🏈 🔵 Jump Into My Discussion With Arizona State's Kenny Dillingham
"We have an accountability system that is high, and our players run it. Not me," Dillingham said.
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Hey Friends,
This week’s “Next Up” podcast welcomes one of the fastest-rising stars in college football’s coaching ranks — Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham.
In just two years, Dillingham took a three-win Sun Devil program and molded it into an 11-win squad, highlighted by a Big 12 Championship and a College Football Playoff appearance.
The road to becoming a highly respected Power Four head coach wasn’t always direct for Dillingham.
He began his coaching career at 17 years old as a high school quarterbacks coach after an ACL tear permanently ended his playing days.
After racking up stints at Memphis, Auburn, Florida State, and Oregon, Dillingham returned to his alma mater as the head man in 2023, and he’s already taken the Sun Devils to new heights.
Without further ado, let’s hop into some deeper takeaways from my conversation with Dillingham:
1️⃣ “Crazy” Ultimately Wins
If there are two things Kenny Dillingham loves, they’re football and Arizona State University.
The Sun Devils’ head coach didn’t play for the program, but he graduated from Arizona State in 2012 with a degree in interdisciplinary studies.
As a college student, Dillingham served as the quarterbacks coach for Chaparral High School, roughly 12 miles north of campus. There, he met then-Arizona State offensive coordinator Mike Norvell, who hired him as an offensive assistant in 2014.
Life seems to unfold in crazy ways, similar to Dillingham’s self-proclaimed “crazy” persona. Just 9 seasons later, Dillingham became the head coach of Arizona State.
“I probably practiced my press conference to be the head coach at Arizona State 2,000 times in the car, I kid you not,” Dillingham told me with a smile. “From when I was 19 to maybe even more, I would talk to myself a little crazy.”
Dillingham’s craziness was first put on full display during his actual opening press conference as Arizona State’s head coach in November 2022.
During his opening statement, he made a proclamation — not just to the Sun Devil faithful, but to the entire region.
“We need everybody in this room… We need the state behind us, we need butts in seats,” he said. “We need everything that this valley has because I’m all in, right?... This place can be special, it is special… This is my dream job.”
Just two seasons later, Dillingham led his squad to an 11-3 record, a Big 12 Championship, and a College Football Playoff appearance.
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2️⃣ Be Authentic
Dillingham currently ranks as the second-youngest head coach in the FBS at 34 years old, trailing only Zach Kittley of Florida Atlantic.
Through just two years on the job, Dillingham has proven that prestige and age aren’t necessary factors in manufacturing a winning locker room.
Instead, he leans on his consistent authenticity, not years of experience, when obstacles arise on the job.
“I think kids, nowadays, see through fake more than they ever have,” Dillingham told me. “… They get so much access to things that I think they see through fake. They see through manipulation way better than a kid 10 to 15 years ago did. So, I think genuineness is something that I've always pride myself on.”
In alignment with his personality, Dillingham doesn’t lean solely on stars or NIL valuations to satisfy Arizona State’s recruiting needs.
To him, forming meaningful relationships on the recruiting trail ultimately allows his staff to maximize each player’s full potential as a Sun Devil.
Take former Arizona State running back Cam Skattebo, for example. “Skat” as Dillingham calls him, picked up over 2,300 yards from scrimmage this year and set the program’s single-season rushing record in 2024.
In high school, Skattebo was a 0-star recruit who enrolled at Sacramento State before Dillingham arrived in Tempe.
“I think the true relationships with the players help me recruit and help me recruit to this day because I say, ‘I’ll tell you whatever you want me to hear,’” Dillingham said. “You want me to tell you you're going to start? Cool. Do you want me to tell you that? I can, but I talk to our players. Those are the people who know me the best.”
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3️⃣ Fostering A Player-Led Culture
As a young head coach, many outsiders wonder how Dillingham has set a new standard of being so close with his players without being their friend.
It’s simple, he explained to me. While he ultimately sets the tone for his squad, the players echo his core values by cementing Arizona State’s culture as player-led.
“Some people believe you got to treat your best players better and your worst players [another way] — whatever. I don't believe in that,” Dillingham explained to me. “I believe everybody should be treated with respect. Everybody should be treated the same. Our culture and our leaders run this team, not me.”
This doesn’t mean the grind of college football, from winter workouts to spring ball to fall camp, is any easier in Tempe.
In fact, according to Dillingham, it’s quite the opposite.
“Newsflash recruits, it's hard to play here,” Dillingham said. “If you're four minutes early, you're late here, right? If you show up late, then you're going to be allowed to work out… We have an accountability system that is high, and our players run it. Not me. I said it.”
To catch my full interview with Dillingham, click here.
If you have any questions, comments, or feedback, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me by email at adam@brenemanmedia.com.
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Shoutout to Connor Krause for helping to write this newsletter and putting it together!
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