Kennny Dillingham Talks State of Arizona State Football

The Arizona State football program is now on the map.

After an eventful year that has found the Sun Devils and head coach Kenny Dillingham at the center of the college football year, the third-year head man in particular has made the rounds with various media outlets as one of the most likable figures in the sport.

That circuit continued on Thursday.

Matt Barrie of ESPN - famously an Arizona State alumni - hosted a segment of 'SportsCenter' that featured Dillingham - there was much to take out of the five minute chat.

Barrie began by asking the third year head coach how much his life has changed in the last year.

Dillingham gave a response that only he could.

"Uh, I mean, well people think we are good, which is way different... All you can control is just being the best version of you, but we definitely have a different type of adversity this year - that adversity is people telling us that we are good."

Dillingham is completely correct - the last year has turned the Sun Devils from perceived bottom-feeders in the Big 12 into the presumed favorites, along with potentially being ranked inside the top 10 of the preseason AP Poll.

It's one thing to overachieve when no one expects it - and a completely different thing to meet expectations when you become the hunted. The Sun Devil squad must take that lesson to heart going into the season opener.

Barrie then reflected on the season that was, asking the 35 year old if he sensed that there was something special with his team during the course of the 2024 season.

"Yeah, most definitely. I mean you saw the guys come together, you saw the guys' confidence as they were playing together, and then you saw multiple games where we got out to really big leads... the Kansas State game and how we started on the road in a hostile environment was most definitely a huge moment."

The Sun Devils went into the November 16 duel with the Wildcats with an outside shot to reach the Big 12 title game in the team's maiden voyage in the conference - a few hours later, a huge Arizona State win and Brigham Young loss to Kansas opened the door for Dillingham's squad to climb towards the top of the standings.

It only went up from there, as Arizona State built a 28-9 advantage over BYU the next week en route to a program-defining victory and won the subsequent pair of games in blowout fashion.

Read more about the future of the program - more specifically if the formula that Dillingham has found is sustainable here.

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