Rossini: Kenny Dillingham can accomplish ‘anything he wants’ in coaching with ASU

As college football head coaching vacancies continue populating left and right across the country, Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham has called his name being in the hat for replacement “useless.”

Arizona State athletic director Graham Rossini expressed confidence in Dillingham’s continued leadership with Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo on Thursday.

Even more than just the fact that the two parties of Dillingham and ASU agreed to a five-year extension through 2029 , Rossini said the 35-year-old has no reason to daydream about what could be somewhere else.

“I’m a big believer that anything he wants to accomplish in coaching, he’s going to have a chance to do that at ASU,” Rossini said. “And it’s not going to be for lack of support or resources or commitment. We’re building that with our fan base.

“And when you get sold-out crowds, that matters.”

Reporters have run wild with how Dillingham fits within the cultures at Florida, Penn State and, most recently, LSU with Brian Kelly relieved of duty.

The Sun Devils coach, however, in addition to the rumors being meaningless said Monday that he is “singularly focused on what is in our building” and not on the “reality show” the rest of the college football world is drumming up.

With it being only Dillingham’s third year at the helm and the program not a year removed from a Big 12 title, Rossini said the whole ASU ecosystem is in “growth mode” with little room to entertain any nonsensical realities.

“We’ve got to be hustling every single day. That’s what our leadership team is consciously focused on,” Rossini said. “What are the tools that we can provide for our coaches to lead their teams at the highest possible level?

“It’s a shout out to our fan base selling (Mountain America Stadium) out. We’re going to be sold out for the entire year. That creates resources that we’re reinvesting in our program.”

In not even three complete seasons, Dillingham has won a conference championship, qualified for the College Football Playoff, defeated seven teams in the AP Top 25 (highlighted by a recent home win over a No. 7 Texas Tech) and dominated a Territorial Cup against Arizona in Tucson.

Coaching clout aside, Dillingham was Valley grown, a Sun Devil graduate and even said when he was a “coffee boy” for the team at 24 that his goal was to be the head coach before the age of 30.

Rossini remains confident in Kenny leading team to Big 12 contention

At 5-3 and 3-2 in the Big 12, Arizona State has little to no room for error down the stretch for the conference championship game to remain in reach.

Rossini said he still is optimistic that the Sun Devils can overcome slim odds after a loss to Houston. According to FOX Sports, ASU currently has the seventh-best odds to win the Big 12 at +3000 with Texas Tech (-130), BYU (+425) and Cincinnati (+430) in the top three.

“It’s there for the taking,” Rossini said. “We don’t want to put a ceiling on the upside of our program in any given season.”

Arizona State AD Graham Rossini believes the Big 12 is still “there for the taking” despite having little room for error with the schedule remaining.

“We don’t want to put a ceiling on the upside of our (football) program.”

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The Sun Devils’ remaining schedule is at Iowa State on Saturday, a bye, home against West Virginia (Nov. 15), at Colorado (Nov. 22) and home against Arizona (Nov. 28) for the Territorial Cup.

With four teams having one or zero Big 12 losses, ASU, notably without quarterback Sam Leavitt this week, will look for help and a hot finish.

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