Kenny Dillingham Discusses Proposed Practice Facility

TEMPE -- The last 12 months have been a whirlwind for Kenny Dillingham and the Arizona State football program.

Dillingham accepted the head coaching position at ASU - his alma matter and dream job - as a 32 year old that was far from a household name.

He took a chance on Arizona State as much as the other way around as well, as the program had notably become marred by NCAA investigations, a failed experiment involving Herm Edwards, and the reality that players such as Jayden Daniels broke out once departing Tempe.

Dillingham hit the ground running, rebuilding the culture, infrastructure, and approach of program building from the very beginning of his tenure - while it didn't reflect immediately (a 3-9 record followed in 2023), it did in droves in 2024.

The 11 win season and College Football Playoff appearance has boosted the NIL collective and fan interest as a whole - which has Dillingham and AD Graham Rossini thinking forward when it comes to adapting to the current landscape.

Dillingham revealed that the Sun Devil athletic program is already in the process of raising funds for an indoor practice facility adjacent to Mountain America Stadium - that facility could be multi-purpose as well.

"We're in the process of trying to build an indoor facility... get a shovel in the ground in the next six months so it's here two years from today... we want to use that indoor facility for tailgating in the future..."

"We're trying to get to the 15-ish million dollar mark to start the project. The school will take it from there... we're already roughly one-third of the way there..."

This is yet another ingenious move from the head coach and AD alike - as the move of building a permanemt practice structure would solve many issues at once.

Among those issues is the Kajikawa practice fields being outside during the summer months, while the Verde Dickey Dome is an inflatable structure that only permits a certain capacity due to fire code laws.

The tailgating conundrum has been another gripe of Sun Devil fans in recent years - as parking complications, the ever-expanding construction in Tempe, and weather make it difficult to experience an authentic college football tailgate. Being able to host fans inside of a climate-controlled facility that is directly next to the stadium would improve the fan expereince tenfold.

Read more on the case for Sam Leavitt to be an All-American selection at season's end here, and if Dillingham has any built-in recruiting advantages in his role here.