Ted Graves came to The Hill in the fall of 1979 as a freshman football player and went on to become a two-sport standout, as he was a member of three Hall of Fame teams on the gridiron in addition to being a three-time Heart of America Conference champion in the discus. Outside of athletics he was a member of Sigma Nu Fraternity and graduated with a degree in physical education and history in 1984. He now serves as a member of the William Jewell Alumni Board of Governors.
Following his playing career, Graves taught K-12 and coached in the Cabool (1984-85) and Kearney (1985-2013) school districts before retiring after 29 years in secondary education. He returned to his alma mater in the late 1980s as a volunteer track and field coach before serving as an assistant coach in the late 90s. He came back to the football field in 2002 where he served on the staffs under Fran Schwenk and David Bassore for five seasons. While on the sidelines for five years, Graves has operated the game clock for the Jewell football team for more than 25 seasons.
In 2004 he was named the head coach of the Cardinal track and field programs, a position he held through the 2009 season. He has served as assistant coach, in charge of throwers for the past nine years. During his more than 20 years as a coach he has helped mentor 20 individual conference champions and more than 30 national qualifiers. Graves also had the privilege of coaching his daughter Meredith during her career at Jewell.
