Kenny Dillingham laughs off rumors as Arizona State’s future comes into focus

(Photo: Aiden Longbrake/WCSN)

TEMPE — If there’s one thing college football fans like to do, it’s speculate.

On Sunday, Florida State fired head coach Mike Norvell, who served as Arizona State’s offensive coordinator from 2012-15. Current ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham got his first college coaching job under Norvell in the Valley and followed him to head coaching stops at Memphis and FSU.

Because of his ties to Tallahassee, Dillingham’s name quickly surfaced as a potential candidate to succeed Norvell. It isn’t the first time outsiders have floated the idea of him leaving the Sun Devils. Last year, talk of him heading to Michigan spread throughout Ann Arbor.

Those conversations didn’t die down until Dillingham signed a five-year extension on Dec. 20. Nearly a year later, the chatter persists despite that deal remaining in place.

When asked Monday about the outside noise, Dillingham couldn’t help but laugh that this is still a topic of discussion in 2026.

“We’ve done this before,” Dillingham said. “I am 100% of the mindset of ‘Let’s go play our best game versus Colorado.’”

After a 27-20 defeat in Provo, ASU (4-4, 2-3 Big 12) hosts the Buffaloes (3-5, 1-4 Big 12) on Saturday. While nobody likes losing, Dillingham expressed more encouragement following BYU than after any of the Sun Devils’ prior losses. He even felt more encouraged by that loss than a 30-12 win over Hawaii.

ASU lost to Texas A&M, Baylor and Texas Tech by a combined 92 points — a 30.7 average margin of defeat. The Bears game, Rainbow Warriors matchup and Red Raiders contest comprised a three-game stretch Dillingham described as a “lull” that followed the Sun Devils’ bye week and London game.

“We’re playing way closer to the identity I want our teams to have,” Dillingham said. “We got back from London and it was like, ‘Whoa, what just happened to our football team for three weeks?’ Then we snapped out of it, and we’ve played pretty good football the last two weeks.”

The brand of football Dillingham envisions is one built on stopping the run. The Sun Devils have improved dramatically in that area. From Games 4-6, ASU allowed 189.3 rushing yards per game on six yards per carry. Since then, those numbers have dropped to 65.5 and 2.1.

However, that improvement should be taken with the context of the Sun Devils facing back-to-back teams without their leading rusher.

Still, the film is good enough to suggest the effort would translate against anybody, making it difficult to say ASU is simply benefiting from its opponents’ injuries. Pro Football Focus handed the Sun Devils team run-defense grades above 80 in each of the last two weeks after they failed to reach that mark in any game since their season opener.

Stopping the run is only half of Dillingham’s vision. Running the football is just as important to him. And lately, nobody has embodied that philosophy more than first-year running back Cardae Mack.

Mack wrapped up an October takeover on Saturday. His electric month featured 603 scrimmage yards and seven total touchdowns across five games. Over the last two weeks, he’s logged 10 runs of at least 10 yards, tied for the second-most in the FBS over that span.

“We’re running the ball better, we’re stopping the run better,” Dillingham said. “I do analytics, I look at metrics, and we went from one of the worst teams through the first six weeks to now, we’re middle to above average in those two categories and like, man, where was that?”

For the first time in program history, ASU started a first-year quarterback and first-year running back in the same game. Both Texas natives, Jake Fette and Mack played high school football roughly 175 miles apart. Now, they’re giving fans a glimpse of the future in Tempe.

Fette was given a tough assignment in his first career start: go on the road against a top-10 team and play inside a stadium where third-down noise levels rival those of a rock concert. That’s not hyperbole; it’s from a 2013 physics study that measured the acoustics at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

While he flashed, there are still areas where growth is needed. Most notably, he needs to minimize the sacks he takes. Fette finished the game with a 41.7% pressure-to-sack rate. His first home start on Saturday will be an opportunity to demonstrate the game slowing down for him.

“I think he’s earned (the starting job),” Dillingham said. “A freshman on the road in that environment, and to really take command, make the checks he made, and the way he played in the second half was of a veteran.”

In the short term, the Sun Devils need four more victories to match last season’s win total. But just as important, the year’s final stretch will be crucial for Fette’s development. Recruited with the belief he could be the face of ASU football beyond 2026, he’s getting an opportunity to show he can be that guy.

With the remainder of the season ahead, Dillingham’s focus is on whatever game is next. But no matter how much he says that, many fans remain focused on the possibility of him coaching on another sideline someday.

In the hours since his comments on the Seminoles’ opening, fans have dissected his answer. Because technically, he never explicitly said yes or no. 

That said, Dillingham has long maintained that he plans to remain the Sun Devils’ head coach until he’s fired. He’s said that not because he was ever worried about it, but because he understands the profession and the reality that every coach is ultimately replaceable.

Dillingham did provide one definitive answer regarding Norvell, ruling out the possibility of bringing him onto ASU’s coaching staff. That doesn’t mean there isn’t a high level of respect for his former mentor.

“I’m rooting for him,” Dillingham said. “He’s gonna have a lot of opportunities to go be a head coach somewhere.”

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