Kenny Dillingham’s work has only just begun at Arizona State, but the 32-year-old head coach has already refurbished the infrastructure of the program in the time since he was introduced.
Nearly every coaching position has been addressed, with tight ends being the lone exception. Beau Baldwin from Cal Poly will be Arizona State’s new offensive coordinator. Washington defensive coordinator Brian Ward is expected to join the team in the same position after the Cougars’ bowl game, although he has not been formally announced by the university.
Dillingham brings his high-flying offense from Oregon, which is primarily adopted from the philosophy of Florida State head coach Mike Norvell, and will install it this spring. With Dillingham calling plays as offensive coordinator, Oregon ranked top-five in scoring offense while vaulting quarterback Bo Nix into the Heisman conversation for a stretch. Dillingham’s scheme will provide a base foundation for Arizona State’s new-look offense, but the entire process will be a combined effort of the entire staff’s strengths to iron out the best playbook for their roster.
Dillingham will also have Baldwin take over the playcalling role, a move that is less surprising when considering the many tasks still ahead of the first-year head coach in just his first month at the helm.
“We are going to run the offense that I have run in the past,” Dillingham said in a Wednesday media luncheon. “But I truly . . . think that’s a small piece of a big puzzle being a head coach. We are going to run the same thing I ran last year. We’re going to collaborate a bit; we’re going to add a little bit of his passing concepts.
“Just like I did at my last school, I got there, I got a good group of people around me, we sat down, and we built an offense from the ground up.”
Drawing up the best concepts for certain downs and distances is critical, but so is understanding how to maximize the strengths of Arizona State’s roster. Last season, the Sun Devils fielded a dynamic group of players that included Second Team All Pac-12 running back Xazavian Valladay, wide receivers Elijhah Badger and Giovanni Sanders, and tight end, Jalin Conyers. Despite the amount of talent in-house, the offense never found a true groove under former offensive coordinator Glenn Thomas until interim head coach Shaun Aguano took over play-calling duties for the last five games.
In Aguano’s first crack at the job, the Sun Devils erupted for 562 yards of total offense in a breakout 42-34 road win over Colorado.
Although Dillingham said he would “get a better clue” of the roster’s strengths when he gets to see the players on the field in person, he is focusing on establishing culture and discipline so the rest of the team’s activities can flourish.
“I told all the guys when we met, ‘You’re going to have more fun than you’ve ever had playing football in your entire life if you do things right,’” Dillingham said. “But we’re going to hold you accountable, and you’re not going to like the pieces of when we hold you accountable.
“You know, my dad went to the Naval academy. I know there is a fine line between right and wrong, and that’s how I operate. If you do things right, you’re going to have more fun than anybody in the country. If you do things wrong, you’re probably not going to like the first few times until we start doing things right. And that’s really the culture we’re trying to build is we’re trying to build good men, good people that work hard that have a lot of fun and fall in love with the process of work.
“Yes, we need to add to the roster, but the most important thing is the culture of what the work looks like. Because winning teams practice a certain way, look a certain way, and work a certain way. That’s the number one thing we’re trying to get to.”
Over 1,000 players entered their names in the transfer portal upon its Dec. 5 opening. Arizona State will need to comb through the talent and find good matches for the culture Dillingham wants to foster. While athleticism and playmaking abilities will certainly be a focus, Dillingham is prioritizing ethics and attitude above all else in his raid of college football’s free agency.
“A good kid that works hard, that’s driven, that’s number one,” Dillingham responded when asked what types of players he wants to bring in. “When you look at the success, I’ve been blessed to be at some places that have rebuilt programs through the portal or added a lot of pieces that were necessary through the portal. Those traits were the most important traits. Good kids who love ball, who just wanted to work. Sometimes, like I said, kids need second chances, and sometimes for us, a clean slate is all a kid needs to be successful.”
When he took the job, Dillingham broadcasted his desire to bring Arizona recruits back home. In the first few days of the transfer portal frenzy, he has done exactly that. Quarterback Jacob Conover, running back DeCarlos Brooks, defensive end Tristan Monday, linebacker Krew Jackson, long snapper Slater Zellers, and punter Josh Carlson all played high school football in the Valley.
“I think it’s our job as coaches to help kids achieve their dreams,” Dillingham said.
The other end of the ball will need significant retooling. Several senior starters, including defensive tackle Nesta Jade Silvera, linebackers Kyle Soelle and Merlin Robertson, and safety Khoury Bethley need to be replaced. Former defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson was criticized for his hesitance to supply pressure on quarterbacks and deviate from his usual bank of coverages.
But Dillingham glowed up in excitement when asked to describe what led him to select Ward to command the Arizona State defense.
“I played him,” Dillingham said. “Pretty simple, I played him, and on Wednesday nights, I watch third downs, and I don’t think I went home until 4:00 a.m. because (his scheme) was an absolute pain in the butt to go (against). You’re talking about pressure. I mean, he has seven dudes walked up on the line of scrimmage on third-and-6 plus. He brings house blitz, he brings zero blitz, he drops them out on base downs, he rushes six, he’ll simulate pressure, he’ll bring internal pressure, drop out.
“If you look at the TFL (tackles for loss) if you study what I believe in defense is ‘chaos rate.’ Do you create chaos to an offense? Don’t let an offense create comfort. If you watch the tape, it’s like every three to four plays; chaos is occurring, right, and he does it sound. And I think that’s the challenge, can you create chaos sound? If I’m a player and I watch his tape, I’m like, ‘dang, I want to play in that because I want to be the dude that creates chaos.’ So for me, it’s I don’t want to play him, and if I’m a player I know, I would want to play in it.”
In the cafeteria, a countdown clock exists on multiple televisions displaying the time left until Arizona State faces Southern Utah in its 2023 season opener. Based on the urgency of Dillingham’s start to his era, it is clear he plans to not waste a second between now and September.
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