TEMPE, AZ — Kenny Dillingham and Arizona State have agreed to an amended contract and fended off interest from Michigan as a result, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on Saturday.
The deal will average more than $7 million per year and the staff salary pool is towards the top of the Big 12 at around $11 million, Thamel added.
The agreement comes after Dillingham declined possible opportunities from SEC programs, such as Florida and LSU, before the Michigan job opened unexpectedly due to Sherrone Moore’s firing. The coach was viewed as one of the Wolverines’ top early targets, along with Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer.
Dillingham throughout the process reiterated his love for the football program, university and Valley, while maintaining that ASU needed more resources to sustain competitive levels in the new NIL and House settlement era.
ASU athletic director Graham Rossini indicated the agreement was close on Thursday when he told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo the sides were “working through some details, and it’s an exciting moment for the program.”
“There’s a lot of things that we want to solidify,” the AD said. “We’ve been hard at work at it for a long time, fine-tuning little details along the way. Coach and I have very open dialogue about the tools that can help the program grow. And so we’re finding those tools because it’s deserved.
“It’s deserved based on the job that he’s doing. It’s deserved based on how our fan base continues to step up and we’re all reaping the benefits of that as a community. Not just the ASU (community), but the community across the board with what Sun Devil football is just continuing to catapult for all of us.”
The Sun Devils are 22-16 (.579) under Dillingham in three seasons, including 19-7 in the past two with a Big 12 title win and College Football Playoff appearance.
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Kenny Dillingham’s ASU tenure
Dillingham was hired ahead of the 2023 season to replace previous head coach Herm Edwards (2018-22).
An alumnus of the university who grew up in the Valley and frequently attended ASU games, he was viewed as a quarterback whisperer with prior experience as the offensive coordinator for Memphis (2018), Auburn (2019), Florida State (2020-21) and Oregon (2022).
His first college coaching job came as an ASU offensive assistant under then-coordinator Mike Norvell, who he then followed to Memphis and FSU.
ASU was placed under a self-imposed bowl ban for his first season as coach because of NCAA recruiting violations that took place under Edwards’ watch. Dillingham led the Sun Devils to three wins in the debut.
Despite a massive talent disadvantage and major injuries, the Sun Devils at times showed a level of competitiveness in big games, such as a 15-7 loss to then-No. 5 Washington, that foreshadowed what teams would look like under the coach.
Cam Skattebo, who Dillingham found as a Sacramento State transfer with no Division 1 offers out of high school, started to show his versatile talent in 2023 before really emerging as ASU went on its conference championship run to the CFP in 2024.
Dillingham also helped quarterback Sam Leavitt to a Big 12 Newcomer of the Year season as a redshirt freshman. Injuries derailed his redshirt sophomore season, but he will be one of the top available quarterbacks in the transfer portal after he was not viewed as a top-20 signal caller in his own class.
Despite the numerous injuries ASU endured to key players in 2025 with Leavitt among them, ASU was still playing for a spot in the Big 12 Championship in its last regular season game.
The Sun Devils take on the Duke Blue Devils in the Sun Bowl on Dec. 31 in El Paso, Texas.
