Chevan Cordeiro extended a hand and was pulled out of the wilderness.
A week of uncertainty, caused by Nick Rolovich’s defection to Washington State, ended for the Rainbow Warriors quarterback and his teammates upon the hire of Todd Graham as UH’s new head coach on Tuesday night.
“Once he got hired, I searched him up,” Cordeiro, the presumptive 2020 starter in the wake of Cole McDonald’s early departure for the NFL Draft, said Wednesday. “I realized he was the ex-Arizona State head coach. I saw that he had a good background. I think he’s just the right coach for us.”
He requested Graham’s number to send him a congratulatory text message in an effort to “welcome him to our family. And just make him feel welcome.”
It was a gesture appreciated by the 55-year-old newcomer, who was last a head coach at ASU in 2017.
“I like him. I like him a lot. He was the first guy I called,” Graham said with a laugh moments after introducing himself to the local press. “One of the things I’m impressed with him, is his leadership. When I took the job, he was one of the first people to reach out to me, and (I) was very, very impressed. Obviously I was impressed with how he interacted with his teammates. You can tell he has their respect. I’m excited, I’m excited to work with him. A fine young man.”
Cordeiro, a Saint Louis School product heading into his redshirt sophomore season, has explored that leadership role in the days since McDonald’s declaration Jan. 8, and especially once Rolovich and much of the UH coaching staff went to Pullman, Wash., last Monday.
In frequent relief of McDonald, Cordeiro threw for 907 yards, eight touchdowns (against three interceptions) and ran for three more scores as a redshirt freshman in 2019.
He and teammates conducted their own workouts on the T.C. Ching Athletics Complex field in recent days. Wednesday afternoon following Graham’s introductory press conference was no different.
“I guess I would say it brought us closer,” Cordeiro said of Rolovich’s decision — which did not surprise him, given the money involved — moments after he and a few teammates walked off the field. “It was just us. One team. Just all players. We knew we had to work hard no matter what, even without no coach. I mean, basically it just built our character. We had to go class, knowing that there’s no coach, knowing that there’s no class checks. … It really built our character and just like a lot of coaches say, ‘do something good when no one’s watching.’ ”
Before his presser, Graham addressed the UH returnees who will make up most of the 2020 roster.
“I mean, shoot, it was crazy,” Cordeiro said. “He came in, he was real motivational, he just told us about his past. He has strong faith. Everyone was quiet, just staring at him. He really got our attention. I mean, we’re all bought in. We all know our one goal is winning the Mountain West championship and … we have a strong connection with each other. We’re like brothers and I mean, we got one goal.”
