Kenny Dillingham recalls recruiting process of Sam Leavitt

Kenny Dillingham and Sam Leavitt were the perfect tandem to bring Arizona State to a new level during their first season together with the Sun Devils. However, their relationship goes back before Tempe, when the coach was with Florida State, and the quarterback was a member of the Michigan State Spartans.

Dillingham offered the chance for Leavitt to join the Seminoles, as he was the offensive coordinator at the time. Instead, the quarterback took his talents to East Lansing, but when Dillingham needed a quarterback as a first-time head coach with Arizona State, he remembered his connection with Leavitt.

During the latest episode of the College GameDay Podcast, Dillingham reminisced about how the duo came together once again. This time, it all worked out for Arizona State’s benefit.

“I was at Florida State, and I got a call from somebody about this young buck. I liked this tape. Back then, I used to throw out a lot of young offers, because that was kind of the thing you did. You wanted to get in the game on guys,” Dillingham explained. “So, I was his first offer, actually, when I was at Florida State. Then he ends up going to Michigan State.

“I end up, you know, coming to Arizona State. It doesn’t work out at Michigan State for him, right? We’re looking for a quarterback, and we were going to take two quarterbacks, because you can’t miss on a quarterback. I’m only as good as the quarterback we have, not vice-versa. I suck without a quarterback. A quarterback is good without me. Let’s make that clear.

“He shows up on campus, we tell him we’re going to take two guys, and then we go into our meeting where we talk football. He goes in with Coach [Marcus] Arroyo, and I kid you not, six, seven, eight hours, somewhere in there — he didn’t leave. His dad’s a football guy, and his dad’s like, ‘Holy cow.’ Six, seven, eight hours, this kid sat in there and wanted to do football. When he left the meeting, I went up to Coach Arroyo and I said, ‘We’re only taking one. We’re going to tell this guy, we’re all in. We’re all in. We’ll take you and come compete.’

“That’s what he wanted to do. So, we changed our plan from taking two, and we only took one, we took him. He’s earned it, and he continues to earn it every day since.”

All Sam Leavitt did in 2024 was toss 24 touchdowns, rush for another five, win the Big 12 and lead Arizona State to the College Football Playoff. What do the quarterback and Kenny Dillingham have in store for 2025? That remains to be seen, but they won’t be underrated again this time around.