 Hi, I'm Rusty Komori and this is Beyond the Lines on Think Tech, Hawaii. I was the head coach of the Punahou Boys varsity tennis team for 22 years and we were fortunate to win 22 consecutive state championships. My book Beyond the Lines is about leadership, creating a superior culture of excellence and finding greatness, which is what this show is all about. My special guest today is a man of great character and our new University of Hawaii football coach. He is coach Todd Graham and today we are going beyond football. Hey Coach G, welcome to Beyond the Lines. Aloha, glad to be here. I appreciate you having me. Now I knew you grew up in Texas but I want to know when did you start playing football? You know, I had three older brothers so growing up in Texas from the time I could really probably around five or six years old we were playing tackle football out in the pasture behind my house. So I grew up, it was just a way I liked it but also we played everything. We played, I played all sports but football was definitely king and it really was the identity of most of our town and where I grew up, especially growing up, it was basically a summer of Dallas Texas, a place called Mesquite, Texas and the southeast side. I grew up being a Dallas Cowboy fan and football was a way of life and it was something that I'm very thankful for and all my life I've never known anything but competing. So Coach G, what is it about football that you love so much? I think it's the relationships, you know, it's one of the things where there's 11 players playing, the physicality of it, it's hard, it's rigorous, you spend an enormous amount of time practicing and training and preparing and it emulates life, you know, you're going to get knocked down, you're going to get knocked on your can, you're going to get to learn how to get back up and football just teaches you that, it teaches you that you reap what you sow, that, you know, you get what you work for and that, you know what, a life's not fair and football sure isn't either. You're going to get knocked down, you just got to get back up and keep persevering and so it's something about the physicality of it and the rigor of it and the grit that it takes and it just has always resonated with me and obviously I think that's why it's a part of the American culture, it's a part of our great country and our nation because it speaks to the character and to the heart of our people. Yeah, you know everybody loves football. And Coach G, you were the head coach at Rice University, Tulsa, Pitt and Arizona State University. For 12 years you were a head coach in college and you took 10 of your teams and made bowl appearances. I mean, and through that, through those experiences, you've had one assistant coach with you the whole time, your wife Penny. Why are you guys such a great team together? Well, first of all, let me clarify, she's the head coach. So I would report to her just so you know, but no, she is, I'll tell you, you know, from the time we met, I can remember walking into the room when she was an assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction and technology and I was the athletic director and head football coach and she just had a passion like I had. We shared this passion for wanting to make a difference in young people's lives. And so from the time that she and I became partners and obviously got married, everything about it, y'all become a better person, a better man, a better teacher, a better father. She just improved everything about me and really, you know, I would not be the person that I am or the coach that I am without her. She has been just a tremendous, and I truly mean that a partner in this thing. And as we've gone on this journey together, you know, she also knows football. She's watched a ton of film with me. She knows every recruit. She's very, very involved and she's very, she's about community too. I'll probably learn more from her about how to connect with the community and whom we represent and whom we actually, you know, this says the University of Hawaii, we represent the great state of Hawaii and the people and the fans and it's important that you communicate, that we represent their values. And so she's been an amazing partner for me. And, you know, I can tell you that, you know, if you had all the places that I've been on here in your interview in them, they'd be much more impressed with her than they were with me. Well, I'm definitely looking forward to meeting her. And Coach G, in 2010, when you were coaching Tulsa, you won the Hawaii Bowl against Hawaii, but during the season, your team beat Notre Dame. How did that make you feel beating such a big team like Notre Dame? Well, you know, it speaks to, you know, when we approach everything with our players is we don't set parameters on young people. You know, so many people, all the pre-season predictions and I think we went into that game a 21-point underdog and we're playing at Notre Dame and to go in there and no one really give you a chance. But we weren't underdogs in our match. You know, we believe that we trained and prepared well. And also that we had put, you know, in our hearts, excellence in our hearts and, you know, the expectations that we had was to win every day. And we had a team that had very, very strong character. We were very well trained and knew who we were and what we were about. And we went in there and that was an incredible day. There's nothing like going into Notre Dame and winning as a double-digit underdog. And matter of fact, you know, that quarterback is my offensive coordinator now. Coach Kenny, quarterback that team is my offensive coordinator. The running back coach from that team is my son, Bo Graham, who's actually our running back coach here. And got a bunch of Cody Cook, our strength coach, and Coach Phillips all were a part of that team. And that was a special team and a special day. And, you know, but it's also wasn't something that we were surprised by. And I think we won the Kurt Herb Street Award for the biggest upset of that year of 2010. But it wasn't an upset to us. And that's much how we approach things here at Hawaii. I mean, we're, you know, I come here to win championships. And that's on the field, off the field and in the classroom and everything that we do. We want to make a difference in the community. We want to make a difference in these young people's lives. And we also want to win championships. And we're going to work and we're going to prepare. And, you know, we want to accomplish special things like that. Because that truly impacts when you go and you work hard for a common goal like that. And it takes such an amazing team effort. I can remember that game. We scored on special teams. We scored on defense. We scored on offense. I mean, it was a team effort to make that happen. And that's biggest win in University of Tulsa history. And so, you know, that's very gratifying to be a part of that. But what's bigger to me is now looking back on the kids that played on that team and the values that they learned that now they're championship husbands and championship fathers and they're successful in life and being productive citizens. And then passing that on and teaching those values to their people that they're working with as well as to their kids. And so that's what I'm proud of is that legacy of being a teacher and impacting young people's lives. And with traditional values is what I believe. And in 2014 as head coach of the Arizona State University, Sun Devils, your team finished number 12 in the country. Why was that team so special? Well, a lot of the similar things. I mean, we believe in the four pillars of our programs is character, smart, disciplined, tough. And a lot of people just kind of throw the word character out there. Character is a daily evaluation. I tell people that every day you're brought out or you're a victor or a victim. You're grateful or you're entitled. You're a giver or you're a taker. And that's a daily evaluation. And so it's so important to have focus in your life. And that's why, you know, we talk about faith, family and football. That's one of the reasons why I come to Hawaii. I think it was a great fit. Those values here and that that football team and every team that I've ever had the privilege to coach and win championships, which, you know, I've never been to a place I haven't been able to win. It all goes back to those core values and character speaks to service. It speaks to sacrifice. It speaks to that, hey, you come and you live your life and you work every day in the service of others and the service of your people. And that's what's magical about football is when you have that on a team and when you truly are selfless and that's not something that in society it's all about individuality and all those things. But that's really not where you're really going to find happiness. You know, as a person that I want our players to know what it is to be a giver it's the greatest thing we could teach them. And all the teams that I've had like that team that won championships they all didn't just win on the field. You know, that team had over a 3.0 team GPA. We had the Scholar Athlete of the Year and the Pac-12 Conference. We had our quarterback with second for the Campbell Award for the best player. It's like the academic Heisman in the country. And so, you know, how you do anything is how you do everything. But character and when you have character you serve, you tend to make better decisions. You tend to also value your intellect and that you make smart decisions. That produces discipline and discipline is the key ingredient to being successful in any endeavor that you take on. And because if you're disciplined, you've got a chance to be tough. You're not disciplined and you're careless. You just don't have a chance to be tough. And the only way you're going to win in football is to be tough. That's what I want to bring to Hawaii. I want to bring a physicality and a toughness. We talk about, you know, we play offense with a defensive mentality. I mean, our mentality is that we want to be passionate about what we're doing and play with an unbelievable discipline about what we're doing. So all the teams that I've had that have been successful and very fortunate that young people will meet whatever expectation you set for them. And that's what I found. And they know if you love them, they know if you care about them, they know if you know what you're talking about and you have a plan. And so that's kind of the common denominator has been with the teams that I've worked with. And you can tell I'm passionate about it. I'm passionate about competing and playing and winning and winning championships. But it's not just winning games. It's about putting that spirit of integrity in their hearts and seeking to really serve and to sacrifice for each other. And there's something about that. You know, Vince Lombardi is one of my favorite coaches. You work hard for a goal. You lay, you know, beaten and battered on a field victorious. And that's what we're trying to accomplish and what we look to instill here at the University of Hawaii. Now, as the Hawaii coach, you know, you were out of coaching for two years because you really wanted to select a coaching position that was going to be a great fit for you and the school. And I really believe this is a great fit. And what did you learn during those two years while you were not coaching? Well, that's a great question. I'm going to tell you, when that all happened, I've never been fired from anything in my life. And obviously, you know, we were winning. We were being successful and, you know, to face that, you know, I really think it was one of the best things that's ever happened to me because, you know, I talk about faith, family and football in that order. And what I realized after taking some time away from the game and my wife asked me, she said, hey, we've been doing this for a long time. And, you know, I want you to take some time away and it taught me that, you know, that faith wasn't first in my life, that really it was football that was first. And so I think it's helped me and I learned so much, I grew so much spiritually and I know that it helped me get my priorities in order. And you couldn't have told me that my priorities weren't in order because we were doing it the right way and people from perception wise, you know, said that we did it the right way. But I think I'm a better person. You know, I learned so much. I was never able to go and study. I got to spend training camp with the Patriots. Coach Belichick's a friend of mine. And so I got to sit in the room with Tom Brady and Coach McDaniel and just listen and learn. I never got to travel around the country and do that. You know, I've got some of my former assistant coaches who were the head coach at Auburn and head coach at Arkansas, head coach at Memphis. Now the head coach at Florida State, you know, Coach Norvell at Nevada. You know, basically, I got guys all over the country that I got to go visit and really learn and to really rejuvenate myself as far as a coach and as a teacher. And then I think I've become a better father. I went to every one of my son's football practices and for the first time I've ever gotten to do that. And so it really just, it really helped me kind of realize, I kind of realized, you know, just how little my wife expected from me. And it was just an opportunity that I think the good Lord really meant for that to happen because it helped me grow as a human being and as a person and as a teacher and as a coach. And man, I will tell you now, sitting out 24 months, I was sure hungry to get back and to get on that field and to get on that grass. And then obviously came to a wife for six weeks and now it got taken away from me again. So I know one thing. I'm not ever going to take it for granted again. And I'm so blessed and so thankful that I have the opportunity to coach and teach and impact young people. And I'm pretty motivated, but I think I learned more and I grew more as a person than anything that's happened to me. I love hearing that, Coach G. And we're going to take a quick break. And when we come back, we're going to continue going beyond football. You are watching Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii with my special guest, Coach Todd Graham. We will be back in 60 seconds. Aloha, I'm John David and the host of History Lens on Think Tech Hawaii. History Lens deals with contemporary events and looks at them through a historical perspective or what we call a history lens. The show is streamed live on ThinkTechHawaii.com. Thanks so much for watching our show. We look forward to seeing you then. Mahalo and Aloha. Welcome back to Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii. My special guest today is our new University of Hawaii football coach. He is Coach Todd Graham, and today we are going beyond football. Coach G, I love your four pillars that you talked about earlier, and you also talk about win every day. Can you expand more about what you mean about win every day? Well, you know, I think it's really important that you have goals, that you have a focus. You know, if you have clarity and focus, then you're able to execute. And so, you know, win every day really speaks to, I think people, everyone has, they want to be successful. They want to accomplish, say, okay, we want to be champions. We want to accomplish this goal. And that goal is usually in the top 1%. And then we'll look and say, okay, well, now what are you willing to sacrifice? What are you willing to do to reach that goal? And a lot of times the sacrifice doesn't match the goal. And so the key that I found is not to sit around and focus on the goal all the time. The key is to win every rep, every practice, every day. And so that speaks to what we call the 1%. We want to be in the 1% every day. At the end of the day, you know, when I, you know, right now, and my world's changed like everybody else's, I'm doing Zoom meetings. I'm calling on the phone or on Zoom meetings with my players, you know, six, eight hours a day and working to teach and to try to make sure that we keep pressing forward and to win the day. And so I asked myself at the end of the day, you know, was I at a level today that I would win the Mountain West Championship today? And did I outwork? Did I reach my objective every single day? And that speaks to my attitude and my effort. How did I approach that? And so winning every day is something you just stack success. You know, that's the, and another part of winning every day is speaking victory. And what I mean by that is self-talk is that, you know, speaking victory is not just talking positive to someone else or saying, hey, we're going to accomplish, we're going to win championships. Well, you know, that's just saying something. What do I really believe? What am I saying to myself? What type of confidence do I have? What type of self-talk am I having every single day? And so that's why I believe it's so powerful to win every day. You have to have a focus. That's why I believe in spending time, having a focus time in the morning, a quiet time in the morning, and reading, I read from the book of victory, which is the Bible. And I read a lot of other things that are motivational, that are helping motivate and inspire me to be the best at what I'm doing and being willing to sacrifice to reach those goals. And so when every day speaks to, I'm not interested in you having a good attitude. I'm not interested in, and me having great effort. I'm interested in my best every single day, every single rep. And if you'll focus on doing that and just stack success every day, that's the key to living a championship life. Oh, gee, I totally agree with you. You know, in my books, I talk about character like you do. And I talk about having that superior culture of excellence. And, you know, a lot of people can give a great effort. They can have a great attitude. And for me, with my teams, I'd be like, hey, that's not good enough. We need to have superior effort. We need to give a superior attitude. So my top priority as a coach was to develop champion athletes of character first, and then great tennis players second. And I know you're the same. And you speak so highly about character. And, you know, for me, I could coach tennis afterwards. You can coach football afterwards. So what are your thoughts about that? Well, I think the key is, like you're saying, I mean, you know, so many people in sports, you know, you go to clinics and you listen to other coaches and people kind of copy other people. And they put so much emphasis on scheme, you know, and really what truly matters is what's in the heart. You have to train the heart first. If you can captivate the heart, then you're able to impact the mind and the body follows. And so, you know, but, you know, you can motivate through fear or you can motivate through trust. And so, you know, to me, it's like you're saying is that, you know, everybody wants to win championships, but 90% of the people are all doing the same things. They have the same sacrifice. They're putting in the same amount of work. They're doing all the same things. To me, it's to be elite. You have to know who we are and how does that separate us from everyone else. And I think that's the key is, you know, is being genuinely who you are, knowing your identity, knowing your focus and where you're going and be able to focus on that every single day. And to understand if you want to be elite, you want to be a champion. That's going to require an unbelievable sacrifice every day. And in our society, it's so much, you know, I want this and I want that. You can want all you want. You're not guaranteed anything. You're not entitled to anything. You reap what you sow. You get what you work for. And you have to first and foremost, convince yourself, you know, I tell people all the time, you know, I don't get my confidence from you. I don't get my confidence from anybody that's watching this program and there's not a person that can take my confidence. And that's because that I speak victory, that I have a belief and I have an investment and I've worked in my thinking and my focus every day is one that is able to lead status and that I'm focused every day on winning and stacking success and doing things the right way and I have a cause in my heart. See, there's got to be that cause in your heart from who you play for. So, you know, coaches will say it's the name on the front of the jersey that's most important, not the name on the back. And I totally disagree with that because see that name on the back of my jersey, I would die for him. I mean, my family, I would die for my family. And so that is the cause that's in my heart. So, you know, that's one of the things we do as coaches. You know, I actually put a picture on each of our players' lockers of the person that put them there. Okay, so is your mom, is your dad? For me, it was my mother who sacrificed and suffered and poured into me and gave to me and served me discipline structure that really afforded me to be successful in life. So every day I will walk in the locker room and we'll blow a whistle three times. We stand at attention and we focus on that picture. And I want them to think in their heart, you know, the sacrifice that has been made for them to be here. And then I want them to think how they're gonna honor it by how we do everything we do, how we go to class, how we go to study all, how we work out, how we lift, how we train. And to me, when you have that cause in your heart, then that's how you become. That's the essential ingredient to what separates champions from people that just participate. I love hearing that, Coach G. And another thing that I talk about in my books are that great leaders build other great leaders. And like you mentioned earlier, you've had 12 of your assistant coaches who became head coaches now. So you're catching up to coaches like Nick Saban and Bill Belichick. And Coach G. I want to know what is it about Coach Bill Belichick that you admire so much? He's a teacher. I mean, and really the thing that I admire the most and I've learned the most from him about is that he really doesn't try to do what everybody else is doing. He always tells me, I'll say, why do you think you have had so much success is because he doesn't buy into the NFL. Everybody else is running their program like professional football. He still coaches the best players the hardest. He still has the values and standards from how they approach everything they do. The hard work, dedication, and discipline that it requires to be successful, that's where they separate themselves from everyone else. And so that to me, one of the reasons that I think is a great measurement of your success as leaders, what are your players doing five years down the road, ten years down the road? Obviously, our coaches. And that's one of the things I'm proud of myself on is I've been able to hire. I've not looked at hiring the most popular person or win the press conference for who thinks the biggest name person I could hire. Many of the coaches like Coach Malzahn and Coach Morris, Mike Norvell, were not popular hires at the time when I hired them. They had very little college experience, but they were great men of integrity, great character. They were teachers. They wanted to make a difference. That's the commonality. But they all have this activation in their heart. They have this cause in their heart as a teacher that they're so passionate about. This is not a job for them, but it's a cause. It's a ministry. And so that's where I've been fortunate enough to get to hire the right people because I have a process in place. And then developing, to me, that's what it's all about. And we want to recruit young people that have the character, that value their academics, that embrace discipline, and that are tough, and that speaks to their competitiveness. And when you have that commonality, then now you're able to train at a different level. You're able to develop at a different level. Because it's hard to convert people and convince people of what your philosophy is. I only have 48 months with these players. And I'm proud that young people that come in that believe in the values of our program and what we're all about. And I'm proud that I've had so many coaches that've gone on and be successful. But if you go down to Florida State right now and you watch Coach Norvell, they're going to have a very similar philosophy of how they go. It's to be a character, smart, disciplined, tough, and it's faith, family, and football. And everyone there is there to serve others. And I'm proud as the head football coaches to serve my staff, to serve my players. And that's not just with high fives. That's with discipline and with structure and teaching them grit and toughness, as well as organizational skills and making sure that we have an organization that has a great plan and that we're able to execute that plan. So from Coach Belichick, I think I've learned to blaze your own trail and be unique and genuine to who you are, because that's what matters. And then, you know, I think as a head coach, I think the reason why I've had success training others is because, you know, I hired people that believe the same things that I believe. And I believe in the teacher model. I'm a teacher. I'm an educator. And I want to make a difference. And I think players, they know that. They know what's in your heart. They know if you're just trying to teach them or do you really care about them? And then you got to know them. You know, each player, man, that's why I like those pictures on that locker, man, is that I tell our players, and I want our parents that are out there that are listening to this that have players that are playing for me, their dreams are my dreams. And I'm going to work with a passion to help them accomplish their dreams. What an amazing job to get to do this. I can't believe that I get to do something that I love so much and I've never worked a day in my life. And so I just like being around people like that. And I've just never, you know, the end result of being successful, I know we're going to win because we're going to win every day. Oh, gee, I love your insights. You definitely go beyond the lines. And I love that you're sharing about the identity that you really want for your team. Not just now, but in the future. And really want to thank you for taking time in your schedule to be on the show today. I appreciate you having me. No bows. Thanks, Coach G. Thank you. And thank you for watching Beyond the Lines on Think Tech, Hawaii. For more information, please visit RustyKomori.com. And my books are available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I hope that Coach G. and I will inspire you to create your own superior culture of excellence and to find your greatness and help others find theirs. Aloha.