Rossini: ASU football’s success ‘unlocked’ new future for athletic department

It’s been only 224 days since Arizona State named Graham Rossini as its new athletic director, a hire that followed six months without an AD formally in charge as ASU was rethinking how to operate its sports wing.

Still, Rossini’s first 2/3 of a year on duty is already a massive success thanks to the product on the football field.

Head coach Kenny Dillingham’s team went from being picked to finish last in the Big 12 to winning the conference and getting a Peach Bowl invite. Participating in an instant classic with the Texas Longhorns, a 39-31 double-overtime loss that came with some controversy, is expected to mark a significant moment toward the goal of building sustained success in the still-young athletic department.

Rossini told Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta on Thursday that “unlocking longevity” started with ASU extending coordinators Marcus Arroyo and Brian Ward earlier in the season. After focusing on retaining players in the portal and boosting NIL juice once the regular season ended, it was on to locking up Dillingham. That they did Tuesday night.

“It’s all part of this progression of: How do we keep building this momentum behind Sun Devil football?” Rossini said. “It starts with people.

“It’s not about (Dillingham). It’s about the collection of ASU coming together in support of these young people and what a football season or an athletic department can do to put an incredible spotlight on a university and a community … We’re starting to do that. Just happy with where we’re at, happy with what this season unlocked for this university.”

The tone inside the ASU football team’s locker room was already beginning to shift on the plane ride back to the Valley on New Year’s. Of course, Rossini said players felt heartbreak after the loss.

But the athletic director felt there was also some awareness of what the season meant in the bigger picture.

“They realize they’re not going to get a chance to go to battle with their brothers in this version of the team ever again,” Rossini said. “It’s a hard reality to grasp your mind around in the moment.

“At the same time, as the time away from the game elapsed and we got on the plane, the sentiment of what they’ve accomplished (began to be discussed) and (they) started to take some stock on the pride they can have on behalf of Sun Devil football, on behalf of ASU, on behalf of the Valley and this entire community. It’s a combination of emotions.”

The Sun Devils agreed to a contract extension with Dillingham that is projected to pay him among the top coaches in the Big 12, according to Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro.

The players he recruited also deserve credit for what Rossini sees as an opportunity to reshape the identity of the football program and athletic department as a whole.

It starts with running back Cam Skattebo, a 2023 transfer from Sacramento State who was in the Heisman discussion this year.

Skattebo’s 242 scrimmage yards and 42 passing yards with three total touchdowns and a two-point conversion in his career finale put his importance in the program’s rebuilding process front and center.

“He’s just got an enormous heart and he’s an incredibly proud Sun Devil,” Rossini said. “He set a new tone for what ASU can be in the national conversation. He’s confident but he backs it up. He’s resilient, he responds, he has a grit factor.

“All those things are what we want Sun Devil football to look like moving forward. We look at this season as a new foundational moment for the direction of this football program and athletics department … It’s all going to point back to the arrival of Coach Dillingham and Cam Skattebo.”

ASU, Big 12 have spoken about non-targeting call in loss to Texas

A hinge-point in the Peach Bowl loss came with just more than a minute left in regulation and the game tied at 24.

On third-and-15, ASU quarterback Sam Leavitt hit Melquan Stovall for 10 yards to reach the ASU 48-yard line, but the tackle appeared to be textbook targeting of a defenseless receiver with helmet-to-helmet contact.

Instead, after the officials went to a replay review, it was ruled legal. ASU punted on fourth-and-5 instead of continuing to drive with a field goal opportunity to win things. Texas ultimately ended up missing its own field goal before winning in the second overtime.

Rossini said Thursday he had already been in contact with Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark about the call.

“He’s got some conversations underway that I’ll gladly join him in,” the Arizona State AD said. “I need to go back and watch it more closely myself … I would agree with what (Dillingham) said at the press conference last night: I think we just need to get an understanding of what this call is, how can this be applied across the sport, conference to conference, and make sure they’re clarity on what is or what is not targeting.

“We can’t undo it. The call is the call. I think we had other chances to go ahead and win that game and tip our hat to Texas for advancing.”

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