Arizona State University football program's new head coach Todd Graham has a lot of work to do changing the culture of the team and reversing the perceived lack of discipline that was the hallmark of the Dennis Erickson regime. Graham sent a powerful and visible message to the fans and team when he suspended one of the Sun Devil's top players, Junior Onyeali.
ASU coach Todd Graham has suspended DE Junior Onyeali indefinitely for not meeting "high standards of the Sun Devil football program."
— Doug Haller (@DougHaller) January 4, 2012
Onyeali came into the 2011 season with a lot of promise. He was the reigning Pac-10 Defensive Freshman of the Year after recording 6.5 sacks and 11.5 of his 18 tackles going for loss in 2010.
Junior, who's full name is Nduka (Junior) Onyeali, started the season slow with a hamstring injury in camp and then missed six games in the middle of the season with a knee injury.
The final blow to Onyeali's season came when he had a highly visible argument with former coach Dennis Erickson in the weeks leading up to the Vegas Bowl. Erickson had no choice but to suspend the talented defensive end for the game.
Graham has apparently decided to use the incident to send a message about the type of program he's going to run.
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