(Photo: Sammy Nute/WCSN)
TEMPE– Anyone connected to the Arizona State football team since Kenny Dillingham has taken over can tell you that he is committed to doing two things during his time as head coach.
One is obviously attempting to return the Sun Devils’ to consistent winners on any given Saturday. The second thing, however, is arguably a larger priority for the 33-year-old, second-year head coach, Activating the Valley.
Right after being hired, Dillingham opened his introductory press conference with that mission. It wasn’t returning to consistent bowl game appearances that was the main message from Dillingham; it was the fact that he identified that the Sun Devil fans were not fully engaged with the football team or the athletic program in general. From his very first message, it was clear that Dillingham intended to change that.
Over the following weeks immediately following his introduction, Dillingham claimed that he wanted 40,000 fans at the spring football game. He definitely didn’t reach his goal, so one year later, filled with experience as a head coach, Dillingham opened the doors to the first Saturday spring practice of the new season, allowing fans to get a unique and early look at next year’s team.
“I say ‘Activate the Valley,’ and that means we have to give access to show people why they should believe in what we’re doing,” Dillingham said. “To come out here to see our guys work and see how passionate they are about it should inspire people to get more involved, to tell somebody else to be involved, and to really get behind this football team. These guys work really hard, and I like them to see the support that they have behind them every single day.”
Under previous head coach Herm Edwards, access to the team was extremely limited, even to the media. Last season saw a complete change in the amount of access provided, and this spring season has begun with access not just for the media but for the fans as well.
Getting people engaged in the team without winning is going to be difficult, but if one thing is sure, fans who have always loved ASU football are loving it even more with Dillingham at the helm.
“I was just talking to some other fans, and just some of the little things that he’s been doing like this are a big deal,” PJ Saturno, a fan who attended Saturday’s practice, said. “It helps fan engagement and gets people excited about the program. The previous staff was not engaged with the fans, and he’s been doing a really good job of doing things to excite you.”
The underlying reason for Dillingham’s and ASU’s insistence on getting people back engaged in sports is the shift in the overall college landscape. In some ways, the responsibility of fielding a competitive team falls on the fans and how much they are willing to donate to a team’s NIL efforts.
Ever since Dillingham has taken over, he has been clear on how he is forced to build the team, he desperately needs the fans help in order to recruit both high schoolers and transfer athletes.
His statement has been echoed by basketball head coach Bobby Hurley and baseball head coach Willie Bloomquist. ASU is behind the eight ball when it comes to NIL, so that means creating as good an atmosphere as possible to encourage fans to not only come out but to share their hard earned money.
Another Saturday attendee, Shawn O’Rourke, is one of the fans who realizes that NIL is necessary to win, but he is still hesitant to donate. A lot of his hesitancy is because of the large gray area that NIL and the people who handle that money are currently operating in.
“It’s changing so fast everyday,” O’Rourke said. “I’m letting it settle in to see where the money goes and see how it shakes. The passion is there to want to see them win right away, but it’s changing real fast and I’d like to see where it goes and how the money is being spent.”
Saturday attendee Doug Williams has been a fan of ASU ever since the legendary 1995 upset over No. 1 Nebraska that featured Pat Tillman. In the middle of his four years at ASU at the time, Williams has been a devoted fan ever since. He wishes to see the Sun Devils return to those heights and thinks that Dillingham has gotten on the right track to do so.
Williams has not donated to the NIL collective but recognizes that it is a little bit of a chicken and the egg situation. What comes first? Winning to drive NIL money, or NIL money to drive winning?
It is the question that Dillingham is hoping to answer. He is going to build the best team he can with inside the situation he is an, attempting to win the Big 12 without a similar budget, but while that effort to win is happening, Dillingham knows how important it is to drive engagement and interest before ASU falls even further behind.
“It used to be that you buy a ticket, and that’s how you support your school, but now it’s more than that,” Williams said. “If other schools were able to mobilize in that way, I mean, that’s kind of a punch in the mouth for our fans. We got to step up or fall behind. I guess it’s a call to arms.”
