark of this coaching staff and the athletic department under Vice President for University Athletics Ray Anderson's leadership.
"We're proud of what we're doing, proud of our program and really proud of the young men that we're recruiting so that's why we're very open with our fans," Graham said. "This is their football team so we want them to get introduced to them and have that interaction.
"It's quite a production all day long. We try to really think about how we can introduce our new players to our fans, by giving them as much information and insights as to how it all works. It's something that I think interests them quite a bit."
To do so, Graham led a Powerpoint production that included photos, key stats and key accomplishments of each of the 18 signees, along with Graham's personal scouting report and personal evaluation of each student-athlete.
In a bigger-picture view, last week's press conference and the upcoming spring media day on Feb. 15 were a testament to the hours of work that Sun Devil athletics staff members put in behind the scenes. Sun Devil Athletics provided fans an in-depth look into the "Boom Room" on National Signing Day, featuring a daylong live stream hosted by broadcaster Jeff Munn and former Sun Devils wide receiver Derek Hagan, a two-star recruit who left ASU as the record holder in multiple statistical categories and went on to an eight-year NFL career.
Graphics designer Daniel Kwon produced the graphics for the stream, Graham's Powerpoint presentation and for social media. Digital media specialist Grace Hoy and assistant media relations director Jeremy Hawkes ran the Sun Devils social media outlets and Hawkes posted the signee bios, photos and videos, on thesundevils.com throughout the day. The bios were prepared by media relations student worker Connor Smith and assistant media relations media director Steve Rodriguez took photos all day for using on social media and in a photo gallery on the website.
Tech producer, video director and ASU Live Manager Jim Salisbury set everything up and directed the entire day. Multimedia specialist Katryna Seki ran cameras during the production and helped upload new content such as the FaceTimes, recorded by the Alex Hodge and the football video staff, with Graham and the new signees.
Sun Devil Athletics senior administrators Rocky Harris, Jean Boyd, Dave Cohen, Scott Nelson, Donnie Yantis, Tim Cassidy, and current Sun Devil players Manny Wilkins, JoJo Wicker, Tashon Smallwood, Chase Lucas and N'Keal Harry all made appearances during the eight hours of coverage to discuss relevant topics such as the recruiting process, Sun Devil Stadium Reinvention, the 2017 home schedule, pricing, academics, the Sun Devil Club and football youth camps. Boyd even brought university professor Phillip Scharf from the college of liberal arts and sciences in for an interview.
"We have done live streams on Signing Day in years past but there was always a lot of down time," assistant athletic director for digital media and communications Kate Janczewski said. "This was the first year we incorporated a host and an analyst. The media relations, digital and video staffs collaborated on the entire production and Jeff Munn and Derek Hagan volunteered their time.
During the coverage, Graham also mocked an official signing for the mid-year players who didn't have the opportunity to make official announcements from their hometown. Blake Barnett, D.J. Davidson, Ty Thomas, Doug Subtyl and Eno Benjamin were seated at a table with ASU helmets on it, and Graham and the position coach for each player posed for pictures with the student-athletes while they signed.
With all the recent additions to the coaching staff, the coverage also provided fans the opportunity to hear from the newest staff members.
"We wanted to give an inside look into the Boom Room and provide immediate analysis on the young men who made the decision to continue their academic and athletics pursuits at ASU," Janczewski said. "We decided to do it for the fans. We wanted to be transparent and give our fans a behind-the-scenes look at what occurs on Signing Day. This was our way of letting them see, what we see from inside the Athletics Department."
Sun Devils fans will have to wait to see what's planned for the spring media day on Feb. 15 and for next year's signing day, but Graham promised even more ideas will be on the table.
"It's always evolving," he said, "and that's how it should be."
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Todd Graham took the podium at Sun Devil football's signing-day press conference last week, wearing a perfectly tailored maroon sport coat that lent him a professorial look.
"I don't do this too often," Graham said while grinning.
Maybe he should do it more. The impressive production of that Feb. 1 press conference was emblematic of the direction the program has taken under Graham. Accessibility has been a hallmark of this coaching staff and the athletic department under Vice President for University Athletics Ray Anderson's leadership.
"We're proud of what we're doing, proud of our program and really proud of the young men that we're recruiting so that's why we're very open with our fans," Graham said. "This is their football team so we want them to get introduced to them and have that interaction.
"It's quite a production all day long. We try to really think about how we can introduce our new players to our fans, by giving them as much information and insights as to how it all works. It's something that I think interests them quite a bit."
To do so, Graham led a Powerpoint production that included photos, key stats and key accomplishments of each of the 18 signees, along with Graham's personal scouting report and personal evaluation of each student-athlete.
In a bigger-picture view, last week's press conference and the upcoming spring media day on Feb. 15 were a testament to the hours of work that Sun Devil athletics staff members put in behind the scenes. Sun Devil Athletics provided fans an in-depth look into the "Boom Room" on National Signing Day, featuring a daylong live stream hosted by broadcaster Jeff Munn and former Sun Devils wide receiver Derek Hagan, a two-star recruit who left ASU as the record holder in multiple statistical categories and went on to an eight-year NFL career.
Graphics designer Daniel Kwon produced the graphics for the stream, Graham's Powerpoint presentation and for social media. Digital media specialist Grace Hoy and assistant media relations director Jeremy Hawkes ran the Sun Devils social media outlets and Hawkes posted the signee bios, photos and videos, on thesundevils.com throughout the day. The bios were prepared by media relations student worker Connor Smith and assistant media relations media director Steve Rodriguez took photos all day for using on social media and in a photo gallery on the website.
Tech producer, video director and ASU Live Manager Jim Salisbury set everything up and directed the entire day. Multimedia specialist Katryna Seki ran cameras during the production and helped upload new content such as the FaceTimes, recorded by the Alex Hodge and the football video staff, with Graham and the new signees.
Sun Devil Athletics senior administrators Rocky Harris, Jean Boyd, Dave Cohen, Scott Nelson, Donnie Yantis, Tim Cassidy, and current Sun Devil players Manny Wilkins, JoJo Wicker, Tashon Smallwood, Chase Lucas and N'Keal Harry all made appearances during the eight hours of coverage to discuss relevant topics such as the recruiting process, Sun Devil Stadium Reinvention, the 2017 home schedule, pricing, academics, the Sun Devil Club and football youth camps. Boyd even brought university professor Phillip Scharf from the college of liberal arts and sciences in for an interview.
"We have done live streams on Signing Day in years past but there was always a lot of down time," assistant athletic director for digital media and communications Kate Janczewski said. "This was the first year we incorporated a host and an analyst. The media relations, digital and video staffs collaborated on the entire production and Jeff Munn and Derek Hagan volunteered their time.
During the coverage, Graham also mocked an official signing for the mid-year players who didn't have the opportunity to make official announcements from their hometown. Blake Barnett, D.J. Davidson, Ty Thomas, Doug Subtyl and Eno Benjamin were seated at a table with ASU helmets on it, and Graham and the position coach for each player posed for pictures with the student-athletes while they signed.
With all the recent additions to the coaching staff, the coverage also provided fans the opportunity to hear from the newest staff members.
"We wanted to give an inside look into the Boom Room and provide immediate analysis on the young men who made the decision to continue their academic and athletics pursuits at ASU," Janczewski said. "We decided to do it for the fans. We wanted to be transparent and give our fans a behind-the-scenes look at what occurs on Signing Day. This was our way of letting them see, what we see from inside the Athletics Department."
Sun Devils fans will have to wait to see what's planned for the spring media day on Feb. 15 and for next year's signing day, but Graham promised even more ideas will be on the table.
"It's always evolving," he said, "and that's how it should be."