On Aug. 24, the Arizona State football program received an unexpected bit of news from its running backs coach.

Bo Graham, son of head coach Todd Graham, resigned from his position that day. Todd Graham had little to say when pressed on the reason for his son’s resignation. It seemed more than a little odd at that there would be a coaching change that close to the start of the season, especially when it was the coach’s son who was involved.  There had to be a bigger reason behind the sudden change.

Now the real reason has been leaked to the public.

Turns out Bo Graham’s illicit relationship with a student-athlete led to his departure from the team. Arizona State University has a rule that prevents students from having relationships with coaches and vice versa – no matter the age of the coach or the student.  The relationship had reportedly been going on for a while, but when it was brought to light, he resigned immediately.  It is reasonable to suspect the ASU Athletic Department likely would have fired Graham in the event that he refused a resignation.

Former Buffalo Bills quarterback and current sports radio host Dan Manucci described how this could affect the team this season.

“A coaching change close to the start of the year is never a good thing,” Manucci said. “It provides an extra distraction that is not needed in the locker room. Going into your first game you always want to be 100 percent focused on the team and the task ahead, but with every distraction, there are issues that come with it.”

Some distractions that arise for the players are increased media attention, about their former running back coach down the road, a lack of trust in other coaches and a social media hypocrisy.

“The players just need to continue what they do best – play football,” Manucci said. “The coaches will make a new hire and the players will get behind the new coach and continue working towards their first matchup.”

That new hire came in the form of former offensive line assistant coach Josh Martin. He was promoted to head running backs coach immediately after Bo Graham’s departure. Martin previously played and coached at Tarleton State and also coached at Texas Tech.

Bo Graham’s acrimonious departure from the Sun Devils had a ripple effect into the regular season. Ranked #15 in the nation entering the season, the Sun Devils were beaten soundly by Texas A&M and only pulled away from Cal Poly late. The team’s next game, home against New Mexico on Friday, will be yet another opportunity to kick-start their season and put the events of the past month behind them.