Kenny Dillingham wraps up first season in dream job. What's next for the ASU football coach?
Year one is in the books for Arizona State football coach Kenny Dillingham, who admits he knew this was not going to be an easy rebuild and he didn't expect the growth to show overnight, thus what seems to be his favorite analogy of a football program's growth similar to that of bamboo. It takes a while to show growth but when it does, it sprouts quickly.
The Sun Devils finished 3-9 overall and 2-7 in Pac-12 play, although lost three conference games by a touchdown or less. That's not all that uncommon for coaches in a new job. Jedd Fisch was 1-11 in his first year at rival Arizona in 2021 and sits at 9-3 this season.
A more notable comparison comes in Jonathan Smith, who just left Oregon State for the vacancy at Michigan State. Like Dillingham, Smith went back to coach at his alma mater where he excelled as a quarterback. Smith was there for six years and had the Beavers in the national rankings the last two years but was 2-10 in his first season in 2018.
Let's take a closer look at Dillingham's first season at the helm.
What Dillingham did right
Got the fan base invested again: The worst thing you can have from a fan base is indifference and that was the tone late in the Herm Edwards regime. Fans stopped caring and stopped showing up at games. Much of that was the result of the NCAA investigation into recruiting violations that occurred on Edwards' watch. Even after he was gone fans weren't happy that athletic director Ray Anderson remained until he resigned earlier this month. Dillingham's passion for the school and football program has been evident from the start and has resonated with the fan base.
Connected with local coaches and athletes: One of the biggest complaints is that previous regimes didn't recruit enough locally. From the day he was appointed, just about a year ago, Dillingham and his assistant coaches made stops at area high schools to talk to coaches. Many were present at spring practices, bringing a handful of their players with them. It's a good start and sends the message that the staff cares about the local community.
Took accountability: The biggest knock on Dillingham was that he had never been a head coach and he admits to learning on the fly, particularly when it comes to off-the-field or administrative issues. He has been upfront about his own mistakes. For example, in the Washington game, ASU led 7-6 with 8:26 left and it was facing a fourth-and-3 at the Huskies 12. It could have tried the chip shot field goal to go up by four but Dillingham didn't think he had enough healthy linemen to be able to block for a field goal try. Instead, the resulting play was a pick-six that won the game for Washington. The next week Dillingham moved some defensive linemen over to work there in case that situation were to come up again.
Extended Brian Ward: Midway through the season the first-year defensive coordinator got a three-year extension, a good move because while there were a couple of clunker games the defense was more than respectable. The extension is a sign of stability and an indication that Dillingham and Ward are in this for the long haul. It's a good message to potential recruits and the fan base.
Adapted: The best win of the season was the 17-7 win over UCLA at the Rose Bowl in a game that the Sun Devils should not have won given the number of players missing. Because of injuries and UCLA's strength up front Dillingham opted for the "swinging gate" formation which some might call gimmicky. But it worked. Dillingham often said "no one cares about our problems" when it comes to the injuries but the coach was able to dial up a game plan that worked to perfection.
What comes next
Possible coaching staff changes: Dillingham is spending much of this week talking to each player individually as well as his coaching staff to listen to their concerns and talk about how they should proceed. When it comes to the coaching staff a decision will have to be made when it comes to offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin. The primary job in that position is to call plays and Dillingham took that responsibility over after the third game. Surely he has enough on his plate as the head coach he shouldn't have to handle that too even though his expertise is on that side of the ball. If a change is made the new addition would be the fifth OC in seven years.
Adding depth: This can come through both a strong high school signing class and the transfer portal. You like to have a balance of both because high school prospects sometimes take time to develop, depending on the position. Dillingham acknowledged that the biggest emphasis will be on the offensive line because you can never have enough players in that position group. ASU found that out the hard way this season. That is a position where ASU has had luck with graduate transfers in the past and those are better suited to come in and play right away.
Recruiting: ASU currently has 16 pledges for the 2024 class with an overall rank of 55 according to 247Sports. The top recruit thus far is four-star tight end Jayden Fortier, the No. 1 overall prospect out of Oregon. The Sun Devils need to add to that. The current pledge class includes just one offensive lineman and one linebacker, positions where the Sun Devils are particularly thin. Defensive line help is needed too.
Fundraising: Dillingham made it clear after Saturday's loss to Arizona, that this was a primary task for him moving forward. "I’m going to go fundraise because that’s what the name of the game is now. I’m going to go and fundraise, fundraise, fundraise. I’ll go out and recruit some players but I’m going to get people who want this place to win as well and that has nothing to do with players. And that’s one of the biggest factors in college football right now. And that’s my job as the head coach. It’s not just the coach, it's not just the culture. It’s not just to get people to graduate and have the highest GPA they ever had here. The first Spring we were here it’s not just that. It’s all-inclusive. The longer I’m the head coach here in year two and year three, there are no excuses. There’s never excuses. Because that’s where college football is different than the NFL. It’s different because you pick everything that happens in your program that you’re in control of. So when we’re in year two and in year three and year four. Everything is one hundred percent a reflection of what’s allowed to happen. And that starts with donors and fundraising and getting people involved so I got to go do that.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: What's next for Arizona State football coach Kenny Dillingham?
