Dillingham ‘set the foundation’ for ASU in forgettable 2023 season

(Photo: Crawford McKinstry/WCSN)

The process of building a house from scratch can’t be completed overnight.

Between detailed planning and the construction itself, every step must be executed meticulously to ensure that the structure remains durable and intact for years. This process is one Kenny Dillingham has become familiar with through his years as an offensive coordinator at Florida and Oregon, and an important step in his first season as Arizona State football’s head coach.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t challenges.

Leading up to the 2023 campaign, the odds were already stacked against ASU’s new coaching staff. Fresh off a 3-9 campaign — highlighted by the firing of former head coach Herm Edwards after three games — the Sun Devils welcomed over 50 newcomers and were in the midst of an ongoing NCAA investigation dating back to 2021. This investigation resulted in the program self-imposing a postseason ban days before its season opener, making it all the more difficult for his group to find motivation.

And once the games started, the challenges kept piling up for Dillingham’s group. With an offensive line ravaged with injuries and inconsistency at quarterback, a second consecutive 3-9 finish came as no surprise. The Sun Devils’ difficult season culminated last Saturday in a 52-23 defeat to hated rival and then-No. 16 Arizona, marking the first time it lost back-to-back Territorial Cup matchups since 2009.

“I didn’t take this job and expect to go win eight games,” Dillingham said. “Even though it’s not fun to lose games like this, it’s not fun for all this stuff, sometimes it’s needed. Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom to bounce back up. And where we were as a program, in the direction we’re going, I have 1,000 percent confidence that the ball’s bouncing up, not down.

“But I do believe we finally hit rock bottom. I think everybody knows that. And then once you hit it, you start going up. And I believe that’s what we’re doing.”

To the naked eye, a three-win 2023 represents a sour beginning to the Dillingham era. But the problems of their past coaching regime are now in the rear-view mirror, the Sun Devils needed something to build their new culture. After all, laying the foundation is the first and most important component of building a strong, long-lasting house.

That’s exactly what Dillingham accomplished in year one.

Throughout a season that didn’t yield many victories, his group managed to keep almost every contest competitive and battled until the final whistle regardless of the result. ASU’s players bought into the culture Dillingham is trying to establish at his alma mater for years to come. That’s no small feat.

Just ask graduate linebacker Tre Brown, who transferred from Washington State and quickly emerged as a leader on ASU’s defense during his lone season in Tempe.

“I’ve been a part of five different cultures,” Brown said. “And this is the first culture I’ve genuinely bought into. Whether it was the weight room, whether it was the playbook on defense, whether it was special teams. And just believing in what (Dillingham) echoes every day. I love this culture, I wouldn’t trade any place for where I am right now.”

Establishing a strong and successful culture isn’t easy, especially when navigating a Pac-12 schedule while facing a wide range of other obstacles. Regardless of this, making decisions that will enrich the long-term success of a program, even when it might negatively affect immediate results, is paramount.

It’s why highly-regarded freshman quarterback Jaden Rashada, who was named the starter against Arizona after missing nine games due to injury, remained on the sidelines for ASU’s first offensive series on Saturday. The young signal-caller showed up late to a team meeting and was required to sit out on his team’s first drive per team policy.

Dillingham learned during warm-ups that redshirt junior quarterback Trenton Bourguet would be unable to play due to an illness, leaving a hole at the quarterback position. So, junior running back Cam Skattebo and redshirt junior tight end Jalin Conyers rotated as signal callers, executing a seven-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in which ASU didn’t throw the ball once.

Even when it put his squad at a disadvantage in its biggest game of the year, Dillingham didn’t waver from his philosophy and morals. But he is no stranger to making difficult, seemingly detrimental decisions in the name of culture.

In the weeks leading up to the 2023 campaign, Dillingham dismissed two players, graduate linebacker Juwan Mitchell and redshirt sophomore defensive back Isaiah Johnson — due to incidents during preseason camp. Mitchell, a contributor during his time at Texas and Tennessee, was expected to start for the Sun Devils.

The reason for cutting ties with two players expected to be contributors for ASU?

“Culture wins,” Dillingham said.

“I’m never going to be a coward,” Dillingham said. “If I say there’s a standard for the program, there’s gonna be a standard for the program. Whether that hurts us or doesn’t hurt us, that’s the foundation we’re trying to set.”

Now with a solid foundation and the offseason underway in Tempe, Dillingham will continue sculpting his vision for what ASU football can become into a reality. The next step of this process is showing signs of an upward trend in the Sun Devils’ first campaign as a member of the Big 12 Conference in the upcoming season. This will require recruiting wins — in both high school and the transfer portal — while retaining a majority of the talent from this year’s squad.

For anyone associated with ASU, it truly doesn’t get much worse than losing handily to your rival to close out a forgettable campaign, but this series of lows helped lay the foundation for what Dillingham hopes will be a program that remains structurally sound far after his tenure after the helm is complete.

“It sucks, it’s not fun,” Dillingham said. “I keep saying it’s miserable. And you think I like coming up here and talking about how we just lost the Territorial Cup? It’s miserable. But what do you do? Go back to work. It’s part of the process. Sucks, but it is what it is.

“We’re going to get that thing back. And when we get it back, it’s going to be in a home that’s built right.”