As a first-year head coach, Arizona State football’s Kenny Dillingham will experience everything for the first time this year. He experienced his first spring practice and fall camp and will eventually man the sideline for the first time since his time as a middle school football coach.
And in his first chance to choose the leader and starting quarterback of the team, Dillingham went with the rookie just like himself. News that true freshman quarterback Jaden Rashada had been selected as the starter broke like wildfire on Twitter yesterday, and on Wednesday, Dillingham confirmed the decision in front of one of the biggest media scrums of the fall.
“Jaden is gonna start week one, and we’ll go from there,” Dillingham said. “He got better every single day. His completion percentage over the last week-and-a-half of practice skyrocketed. We saw the comfort, and his ability to throw the ball down the field is a huge compliment to what we can do offensively. But, in reality, he just kept getting better every day, and he earned it.”
After committing and then de-committing from both Miami and Florida for NIL reasons, the Rashada recruiting process came to a close as he decided to commit to the same school as his father, Harlen Rashada, a defensive back for the Sun Devils in the mid-’90s. Six months following his arrival in Tempe, Rashada is taking the reins of the Arizona State offense, and none could be more excited than his dad.
“It was pretty emotional for him because he played here,” Rashada said. “He’s seen everything that I went through and just how happy I was here. I think that, as a parent, is all you can ask for. My dad loved it, and I am sure it made his year.”
Coming out of Pittsburg (Calif.) High School, Rashada impressed with his arm, throwing for 3,055 yards, 31 touchdowns, and just 13 interceptions; Rashada also added 419 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on the ground. His performance garnered him a four-star rating on Rivals, ranking him the 11th-best quarterback in the 2024 class. His commitment was seen as a crown jewel for Dillingham’s inaugural recruiting class in Tempe.
In the spring, it was clear that Rashada still had a lot to learn. With three quarterbacks in front of him on the depth chart, among them returning starter and junior Trenton Bourguet and Notre Dame transfer and sophomore Drew Pyne, It was a given that Rashada had a lot of ground to cover even to be mentioned in the starting quarterback conversation. It was also something that Dillingham was straightforward with the freshman when he was pursuing him.
“When I recruited him, I told him the odds of you starting this year are very, very low,” Dillingham commented. “Just point blank. You’re probably not gonna start here, so if you want to go somewhere you’re gonna get a starting job, don’t come here because the odds of it happening are low.”
When spring practice concluded, and to no one’s surprise, it was clear that Rashada was trailing Bourguet and Pyne in the depth chart. Yet, despite being the third-string quarterback, Rashada routinely got second and sometimes first-team reps, getting comfortable with Dillingham’s offense and everything that comes with it.
Rashada’s true opportunity at a starting role came when Pyne was sidelined with a minor tear in his hamstring, suffered during the team’s scrimmage at Camp Tontozona on August 12. Immediately following Pyne’s injury, Rashada had one of his best fall camp performances, connecting multiple deep balls, including a beautiful touchdown pass to wide receiver Shawn Charles.
Upon returning from camp Tontozona, Rashada had essentially turned the corner, elevating his performance with each session and putting him in closer contention with Bourguet. In the scrimmage held on Wednesday, Aug. 16th, Rashada outplayed Bourguet, engineering multiple scoring drives that morning.
“It’s a combination of things,” offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin explained the decision to start Rashada. “He can really utilize the whole field, both width and length. When you can take advantage of the field both width and length, it just opens you up, and it softens up the defense, and they can't assume you’re never gonna throw from the hash all the way to the sideline or deep down the middle lane.”
Rashada has the most dangerous arm on the team, with Dillingham describing his throws as “NFL Throws.” Alongside his potential as a dual-threat quarterback, Rashada offers a tantalizing package to the ASU coaches and has a deep arsenal of traits to assist him in his development.
“I just came in every day just to grow and be a better version of myself and a better person,” Rashada remarked. “I’m surrounded by great teammates, and they’ve done a great job bringing me in and making me feel part of the team. I’m super comfortable just out here playing with my guys.”
Coming into the 2023 season, what coaches and fans can reasonably expect from both Rashada and this Sun Devil team is still unknown. With the youngest head coach among all FBS programs and potentially the youngest starting quarterback in the Pac-12, ASU might experience some inevitable growing pains in its final year as a member of the conference. Nonetheless, it is also shaping up to be one of the most exciting years in recent ASU football memory, and having a true freshman starting quarterback is an aspect that undoubtedly contributes to that anticipation.
“I think he leads through effort,” Dillingham said of Rashada. “It is going to be hard for him to lead through knowledge because he is a freshman; he is gonna learn. It is going to be hard to lead through respect because people just knew him. But, what can show leadership? Work ethic. Caring. Showing up every extra. Being there early. Taking notes on everything you do because everybody watches you and goes, ‘Okay, this dude cares. I can follow him. This guy can lead me because it matters.’
“That’s where I see Jaden.”
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