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ASU FOOTBALL

Arizona State and Michigan fans react to Kenny Dillingham’s extension to stay coach of Sun Devils

ASU fans woke up with a reason to be extra joyful as they were greeted with the news of Kenny Dillingham's contract extension.

David Veenstra BY DAVID VEENSTRA
Dec 20, 2025, 10:16 AM Updated: Dec 21, 2025, 10:07 am
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Watch: State of the Sun Devils: Kenny Dillingham to stay at ASU in face of Michigan interest | 11 mins

Arizona State fans woke up Saturday with a reason to be extra joyful as they were greeted with the news of Kenny Dillingham agreeing to a contract extension to remain the coach of ASU football.

Despite interest from Michigan, Dillingham and ASU agreed to an amended contract that will average a reported more than $7 million per year, and the staff salary pool is towards the top of the Big 12 at around $11 million, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

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When the news of Dillingham’s extension broke, Sun Devil fans across the Valley celebrated in unison, while also taking shots at Michigan.

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Former ASU safety Jordan Simone shared his excitement while congratulating Dillingham and the athletic department.

ESPN’s Matt Barrie, a proud Sun Devil and graduate of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University, joined in on the celebrations.

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ASU’s own Phil Mickelson, who won a school record 16 tournaments, including NCAA titles in 1989, 1990 and 1992, before going on to win 45 PGA tour events, also celebrated the extension news.

Michigan fans have less to be excited about after Dillingham extension

Michigan fans were much less thrilled with the news of Dillingham agreeing to stay at Arizona State, especially after fans of the Wolverines thought they were in prime position to land Dillingham.

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David Veenstra
David Veenstra ArizonaSports.com editor

David Veenstra is a web content editor and writer for ArizonaSports.com and KTAR.com. Prior to joining Arizona Sports and KTAR, he graduated from the University of Oregon for his bachelor’s degree in journalism and Arizona State University for his… Read more

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Comments

6 Comments

G
Grumpy Old Man 7 months ago

Coach D biggest task is to find the ASU version of a Cody Campbell or Phil Knight. If he (or ASU) doesn't find their Cody Campbell or Phil Knight, this situation will reappeared in one to three years. This revised contract put in the place the infrastructure (i.e. a GM) that is need to have a top program. Need money to get the players!

In order to compete in college football and basketball now, you need to have athletic supporters with deep pockets (i.e. Cody Campbell - Texas Tech).. One aspects of the top programs are the supporters who give millions to billions (i.e. Phil Knight has given over $1B to Oregon both for academics and athletics).

Who are the ASU athletic big time financial supporters? Before the end of the season, Coach Dillingham had a press conference where he said that only 99% of the valley have been activated. The remaining 1% are truly the 1 percenters (i.e. wealth).

Until the ASU has a supporter like a Cody Campbell or Phil Knight, Coach D will be approached in the future when a head coaching position is available at a blue blood program. ASU can't give any more, it is going to be up to the ASU version of a wealthy Cody Campbell out there to put ASU over the top.

D
Dan W. 7 months ago

He has brought ASU Football back to life from near extinction. After the massive shake up with conferences I wondered how Sun Devil football would ever be relevant again. The last 2 seasons have been far beyond my wildest dream of how they would be. To have him stay and back up the feel good raw raw talk is inspiring and I believe will pay great dividends for years to come. He has a lot of work to do and next year could be very challenging. As long as he stays true to himself and continues what he's started they'll be headed in the right direction. Go Devils!

K
KD'S Burner 7 months ago

Dear Michigan, you have won 2 national championships in the last 75 years (one that involved violations so bad your coach had to leave and probably will not come back to college coaching until at least 2038 at the earliest, if ever), so congrats on that. But thats not exactly a dynasty, so calm down.

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