Kenny Dillingham rips lack of 'passion' at Arizona State practice: 'It was a bad day'

Following Thursday’s practice, Kenny Dillingham called out the lack of “passion” at Arizona State. While he made it clear the Sun Devils didn’t have a bad practice, he said it was a “bad day.”

Dillingham said the offense especially didn’t show much emotion. He noted dropped passes, but also called on his team to avoid getting complacent and risking a sub-.500 season.

As a result, Dillingham said he expects more out of the Sun Devils. If they’re not careful, he warned they could be part of the group that finishes father down in the standings.

Kenny Dillingham didn't mince words after day two of ASU fall camp:

"Don't be mad going 5-7 … 6-6 … 3-9 … Somebody has to go those records. We didn't practice bad. We didn't practice with passion … It was a good practice for a bad team."@DevilsDigest pic.twitter.com/LKu414D4TV

— Justin LaCertosa (@LaCertosaSports) July 31, 2025

“We’ve got to be better,” Dillingham said. “Our offense, in general, too many drops on offense as a group. It was a bad day. It was a really, really bad day on offense. It all stems from the passion we play with. Is it okay to not make a play? And if you accept it, then you accept it. That’s who you’re going to be.

“Don’t be mad going 5-7. It’s okay. Don’t me mad going 6-6, don’t be mad going 3-9 because somebody has to go those records. There’s going to be tons of teams who do it. Why not us?”

Kenny Dillingham: ‘We were just out here practicing’

Kenny Dillingham made it clear that tactically, Arizona State looked the part on the field, only throwing one interception. But he further lamented the lack of emotion when someone scored a touchdown or after the pick.

He saw a team that appeared to go through the motions and was bordering on complacency. That’s why he was so fired up in his press conference.

“We didn’t practice bad,” Dillingham said. “What I mean by that is we didn’t bust, we didn’t [miss assignments]. We threw one pick. We didn’t practice bad. We didn’t practice with passion. We didn’t care if we scored a touchdown, we didn’t care if there was an interception, we didn’t care if somebody made a great play for most of practice. We were just out here practicing. To me, the best teams, it matters all the time. You want to win everything. And today, we didn’t have that mindset.

“We didn’t want to win. We wanted to practice. And those are two different mindsets to me. Good practice of complacency. It was a good practice for a bad team. It was an average practice for an average team. That’s what today was.”