ASU’s Kenny Dillingham focused on extensions for assistant coaches, not his own

TEMPE –Kenny Dillingham deserves loads of credit for the turnaround he has led since taking the head coaching job at ASU football, no matter how many times he tries to deflect.

But with success usually comes the need for financial compensation, and the coaching market just had its reset button hit.

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti, who in his first season has the Hoosiers at 10-0 and in the top five of the AP poll, signed an extension making his next eight years worth $8 million each. There’s also an annual retention bonus of $1 million.

When Dillingham took the job in December 2022, it was for an annual salary of $3.85 million, which included an annual increase of $100,000 along with APR bonuses for academic success.

The initial contract now runs through 2028 after an additional year was tacked on for the university-imposed bowl ban served in Dillingham’s first year for NCAA sanctions caused by the previous coaching staff.

So the Cignetti news must have other head coaches in position for an extension, like Dillingham, licking their chops, right?

“I personally am not (in contract talks with the university). I’m not worried about me. I’m worried about our assistants right now, then I’m worried about our players and NIL,” Dillingham said at a press conference on Monday. “I’m worried about everyone else that’s making us successful right now.”

The head coach has alluded to extensions for his assistants throughout much of the season, but nothing has been reported since defensive coordinator Brian Ward received a three-year extension at the end of last season.

Two offensive coaches who could be due after they have found great success in their first seasons in Tempe: offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo and wide receivers coach Hines Ward, who has paced the rest of the staff in recruiting.

From an NIL standpoint, Dillingham had some pitches for companies based on player backgrounds and social media handles.

He pointed to linebacker Martell Hughes, who should appeal to alumni of ASU’s Barrett Honors College as a member of the program himself. He was awarded Big 12 special teams player of the week after his blocked punt was returned for a touchdown against UCF.

Dillingham also suggested free rent and a condo for standout safety Xavion Alford, whose handle on X (formerly known as Twitter) and Instagram is @100yardlandlord. Alford had the interception on Kansas State’s first pass attempt last weekend.

Senior day decisions coming up for ASU football

Ahead of ASU’s home finale and senior day against BYU on Saturday, Dillingham emphasized the importance of players only getting one senior day in an era of college football where eligibility always feels like it’s up in the air.

“The game is so much different now with how many years of eligibility people have,” Dillingham said. “What is this day? Is this a senior in school? Is this existing eligibility? Is this existing eligibility and not returning, like I’m making a decision to go pro?

“At this stage, you should have a pretty good clue of what you wanna do. I do want to prevent someone walking on senior day and them coming back and walking another senior day. … You should know when you enter the stadium that this is the last time that I’m ever going to have a helmet on in this stadium, and I want to keep that.”

Among players with decisions to make, Dillingham said graduate senior offensive lineman Ben Coleman has one more season of eligibility, and a conversation on whether he uses it will come soon.

“I personally think there should be a really long, hard thought about coming back, if not leaning to that,” Dillingham said of players with remaining eligibility.

ASU (8-2, 5-2) and BYU (9-1, 6-1) face off at 1:30 p.m. MST on Saturday. Listen to play-by-play coverage on 98.7 FM, the Arizona Sports app or on ArizonaSports.com with the State of the Sun Devils pregame show beginning at 10:30 a.m.