Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State agree on new 5-year contract
Dec 31, 2024, 9:02 PM | Updated: 11:22 pm
The Arizona State Sun Devils and head football coach Kenny Dillingham have reached an agreement on a new 5-year contract the night before the team’s College Football Playoff quarterfinal against Texas in the Peach Bowl, ESPN’s Pete Thamel first reported.
ASU athletic director Graham Rossini announced to fans in Atlanta shortly after the report went live that ASU had extended Dillingham following the program’s dramatic turnaround in his second season.
Dillingham’s contract has a performance-based model with incentives that can create up to 10 seasons on the deal, Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro reported. It includes signing, retention and performance-based bonuses, according to Gambadoro.
SunDevilSource.com’s Chris Karpman reports Dillingham’s new deal comes with a pay bump. Gambadoro added the bump will put Dillingham’s salary in the top three among Big 12 coaches.
Dillingham, 34, is a local product that attended Arizona State University after graduating from Chaparral High School. He got his start as an assistant with ASU in 2014 before stops at Memphis, Auburn, Florida State and Oregon. After one year as Oregon’s offensive coordinator in 2022, he was hired by the Sun Devils to be the new head coach.
What led to Arizona State awarding Kenny Dillingham an extension?
Dillingham has led a complete revival of the Sun Devils’ football program.
After ASU posted a 3-9 record in his debut season last year, it posted an 11-2 record heading into Wednesday’s matchup made possible by a Big 12 title win in the school’s first full season in the conference. The Sun Devils were picked to finish dead last in the conference by the media.
Instead, Dillingham spearheaded a team effort that got running back Cam Skattebo a fifth-place finish in the Heisman Trophy voting, while redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt has landed on way-too-early lists for the 2025 Heisman.
ASU signed offensive and defensive coordinators Marcus Arroyo and Brian Ward to three-year contract extensions in November, as Dillingham stressed the importance of taking care of the coaching staff before he received a new contract.
What trajectory is the Arizona State football program on?
The deal includes commitments to provide financial stability for future recruiting of staff, as well as to be a “full participant in revenue share,” according to Thamel.
Revenue sharing is one of a few key pieces to the House v. NCAA case that is expected to be settled in April. Along with it will come 20 additional football scholarships, up to 105 for the program, the school has committed to.
As for those currently filling Arizona State’s scholarship slots, many players have already voiced commitments to return to ASU, such as defensive standouts Clayton Smith, C.J. Fite and Myles Rowser. Sam Leavitt and Jordyn Tyson have spoken about next year in Tempe as a given.
The Sun Devils aren’t expected to lose any difference makers from its depth chart even after the season concludes.
The player retention is notable especially given reports of a $6 million offer from another school have surrounded Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, who many expect to enter the NFL draft after the Longhorns’ postseason is over.
ASU has filled needs and depth early in this portal cycle, adding two wide receivers (Fresno State’s Jalen Moss and Clemson’s Noble Johnson), running back Kanye Udoh (Army), tight end Khamari Anderson (Kentucky) and kicker Jesús Gómez (Eastern Michigan).
The incoming class of freshmen ranks eighth in the Big 12 by 247 Sports, and the Sun Devils have a jump on the 2026 class with quarterback commit Jake Fette (No. 142 overall)
Peach Bowl coverage for the matchup between ASU and Texas can be heard on Arizona Sports beginning at 8 a.m.
