ATLANTA — Arizona State and Kenny Dillingham are in agreement on a five-year contract extension that will place the young head coach among the higher-paid coaches in the Big 12, a source briefed on the deal confirmed Tuesday night.
In his second season, Dillingham led Arizona State to a Big 12 championship and into the College Football Playoff. The fourth-seeded Sun Devils meet fifth-seed Texas in Wednesday’s Playoff quarterfinal. It’s the program’s biggest game in decades, one that has vaulted the energetic Dillingham into the national spotlight.
ESPN first reported Dillingham’s extension.
Dillingham, 34, entered this season with a base salary of $3.95 million, per the USA Today college football salary database, which placed him near the bottom of the Big 12 in terms of compensation. With Arizona State’s march to 11 wins and the CFP, Dillingham has earned more than $2 million in performance bonuses. Last month, he decided to distribute part of that money to lower-level staff members.
An Arizona State alum who grew up in Scottsdale, Ariz., Dillingham has called this his dream job since the November day he was hired in 2022. Arizona State was coming off a three-win season and faced NCAA sanctions due to recruiting violations that occurred under previous coach Herm Edwards. Dillingham, in his first season, had to overhaul his roster. The Sun Devils went 3-9.
This season they were picked to finish last in the the Big 12 but reached bowl eligibility a few days after Halloween. The Sun Devils closed with six wins in a row and Dillingham was voted Big 12 Coach of the Year.
“I knew it was going to be challenging, and I knew it was going to be difficult,” Dillingham said this week. “But at the same token, I really felt like I understood the city enough and understood the place enough.”
This is the latest commitment Arizona State has made to its football program, which previously had gained a reputation for underachieving. In November, Arizona State signed offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo and defensive coordinator Brian Ward to three-year extensions.
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