(Photo: Sammy Nute/WCSN)
Arizona State football head coach Kenny Dillingham agreed to a five-year contract extension Tuesday night, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
The deal is slated to make him one of the highest-paid coaches in the Big 12 Conference. Through different performance-based incentives, the deal could result in a 10-year extension.
Dillingham and the Sun Devils will make their first-ever appearance in the College Football Playoff on Wednesday. As the No. 4 seed, ASU will take on No. 5-seeded Texas in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta.
In just his second season with the program, Dillingham led the Sun Devils to a 10-2 regular-season record, which resulted in a berth in the Big 12 Championship game. Despite being picked to finish last in the preseason poll, the Sun Devils won the title in their inaugural season in the conference by beating Iowa State handily 45-19. It was ASU’s first outright conference title since 1996.
The turnaround came after a 3-9 season in Dillingham’s first year with ASU in 2023. Thanks to his revival of the program, Dillingham was named the 2024 Big 12 Coach of the Year.
The Sun Devils also took home wins for Offensive Freshman of the Year and Offensive Newcomer of the Year, thanks to redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt and redshirt sophomore wide receiver Jordan Tyson, along with a league-high eight All-Big 12 selections. One of those selections was senior runningback Cam Skattebo who finished fifth in Heisman voting.
The transformation was possible thanks to the aggressive recruiting by Dillingham and his staff which resulted in 60 newcomers. The 46 new additions on scholarship are the third-most in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Arizona State already inked three-year extension deals with offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo and defensive coordinator Brian Ward back on Nov. 23, moving their salaries into the upper echelon for coordinators in the Big 12.
By adding Dillingham’s extension to the mic, Arizona State has made its support of the rising football program clear with its investment in a talented and proven coaching staff.
