Arizona State's Kenny Dillingham Brings in Record Bonuses

Arizona State made a fateful decision in late November 2022 to hire a 32 year-old Oregon offensive coordinator by the name of Kenny Dillingham to take over a program that had become marred by scandal and underperformance.

Less than three years later, both sides have absolutely reaped the benefits of beginning the partnership in the face of uncertainty.

Dillingham is seeking to take the Sun Devils to another Big 12 title in 2025 after winning the conference a year ago - and the now 35 year old has broken some records along the way.

The Arizona State alum has now become the record holder for highest bonus earnings for a head coach for a public university - according to contract archives that are available to anyone.

Per Jason Wolf and Steve Berkowitz of the Arizona Republic:

"Dillingham will collect at least $3.056 million in on-field and academic performance-related bonuses for the 2024-25 school year, which surpasses the $3 million that Michigan paid John Harbaugh for winning the national championship in 2023-24, according to a database of public college coaches’ contracts maintained by USA TODAY Sports. The Arizona Republic is part of the USA TODAY Network."

"Dillingham received $2.604 million in football-related bonuses after the Sun Devils finished the season with an 11-3 record, won the Big 12 Conference and earned the No. 4 seed in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff, where they lost a quarterfinal game against Texas in overtime. ASU finished No. 7 in the final AP Top 25 poll."

This is an incredible development for Dillingham, who took in a base salary of $3.95 million last season before a contract extension was signed - he came in at 11th out of 12 Big 12 coaches that held a publicly reported contract.

Part of Dillingham's goal with the newfound success was to retain as many assistant coaches as possible - that was accomplished when AD Graham Rossini gave offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo and defensive coordinator Brian Ward contracts that made each among the highest paid in their respective roles in college football.

A future that was once marred by controversy has now been rebuilt by Dillingham - and he is reaping what he has sowed since becoming head coach.

Read more about the history of Arizona State head coaches since the turn of the century here, and why the upcoming non-conference slate for the 2025 Sun Devils is more meaningful than some are acknowledging here.

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