Todd Graham considered working with Patriots before returning to college football

Todd Graham is back in college football for the first time since the 2017 season, and he says he considered a stop in the NFL in between.

Graham was fired by Arizona State after going 7-6 in 2017. He missed the last two seasons and has been hired to lead Hawaii’s program.

A feature by The Athletic’s Doug Haller says Graham spent some time with Bill Belichick in New England after being fired by Arizona State. Haller says Graham considered working with the Patriots and Belichick in the NFL. Graham also turned down interest in coordinator jobs.

Graham is now 55, and the Hawaii job is his fifth college head coaching job. He says he learned a lot during his years off and believes both he and Hawaii will benefit from it.

Graham actually did well in his first three seasons at Arizona State before the program slipped over his final three seasons. Hawaii went 10-5 last season and is replacing Nick Rolovich, who left for Washington State.