‘We’ve done this before’: Kenny Dillingham addresses Florida State rumors

TEMPE — It’s becoming an annual tradition.

Each time a premier head coaching gig in college football comes up, Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham seems to find his way onto pundits’ candidate lists. It’s happened with Michigan, Penn State, LSU, Alabama and others.

Florida State, a place where he has recent history, was no different.

CBS Sports and On3 were among the publications that linked the two sides after FSU let Mike Norvell go Sunday. The Seminoles have gone 10-22 since a 13-1 season in 2023 that left them just outside the then-four-team College Football Playoff.

“We’ve done this before,” Dillingham said when asked Monday if he wanted to squash any rumors specific to the Seminoles. “I’m trying to find a way to beat Colorado. This is a team that people don’t talk about enough, in my opinion. They’ve been in every single football game. They’ve had leads in almost every single football game.

“They stopped the run at a high rate, they’re explosive on offense. Like, this is a good football team, so I am 100% of the mindset of let’s go play our best game versus Colorado.”

That’s a lot of words to not shoot down the possibility. ASU has had an up-and-down season after Dillingham got an amended contract with support boosts in staffing and other resources. That new deal came after a close pursuit by Michigan this past offseason.

Dillingham was Norvell’s offensive coordinator at FSU for two seasons (2020-21) after getting his first college coaching job working at ASU under Norvell in 2014.

Given the ties and Dillingham still being one of the most prominent young coaches in the sport, Florida State will likely have him on its radar.

Conversely, is Norvell on ASU’s radar for any sort of role given the connection between the two coaches? Norvell spent four seasons (2012-15) as the offensive coordinator in Tempe under then-head coach Todd Graham, and Dillingham followed Norvell to Memphis in 2016 for the latter’s first head-coaching gig, ultimately becoming the offensive coordinator in 2018.

“That’s probably not going to happen. He’s not going to come back here,” Dillingham said of Norvell. “He’s going to have a lot of opportunities to go be a head coach somewhere, and I’m rooting for him.”

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