Dillingham turns the page on 2024 season at Big 12 Media Day
Last July, Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham spent his first Big 12 Media Day answering questions regarding his team’s last-place standing in the Big 12 preseason media poll. The poll became a staple of ASU’s story throughout 2024, as the underdog continued to stack wins all the way to a Big 12 championship title in its inaugural season, along with a College Football Playoff berth for the first time in program history.
A year later, it’s obvious to all that the 2024 poll couldn’t have been further from a reliable way to predict the outcome of a college football season. With that in mind, Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark announced on Tuesday at the 2025 Big 12 Media Day in Frisco, Texas, that the yearly poll would not continue for the 2025 season, in large part due to its impact on narratives and discourse surrounding the Sun Devils the previous year.
“I think it disadvantaged Arizona State last year. I think it hurt them,” Yormark admitted.
For Dillingham himself, the poll has never outwardly affected his viewpoint on his program or any other team in the Big 12 Conference. When asked about the importance of the poll or how it affects the conference, he gave a simplistic, Dillingham-esque response that he’s given for 12 months.
“I couldn’t care less, and I have no clue,” Dillingham said, answering a two-part question about the Big 12 canceling its preseason poll and how it affects the game. “I’m not a voter, and I don’t really care where people put us. If you compete at something, you better compete to win.”
This part of Dillingham’s stint in front of the microphone from The Star at the Dallas Cowboys’ practice facility exemplified his mindset and the outlook he wants to preach for his players, which centers around moving on from 2024. The success of ASU’s run to the CFP won’t be forgotten quickly; however, Dillingham doesn’t want to be another flash-in-the-pan program.
“What we did last year is absolutely irrelevant to what happens this year,” Dillingham noted. “That’s what great teams do — they restart.”
Dillingham had mentioned throughout 2024 that ASU has sat as a “sleeping giant” in the college football stratosphere for years due to its access to a major urban hub being located in the Phoenix metro area.
Over the years, the Sun Devils have experienced success in varying degrees throughout the decades, dating back to the program’s most dominant coach, Frank Kush, who led the Sun Devils to nine conference championships during his 21-year tenure at the helm, including five consecutive titles from 1969 to 1973.
ASU’s next stop in the limelight of college football came during the late ’90s. Led by quarterback Jake Plummer and head coach Bruce Snyder, the 1996 team finished 11-1 and 8-0 in conference play.
The program has since had just four double-digit win seasons, and 2024 marked the first time the Sun Devils won 11 games since that historic 1996 season. For Dillingham, his next task is aiming to build off last campaign’s success.
“Anything that’s never been done is challenging,” Dillingham said. “We’re embarking on an opportunity to do something at the university that’s never been done. Most people insert themselves where you already know the result.”
The way for ASU to do what hasn’t been done since the Kush-era dominance starts with retention. During Day One of Big 12 Media Day, eight Big 12 coaches partook in a roundtable discussion hosted by former Sun Devil and ESPN anchor Matt Barrie. During this, the coaches spoke on the difficulties of the modern-day transfer portal and NIL with regard to recruitment and player retention. That is, until it was Dillingham’s turn to speak.
When asked about how his team fared with maintaining a cohesive roster heading into 2025, Dillingham said, “Most of our guys wanted to stay,” further elaborating on the benefits of 2024’s success and the culture that has been set in Tempe.
Tactically, this grants ASU a “head start” in some ways on most teams in the conference. When looking at the two-deep rotation, Dillingham kept nearly all of his core players on the defensive side of the ball and found quick replacements and plugged holes left by big departures on offense.
“I feel really good about how we’re going to be able to mix things around,” Dillingham mentioned about taking the next step defensively. “I’m excited to see the changes and tweaks that we made to make ourselves better than last year.”
On that end of the field, the Sun Devils were able to address finite details, with defensive linemen adding more weight in the offseason to better rush the passer, or defensive backs adding another year of experience to their comfort level.
Offensively, the questions arose surrounding the departure of All-American running back Cam Skattebo, now officially an NFL player as a member of the New York Giants. This makes redshirt sophomore quarterback Sam Leavitt the focal point and centerpiece of the team. Leavitt had a remarkable campaign in his first year as a starter, not only due to the overall team success but also for his individual brilliance as a playmaker.
Leavitt finished 2024 with 24 touchdowns and just six interceptions. He threw for 2,885 yards while using his legs to earn another 443 on the ground. With three years of eligibility remaining, Leavitt is being discussed among the upper echelon of collegiate quarterbacks, with many analysts speculating he could produce a Heisman Trophy-caliber season.
For Dillingham, a large portion of his media day was spent answering questions about Leavitt’s success and quality, but his stance on praise stays the same. Dillingham is ready to push Leavitt beyond his limits rather than stroke his ego for the work he’s done thus far.
“Everybody else will tell you you’re good, and I’ll be the one to tell you that you suck,” Dillingham laughed, reminiscing on conversations between himself and Leavitt. “So we can be transparent there — I’ll be the one to humble you.
“Sam has such big goals for himself that anything he reads is probably as big as the goals and dreams he has for himself … it doesn’t matter what anyone says because you’re probably not dreaming as big as he’s dreaming. If you don’t believe you can do something, you’re never going to do it.”
Dillingham rounded out all three phases of football with an interesting tidbit for fans and opponents to watch out for. With special teams being an area that required major attention before 2025, the Sun Devils brought in graduate transfer kicker Jesus Gomez. Uniquely, however, Dillingham spoke about mixing up the status quo in his plan to attack special teams in 2025.
“Special teams is something we need to improve upon,” Dillingham said. “I want to be more aggressive. We called a few fakes last year, and they were successful. I think transitioning from an offensive coordinator role — I specialized in quarterbacks — I never really spent any time with special teams. I never actually worked in that space.
“One thing I think is there for the taking is more fakes. I don’t care if our opponent knows it — the success rate of fakes is so high that more fakes need to be called on the punt team and on field goals, and I only think it helps your special teams as a whole.”
