WATCH/READ: Kenny Dillingham Explains Decision to Name Jaden Rashada Starting QB

Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham confirmed after practice today that Jaden Rashada will be the team’s starter for their season opener on Aug. 31 against Southern Utah.

“Jaden’s gonna start Week 1,” Dillingham said, “and we’ll go from there.”

Why will he be the starter over the like over last year’s starter Trenton Bourguet and Notre Dame transfer Drew Pyne?

“He gotten every single day,” Dillingham said. “His completion percentage in the last week and a half of practice skyrocketed. You saw the comfort. And then, his ability to throw the ball down the field is definitely a huge compliment to what we can do offensively. But in reality, he just kept getting better every day, and he earned it.”

A further breakdown of Rashada’s improved accuracy:

Dillingham added: “I mean that was a kid who almost got no reps in spring because he didn’t know what he was doing. He started off as the 3 in fall camp because he was learning what to do. But, he just kept growing and ket battling, and he deserved it.”

More than a quarterback, Dillingham complimented Rashada as a person.

“He’s an unbelievable human,” Dillingham said. “If you think about that kid and what he’s been through in the last year of his life, what the media thought about him, how the media slandered his name. Whatever everybody did to Jaden and the fact that he shows up every day, he takes reps with the threes (and) shows up with a smile on his face to get better.”

Dillingham explained further how much he likes Rashada as a human.

“He’s an unbelievable person,” Dillingham said. “You’re around him and you understand he’s about other people. His success is through other people. He loves to see other people succeed. I’m blessed he’s on our team because he’s just a great person. He’s a great representation of what we’re trying to be here. And that’s really talented people, but we want to be good people.”

“It’s on our wall: ‘Be a good person.’ It’s really, really easy to be a good person. He embodies that.”

How did Rashada react to the news?

“(He) smiled,” Dillingham said. “Obviously, he’s worked for this his entire life.”

He then told an interesting story of what he told Rashada when recruiting him.

“When I recruited him, I told him, the odds of you starting this year are very, very low,” he said. “That’s point blank, you can ask him that. I said, ‘You’re probably not going to start here. So if you want to go somewhere and be guaranteed a starting job, don’t come here. Because the odds of it happening are low.’ But he’s earned it.”