Different coaches have different ways of getting kids to play for them. Some use their school’s brand and football tradition to make kids want to be a part of that. Others have adapted to the way of life that NIL has created, with money talking louder than any recruiting pitch. But for Kenny Dillingham and Arizona State, their way of roster building is a true reflection of the pure honesty that defines the Sun Devils’ new head coach himself.
“I’m a very, very direct person,” Dillingham said while addressing the media on Thursday. “I honestly ask them direct questions. Do you want to be here? Are you ready to work hard? Do you understand that you have nothing guaranteed when you come here?”
Dillingham’s no-nonsense approach and his unrelenting desire for a committed attitude have paid dividends on the recruiting trailing just over two months. As of February 2, the Sun Devils have secured 46 different pledges combined from the transfer portal, as well as the junior college and high school ranks, the most of any power five team. The quantity of players has translated into quality as well, with ASU ranking 51st in the 2023 high school recruiting class and second in the transfer portal rankings by Rivals.
With such a large pool of new players, the quest to have them mesh and work together is certainly a challenge alongside an overhauled coaching staff. The one thing that every padded player inside Sun Devil Stadium already shares, though is the desire to represent the maroon and gold.
“This program is about our players and our roster,” Dillingham noted. “Every kid I talk to in recruiting, it’s about the people who choose to be Sun Devils. We are always going to keep it about the kids that are here.”
The new wave of talent has crashed onto the perfect spots of the sand, as the Sun Devils filled a team need after team need in the last couple of months. Yet, not one newcomer is guaranteed a thing once they arrive on campus.
“Your goal should not be to play as a true freshman,” Dillingham remarked. “Your goal is to say when I leave here, am I the best I can possibly be? And if you leave a place the best you can be, you’re gonna be more successful than if you had things that were promised to you, handed to you, or you didn’t have the competition that pushed you.”
Dillingham believes in hard work that results in earning your current status. It’s something he has done himself his entire career. After all, it took him 16 years of coaching before he got called to head an NCAA program of his own.
When his playing career ended at just 17 years old following a torn ACL, Dillingham decided not to let his passion for the game cease and found a different way to exhibit it. Starting out at Scottsdale’s Chaparral High School in 2007, Dillingham served as the quarterbacks’ coach for six years and was promoted to offensive coordinator at the end of the 2012 season, the same year he graduated from Arizona State as an interdisciplinary studies major.
His efforts on the high school circuit caught his alma mater’s eyes when then-head coach Todd Graham brought Dillingham onto the sidelines at Frank Kush Field as an offensive assistant. Soon enough, he quickly climbed up the ranks. The first stop was was Memphis, where he followed former ASU offensive coordinator Mike Norvell who became head coach of the Tigers. Dillingham was a graduate assistant in 2016 and was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2018 as the mastermind of a unit that finished 7th in FBS in points per game with 42.9.
Following his rapid turnaround of the Tigers’ offense, Dillingham made a significant career jump to take the same role with Auburn and five-star quarterback Bo Nix. In his new Tiger stripes, Dillingham and Nix linked up to finish third in the SEC in points per game, trailing only eventual national champions LSU and Alabama. After a two-year stint at Florida State (reuniting with Norvell) and another with Bo Nix at Oregon, in which the Ducks finished fourth in the conference in both passing yards and passing touchdowns, Dillingham’s old roots needed some watering.
At his introductory press conference in Tempe, Dillingham fought back tears as he expressed his overwhelming joy and pride in landing what he has called his dream job. While those sentiments remain as clear as day in Dillingham’s personality, the Phoenix-area native will stop at nothing to represent the origins of where his love of the game came from.
“This is literally home,” Dillingham said in his introductory press conference last November. “This place is special. This state is special. We need this entire valley to come together. This is one of the biggest metropolitan areas in the country. It’s growing at a rapid rate. We need the valley behind us. We need everything that this valley has all in because I am all in.”
With 46 new players and a handful of coaches joining the team this spring, it’s hard to argue that Dillingham hasn’t pushed all his chips to the middle of the table. With an emphasis on keeping local kids home, Dillingham and company secured commitments from 12 native Arizonans.
Part of attracting those local kids has come from bringing in coaches that were recognized names in the Valley of the Sun. Jason Mohns, who won multiple state championships at Scottsdale Saguaro, left his post as the kingpin of Phoenix high school football to join Dillingham’s staff. DJ Foster, a former ASU running back and Scottsdale Saguaro graduate who went on to win a Super Bowl as an NFL player, is Arizona State’s Manager of Player Development
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“He is living proof of concept,” Dillingham said of Foster. “He’s the proof that if you come here, you will be a legend. That could be you.”
That draw of being a Sun Devil has spoken to kids who have never even stepped foot on campus before. The point-blank mentality of the Sun Devils’ first-year head coach, coupled with his desire to build the ASU program, has sold some of the nation’s top talent on Arizona State.
“I’m at my dream job,” Dillingham said. “I wanna see the best players play. It’s gonna help me win and be here for 30 years.”
Those incredible players, though, come into the football building with a clean slate and a whole lot of points to prove. The first of those aspects? Commitment.
“A question that I asked every kid we brought in was ‘Do you want to be here,’” Dillingham stated.
With the overwhelming level of commitment exhibited by the players and coaches to realizing the program’s full potential, eyes are back on Tempe as a legitimate destination for college football talent. While a baseball reference, the “if you build it, he will come” saying is a perfect description of the players who have answered the call.
Among the 46 new Sun Devils are some of the nation’s most sought after football talents in the high school circuit. Jaden Rashada, a four-star quarterback out of California, has signed his NLI to be a Sun Devil potentially as early as this spring. Local standout receiver Lenox Lawson decided to stay home and play for Dillingham. Three-stars CJ Fite and Landen Thomas have been brought in to sure up the defensive line. These players and the 16 others who will begin their college careers in Tempe are promising, but it was the reeling in of experienced players that set the Sun Devils apart.
With the transfer portal serving as the college version of free agency, Kenny Dillingham was aware of the new factors that weigh into a player’s decision. Knowing the pressures those kids feel, Dillingham knew the best way to attract a player was to take that weight off their shoulders and make the decision about the player.
“Adults, handlers, professional recruiters that put all this stuff in kids’ minds of why you can’t go here or why you can’t go there,” Dillingham explained. “At the end of the day, you gotta show up and be happy, or you’re not going to perform at your highest level of ability. In college football, so many kids aren’t happy because they get caught up in the big business and the big profession.”
Rather than get tangled up with the hoop-lah, Dillingham’s straight-shooter attitude hit the bullseye on some big time names in the transfer portal. Drew Pyne, the former signal caller of the famed Notre Dame Fighting Irish, now dons the maroon and gold. Five-star edge rusher Clayton Smith left mighty Oklahoma for Arizona State. 4-star tackle Aaron Frost now anchors a power five offensive line. The importing of a sheer quantity of talent is unparalleled in this year’s cycle.
Despite the plethora of high-level players coming in, Dillingham guaranteed them nothing but an opportunity to prove themselves without the sugar-coating of playing time or NIL on it.
“People always think you get in with these guys, and you hype them up and make them feel good when they leave a meeting,” Dillingham said. “No! You leave a meeting with me, and you’re put into a reality of what things are going to be like when you show up. These kids didn’t get tricked to come here. They didn’t get promised playing time or anything other than an opportunity to be pushed to a level they’ve never been pushed.”
From here on out, for the team, coaches, and fans, it’s about showing the world why that’s the case. Dillingham sent out the call for support on April 15, when fans get to see their new team in action at the annual spring game.
“You’re gonna wanna be there,” he said. “If you’re a student, a fan with little kids, an adult that just ran Pat’s Run, you want to be there.”
Having the fans out to watch the new group of guys on the field is all part of Dillingham’s vision and aspiration, and without it, succeeding isn’t possible.
“Activate the Valley is a great hashtag, but if nobody shows up, we haven’t activated crap.”
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