SPORTS

Notes: ASU football coach Todd Graham and Washington coach Chris Petersen have mutual respect

Doug Haller
azcentral sports
Arizona State's Todd Graham.

SEATTLE -- Todd Graham and Chris Petersen collided for the first time as Pac-12 coaches Saturday night, but the two go back a long way.

While Graham was at Tulsa and Petersen was at Boise State, the two coaching staffs got together one offseason and talked shop.

"We exchanged a lot of stuff offensively," Graham said. "He's a brilliant coach and a class person and (runs his program) very similar, I would think, to how we do things. He's one of the best I've been around, but we kind of hooked up — me, him and (Auburn) coach (Gus) Malzahn, when he was with me. We spent a week doing it and then our ADs scheduled each other, so that wasn't no good."

In 2009, Boise State — ranked fifth in the country — beat Graham's Tulsa squad 28-21.

Petersen last week couldn't recall anything specific about the meeting but said he was impressed with how Graham ran the Golden Hurricane.

"You're always kind of looking for details," Petersen said. "We went back there; it was our offensive staff, and we met on some things. I just remember in general that he runs a very good program. He's on top of everything."

ASU offensive coordinator Mike Norvell — then just a young assistant — also participated in the meetings. He said it's always nice to hear different ideas, but he didn't see it as two coaching staffs divulging all their secrets.

"They know a little about us, we know a little about them, but obviously, every year is different," Norvell said.

ASU recently has had similar off-season meetings with Auburn and Clemson. Auburn's Malzahn and Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris worked with Graham at Tulsa.

Revenge factor?

ASU senior quarterback Taylor Kelly grew up in Eagle, Idaho, just 10 miles from Boise, where Petersen had built a successful program at Boise State. Kelly had interest in the Broncos, but Boise State took a lukewarm approach to Kelly, then a two-star prospect.

Eventually, Boise State offered Kelly a scholarship, but by then it was too late. Kelly ended up at ASU, and after a solid run with Boise State, Petersen came to Washington, where he's in his first season.

"We liked him a lot, and we did recruit him," Washington offensive line coach Chris Strausser told the Seattle Times last week. "Whether he's one of those guys who has a chip on his shoulder, I don't know. But if he did, he's proven a lot of people wrong."

Kelly, out the past six weeks with a right-foot injury, started against Washington.

Washington QB out

Washington sophomore quarterback Cyler Miles didn't start Saturday's contest. Miles suffered a concussion in last week's loss to Oregon. Red-shirt freshman Troy Williams made his first career start in Miles' place.