ASUDevils.com recently interviewed new Senior Associate Head Football coach Paul Randolph. Here's the entire interview.

ASUDevils.com "If I could start, with coach (Todd) Graham, I have talked to as many people as I can to get a feel for what he is like, the words you hear a lot are disciplinarian, high intensity, passionate, enthusiastic, demanding. For the ASU audience could you tell me what he is like to work for, what he is like in a program?"

Randolph: "I think the biggest thing is is vision, no doubt. He has a strong vision and strong belief in his vision. And he has no problem clearly stating what it is and casting that vision. I think that is his greatest asset no question about it. And then right after that is, he has the ability to get people, everyone in this organization, to work toward that, and give everything they have. That's players on the football field, me as an assistant coach working for him and with him. I think that is his greatest asset' that he knows how to get people to give their all, and be all in."

ASUDevils.com: "He has had a great track record for finding coordinators, finding coaches who are up and coming guys, what is it about him that allows him to identify those guys and have that sort of success?"

Randolph: "I just think that he knows what he wants, first of all. You have to know what you want. And I think he knows what he wants within that vision. When he is looking to hire, to raise up people in his own organization, and or hire [outside]. He knows what he wants, he knows exactly what his program looks like, down the road the vision of it. So therefor he knows what he is looking for here to put in place, and I think that is the biggest thing. And the biggest thing is you have to know what you want before you can start hiring people. And then you have to find the right fit, and he has been right on it, every time he has brought new people into the program. That fit the vision."

ASUDevils.com: "What are some of the misconceptions about him? Obviously, there was some media stuff that was unfriendly about leaving Pitt. after one year. People I have talked to said who wouldn't take a job that they love, in any profession across the board. Do you think there are things that you have heard said about him that are inaccurate?"

Randolph: "Well no doubt. I have been with him the longest, six years. Hard to work for? No. Demanding? Yes. Perfectionist? Yes. And everyone that works for him is that way, then naturally it is not hard to work for him. And it is not demanding because as a professional you should me more demanding upon yourself. Now, if you are lazy and you are not a hard worker then naturally you are going to be miserable. For the most part I think he does a good job not hiring those types of people. Like I said he knows what fits him, and normally that is what he hires is what will be the right fit. There's no question about that, hard to work for? Not really. I think the biggest thing people don't understand or know about him is as a coach and as a friend, when we are not coaching and not doing those types of things he is one of the guys. He hangs out. I think the one thing that people don't understand about him is he wants to coach. And being a head coach doesn't allow that all the time. He is coaching coaches and not coaching players. And he wants to coach. He talks about how he misses developing relationships with his players. Naturally when you have your own unit you develop those relationships. As a head coach you have 125 so you really don't get to develop that close relationship with each player. He thirsts for it.

"He is involved. He wants to be. He is still a coach. He is not a CEO, 'oh I'm done y'all do it.' He wants to be involved. Because he desires to coach. And for me it has been great because he still coaches me, in areas that I need to improve on. And naturally I welcome that, because I am still learning myself. If you are lazy? No, not gonna be a fit for you. If your a go getter like he is, if you are enthusiastic and passionate and you love doing this profession then their is no doubt this is a great job and a great person to work for."

ASUDevils.com: "With your short time here so far and your engagement with the players, the perception with ASU last year's team was relatively talented but underachieved at the end of the season. Some people will say that is discipline related. What is your thoughts after engaging with these guys and seeing what you have to work with?"

Randolph: "As of right now, and before we even talk football, I have meet with all the defense. So far they have done what we have asked them to do, every one of them. We ask them to sit up in the chair, they sit up in the chair. We ask them to listen with their eyes, they sit forward and listen with their eyes, they are not eyes down, head down looking all around. Everything we have asked them to do as people they're doing. To me they seem to be hungry for the change. They're excited, some people may not have been excited about the move, but the young men here seem to be excited. New blood, new wind, a breath of fresh air. I think they are eager to start the journey. Now the journey is going to be a grind to accomplish what we want to accomplish but I think the young men that I have interacted with in these four short days, there is no doubt that they are excited about it. They are energetic and excited about it, and I think the change will do them good."

ASUDevils.com: "What about ASU as a job. Obviously this happened really quickly. Coach Graham said it was a day or so process. Was it hard for you to get on board with that instantly?"

Randolph: "Because I have been with Coach Graham since we started and through this whole deal since he started as a Division I head coach, I know his vision because we talk about it all the time. I know what he wants because we talk about it all the time. So no it wasn't hard to join in on it. Was it difficult to leave Pittsburgh? Yes because of the relationships we developed and built there with our players and the people there at Pittsburgh. So naturally that is tough to leave your players that you have poured your heart and soul into. Which we do as coaches. And as position coaches we pour our heart and soul in to each player. We ask them to give us their heart and we give them ours. And that is the same thing we told the kids here. Ill give you from sun up till sundown and sometimes a little later than sundown, we are going to give it all to you. And we wouldn't ask you to do anything that we won't do ourselves. We're asking you to grind? We are going to grind to if we have to and it's needed. Whatever it takes to get it done, we are committed to that. So we are asking you to commit. And when we do that, spending all the time that we do with the young men you can't help but to develop a relationship, a strong caring for them like they are your own kids. I wouldn't do the job or be in the profession -- because I don't see it as a job -- I wouldn't be in the profession if it couldn't be that way. So that is the biggest thing. Is it difficult to leave? Yeah, because of the relationships. It will always be difficult to leave when you pour your heart and soul into it."

ASUDevils.com: "What do you see here at ASU as far as the people, the facilities, the things that are really important to success?"

Randolph: "There is no doubt with the hiring of Coach Graham, the support is there, from the top down. And that is where it starts. And I think their vision had to be in line with Coach Graham's, they know what they want, they want a Pac-12 championship and they want a national championship and that is right in line with Coach Graham. I promise you. But before we get to that point they want young men that will represent the University properly at all times. And that is what we want at all times. Young men that are going to represent ASU on the front of the jersey and then their family name on the back of their jersey. And that is what we want. And we have to get that done way before we get a Pac-12 way before we get a national championship. But I think from everyone I have talked to, from academics, to strength and conditioning, naturally because he came with us, but academic support from media relations to SID, from everything I have been in-contact with, athletic administration, there is no don't that everyone is hungry for this change and this opportunity, and naturally I'm extremely excited about it."

ASUDevils.com: "With the heart of the recruiting season going on now, how much time have you taken to get familiar with the personnel you have to work with heading into the spring? You need to know what you have in order to know what you need obviously."

Randolph: "We have been splitting time between recruiting, becoming familiar with guys we need to recruit in this class which you know in recruiting this is a short time (until signing day Feb. 1). A short window. So we are doing both at the same time. We are evaluating the talent and the player we have here to see what we do we have here in place and on defense and what do we have to work with and how many years do they have left, are they really the position they played last year? Do we need to tweak and move some? And that process goes on all the way through next December. We are going find where they fit best. But in doing that naturally we have to assess our talent here as fast as we can and then see what we have and then we have to see, okay this is what our needs are. So we are doing that simultaneously this week and then next week we have to go on the road recruiting again."

ASUDevils.com: "Now correct me if I'm wrong but Coach Graham in his heart wants to be a 3-4 defense but with the personnel at Pitt. you guys were multiple, but by necessity more than by goal the goal. The goal was to (eventually) be primarily a 3-4 defense?"

Randolph: "No really. I think being multiple. We would like to be a 3-4 defense, yes. But certain schemes that offenses put forward to you that you can't lock into one thing. Our biggest thing is being simple so that the players can play. I learned that a long time ago from (longtime college coordinator Joe Kines). Be simple and let the players play. Because he said the players will play and they will win. The question is can we be multiple? If the players can handle it. If not, then we will decide what our base will be based on our talent here. Coach Graham, he was a high school coach so every year you didn't know what you were going have. So each year you had to adjust. Welcoming into ASU it is the same way. What is going to allow us to be successful right now? Because the seniors that we have don't want us to be successful three years from now. They do. but they want it right now, start immediately. We have to assess our talent, and whatever that is is what it's going to be. Then we'll start recruiting to what our vision is going to be."

ASUDevils.com: "A [number of the team's current defensive ends] are lighter and not your classic 3-4 D-ends, and maybe there are not a lot of scholarship linebackers in the program especially younger guys. How difficult will that be trying to craft what you guys are trying to do?"

Randolph: "Each year there is abundance in each position for recruiting, assess that and know where we are. That is the biggest thing, what can we get? Now after being here for four day I would think that we could recruit against anyone in the country. I think we would be able to, there is a lot to offer, and I have only seen a smidgen of it. I have been to the building here and the parking garage across the street here. Just from being on campus and what I have heard from coaches who have coached in the Pac before, they were like 'SU has never had a problem with recruiting.' I am hoping that is the case. And that way we can go out there and throw our hat in the party. With everybody and see what happens."

ASUDevils.com: "Do you feel like you need some junior college players immediately, at linebacker or d-end or some of these spots in order to put your best foot forward immediately or is it not a necessity?"

Randolph: "Not as an necessity. Now each year there will be immediate needs, like oh we need to get more mature young man that is more ready to play. But we believe in developing. That is Coach Graham's high school nature coming out of him. We have always developed and we believe in developing young men and growing them in our system. Naturally the longer they are with you the better they know your system, and believe in your system, and will fight for what they believe you want out of them. But every year you have to asset where your most immediate needs do we need more maturity there or do we have it in house? We are naturally still in the evaluating process."

ASUDevils.com: "You were a (national) Top 25 recruiter at Alabama. What makes a great recruiter and a great recruiting staff?"

Randolph: "A great recruiter is passion. It is the same thing. No doubt it's passion. Players want to be involved. They wanna this guy who is passionate, because normally they are passionate about their football. Naturally I would say passion and the willingness to work at it. You have to work at it every single day. And I think that is the most important thing about it. Every single day you have to be doing something with recruiting. You can't miss a day."

ASUDevils.com: "You are a very energetic guy, clearly. How excited are you for this new chapter of your career and as far as opportunity you have here?"

Randolph: "I laugh and you see me smiling because to me I think it is just an unbelievable opportunity. I really do. Some of us are changing positions, being given more responsibility and those things. I think it is just a tremendous opportunity and as a staff when you ask what makes a recruiting staff, it is unselfishness. Be unselfish as a staff, you know, a lot of guys want their guys, but it's the best guy. But there is no doubt that coming to ASU, like I said from talking to people that I have known that coached in the Pac-12, they are like, it unbelievable and they say you can recruit who you want to and you will have a chance to win, if you will work at recruiting. And as long as you can do that, that is the name of the game. Yeah we talk about coaching but it is great to be a great coach but have some great players. It is a talent game. It is all about just being yourself and selling yourself. Being passionate, and diving in with both feet."

ASUDevils.com: "Coach Graham has one more hire to name I guess, so what I have heard, maybe another guy will become the defensive coordinator or maybe you will depending on what happens. But that says a lot coming here and not knowing it you are going to be the coordinator or not. That is a pretty big deal."

Randolph: "Well it's a big deal, because in this stage in my career, it is important. But I also trust Coach Graham enough that he knows my goals and dreams because we are friends. Naturally we have worked together for quite a while and he knows my goals and dreams and I know his and naturally we can work together and work towards all goals and dreams together."