After starring at Alter High School in the early 1980s, he was a standout player at Ohio State then spent 11 seasons in the NFL.
But if there was any doubt about his status in the state, that was erased when he was chosen as one of the “Ohio’s Finest” honorees at the annual Ohio State Football Coaches Clinic in Columbus.
“This is great. This is a big accomplishment,” Graham said after addressing the assembled group of high school coaches from across the state at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on April 11.
Credit: DaytonDailyNews
He was especially happy to be honored in front of his mother, Grace, and his daughter, Jenea.
“My daughter had never seen me play here in college, so for her to see that and be like, ‘Yeah, Dad, you did play here!’ Instead of looking at stories and hearing about it, she can actually physically see you up speaking at this engagement — means a lot,” he said.
While Graham was an option quarterback at Alter and standout receiver at OSU and in the NFL, a new generation has gotten to know him by another title over the past decade-plus: Coach.
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
For that, he gave much credit to current Springfield High School head coach Maurice Douglass, a former NFL teammate who was among a group of friends and family to join Graham in Columbus for the clinic.
Graham initially had no interest in coaching when he retired from playing in 2002, but that changed as his nephews, Tony and Marcus Graham, got older.
“They said, ‘Come out and teach us some ropes. Tell us what you’ve learned,’” Graham told the coaches clinic. “And I said, ‘Man, I’m tired of football. I’m trying to do something different in life, right?’ Then one thing led to another out in the backyard, out in the front yard, watching their practices.”
That led Douglass, a Trotwood-Madison grad who went to Kentucky and played 11 seasons in the NFL, to invite him to join his staff at TMHS.
“You know what, it’s so funny because we were teammates in Chicago,” Douglass said. “My last two years there were his first two years there, so we went against each other every day in practice and found out what each other can do as a player. Then his nephews ended up transferring out to Trotwood so that made it easy. I said, ‘I know you don’t want to coach, but these are your brother’s boys. You can help them, give back to the guys.’”
That was something that resonated with Graham, who played for current Alter head coach Ed Domsitz in high school (as did Douglass at Trotwood), College Football Hall of Famers Earle Bruce and John Cooper at Ohio State, and legends such as Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher and Bill Parcells in the NFL.
Credit: Getty Images
Credit: Getty Images
“I just got into it and the itch came about me,” Graham said.
“I just wanted to give all the knowledge that I’ve learned from coaches. I mean, I had some great coaches from college to pros.”
After first mentoring the receivers at Trotwood, Graham moved up to offensive coordinator.
He helped Douglass guide the Rams to their first state championship in 2011 then took over as the head coach three years later when Douglass left for Springfield.
That, too, was not initially what Graham wanted to do, but the two eventually agreed it was in the best interest of the program.
“When I left, I was trying to bring him with me to Springfield, but another guy applied for the job and I said, ‘If you leave, we both know those kids will be gone, and Trotwood’s gonna be done. It only makes sense if you stay,’” Douglass recalled. “So he stayed and won two more state championships, and they’ve got a chance to win it again this year because they’ve got a really good team.”
The beginning of Graham’s tenure as head coach at TMHS was a smashing success.
The Rams went to the state semifinals his first two seasons then were state runner-up in 2016.
In 2017, they went 15-0 and won it all, making Douglass and Graham the first and second Black coaches to win OHSAA football state championships.
The Rams claimed another state title two years later, but the program has had rockier days since then.
Trotwood was 4-1 during the 2020 season, which was shortened for everyone because of the COVID-19 pandemic but even shorter for the Rams because the district reinstated sports about a month later than most others in the area.
After going 4-6 in 2021 and 7-5 in ’22, the Rams were 9-3 in ’23.
They went 5-6 last season, when all of their losses were by eight points or less, including a 14-12 defeat to Badin in the opening round of the playoffs.
Credit: David Jablonski/Staff
Credit: David Jablonski/Staff
Graham said the pandemic set the program back, as did the tornado that hit Trotwood and North Dayton in May of 2019, sending some potential players who lost their homes to other districts.
The hardships not only cost Trotwood some players but broke the program’s momentum by robbing younger players of the opportunity to see up close what their older counterparts did to create and maintain a winning culture.
But Graham expressed optimism that is changing this offseason.
While talent is rarely an issue for Trotwood, Graham is happy with the leadership he is seeing from some of the older players, including defensive lineman JarMarcus Whyce, receiver/defensive back Armani Rogers and quarterback Dallas Sheehee.
“It’s looking pretty good,” Graham said. “You know, it’s high school so we’ve still got some pieces that we’ve got to put together — offensive line, defensive line, that good stuff. But overall, it’s just the kids are in there working out. That’s just the motivational thing that is great to see that the kids are buying into that weight room more than what we expect.
“I’m crediting it to the leaders of the team, and then you’ve got some young kids out there doing some great things for our program. Not just getting (college) offers. That’s a part of it, but that’s not the main thing. The main thing is to have the best team that you could possibly put together so you can go out there and compete on Friday night.”
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