Report: Arizona State OL coach dismissed by Todd Graham
Arizona State coach Todd Graham has been making some changes to the coaching staff before the Sun Devils start spring practice. According to the Arizona Republic, Graham has dismissed offensive line coach Bob Connelly.
Connelly joined Graham's staff when the head coach was hired in Dec. 2011 after serving as co-offensive coordinator at UTEP. In addition to coaching the offensive line, Connelly held the the assistant head coach title for the Sun Devils.
According to the Arizona Republic's Doug Haller, offensive assistant Chris Thomsen is the likely replacement. Thomsen, the former head coach at Abilene Christian University (2005-11), has been hired by Graham twice since he arrived at Arizona State. Tommy Tuberville lured Thomsen to Texas Tech for the 2012 season, but Graham brought him back to Tempe to serve as the Sun Devils' running backs' coach in December 2012.
Thomsen served as Texas Tech's interim head coach for the Meineke Car Care Bowl against Minnesota, a 34-31 Red Raiders victory.
If Thomsen fills Connelly's role, Graham will need to hire one more assistant to coach the running backs before spring practice kicks off. Arizona State named veteran coach Jackie Shipp as the new defensive line coach on Tuesday, filling the spot left vacant by Ron West. West left last month to accept the co-defensive coordinator position with Larry Fedora at North Carolina.
Arizona State is set to kick off spring practice on March 19 and hold their annual spring game April 13 in Sun Devil Stadium.
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