Dillingham appreciative of Sam Leavitt's tenure in Tempe
On November 18th, On3 reported that ASU quarterback Sam Leavitt was doubtful to return to the team next year. After not attending Arizona State’s end-of-season banquet Sunday night, the writing continues to be firmly on the wall, pointing to the signal caller’s departure, who is expected to make his announcement well before the transfer portal opens on January 2nd.
During a Sun Bowl press conference on Monday morning, Sun Devils’ head coach Kenny Dillingham declined to specifically announce that Leavitt has played in his last game in an ASU uniform.
“I’m going to leave that to Sam’s team out of respect for him,” Dillingham said regarding Leavitt’s future. “I love Sam. Sam grew so much here, and you know he really did, and I grew so much learning from Sam. I wish him nothing but the best. I absolutely want to see him succeed, and I can sleep really well at night knowing that we helped him progress himself along his journey; that is now the craziness of college football.”
Leavitt’s time at ASU saw him rapidly transform from a Michigan State transfer who redshirted his lone year in East Lansing into a Big 12 Champion in a one-year span. In 2024, Leavitt started 13 games for ASU, passing for 24 touchdowns and just six interceptions, totaling 2,885 yards. But it was his electric playmaking and showstopping ability that took Maroon and Gold fans by storm.
In the 2024 Big 12 Championship game against Iowa State, Leavitt threw for 219 yards and notched four total touchdowns while leading the Sun Devils to the promised land. In his final game of that season, he completed 24-46 passes in the Peach Bowl for 222 yards, narrowly losing to Texas 39-31 in double overtime of the College Football Playoffs Quarterfinals.
In 2025, Leavitt threw for 10 touchdowns and three interceptions in seven games, totaling 1,628 yards. He spent all of Big 12 play battling a foot injury suffered in the conference opener at Baylor, before having season-ending surgery following the Sun Devils’ 24-16 defeat to Houston.
“Sam and I have a really, really good relationship that’s never going to change,” Dillingham reflected. “When I sign players, when I recruit players, when I coach players, my goal is to help them be successful individually, and hopefully, me helping them be successful individually helps them be successful as a team.
“I saw him grow from a dude who wasn’t playing at a prior school, to a guy who got to hold a championship up and then be hype for the Heisman, the guy who was hyped for a first round pick.”
The hype surrounding Leavitt at the beginning of 2025 was palpable. He and Dillingham were on the deluxe cover of the EA Sports College Football 26 video game, and Leavitt entered the campaign with the ninth-highest odds to win the Heisman Trophy award at 20-1. He was the only Big 12 player in the top 18.
“Everybody’s going to stay together every year and progress forward? No,” Dillingham remarked. “At the end of the day, we’ve created a mercenary world in college football; you can’t be mad at people making individual decisions. You gotta support that. And if you really care about somebody, you support those decisions that they feel are best for them.”
If the Big 12’s Preseason Offensive Player of the Year is indeed out the door for ASU, it continues to shine light on Dillingham’s sentiment of ‘I want players that want to be at Arizona State.’ he’s repeated that mantra time and again.
Leavitt’s 2025 season was uneven before his injury. Through seven games, he averaged 232 passing yards, which wouldn’t have been enough to make the top five of the Big 12. The Sun Devils also struggled to find the end zone all season. They finished tied for 13th in the conference in touchdowns with just 33, and Leavitt’s ten passing touchdowns through seven games put him on pace to finish 10th in the conference in that statistic.
“I want people who truly believe Arizona State is the best place for themselves and their growth,” Dillingham noted, “and I want to help everybody achieve what they want to achieve, and if that’s at Arizona State. Great, if it’s not at Arizona State, great.”
How will I remember him? I won’t have to remember him because I’m always going to stay in contact. I don’t need to remember him because I’m going to have a lifelong relationship. So, I think, like I said multiple times, and I support our guys when they make the decisions that they think are best for them at the end of the day.”
During today’s press conference, Dillingham admitted that college football is financially doing well, but he raised questions about the current state of college athletics to ease the strain on Leavitt from fans.
“We created a mess, point blank. The whole thing is a mess. The only thing that is not a mess is the dollar signs, those are pointing up.” Dillingham stated. “At the end of the day, the adults were the people who started this mess, and now people try to blame the kids. This isn’t a kid’s problem. Every kid that transfers, every kid that leaves, this isn’t a kid problem. There’s not even a problem at all, if you don’t care that people leave, this is an adult’s mess, not a kid’s mess.
“And people try to throw these kids into it, and I get it. They make a lot of money now. But put the blame on me. I gotta do more to continue that. But this is an adult’s problem, not a kid’s problem. I have nothing but love for Sam. I want to see him succeed. I’ll help him in any way I can, whatever his next chapter of life is.”
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