Kenny Dillingham latest comments on Michigan rumors: 'This profession is absolutely wild'

Michigan Wolverines football is searching for its 22nd head coach after Sherrone Moore was fired for cause, and Arizona State head man Kenny Dillingham is in the mix as a candidate. The 35-year-old has reportedly been “close” to signing an extension with ASU, but has yet to do so, saying he’s had an offer for weeks.

One hangup in those extension talks may be Michigan’s coaching search, of course. In a session with reporters following pre-Sun Bowl practice Tuesday, Dillingham was asked about that, the landscape of college football, the resources needed to compete in today’s scene and more.

Here are Dillingham’s comments:

On if he’s glad to have the Michigan rumors behind him

Well, I mean, this profession is absolutely wild. It’s just a wild profession. It’s a wild industry right now. It’s just nuts.

On what the important things are for a head coach when it comes to stability in today’s college football

One thing for stability is your assistant staff, the support for them, the support for your players. And in this nature of the arm’s race, you’ve got to get the arms to be competitive or even field a team, to retain a team, you have to keep up with the Joneses.

And then the longevity. In this crazy era of college sports, longevity is security. Security is protection for if there’s something bad that happens. Then, you’ve got to be able to bounce back another year later. This profession is so volatile that security is a critical piece on top of those things that are needed to actually build and continue to grow a program in the climate of chaos.

On if he makes a conscious effort to make Arizona State what’s right with college football

No, I just think you treat people right. Nobody’s doing it right, nobody’s doing it wrong — everybody is just doing it different, because there’s so much chaos right now.

It’s kind of like the tech boom. So much money is being poured into it from different places. It’s a battle to grow the fastest, and some people, you could be here today and you could be at the bottom tomorrow, overnight. You’ve got to be able to protect yourself from that, not just for yourself but for your staff, for your players. You’ve got to be able to protect that.

Otherwise, just like the tech boom, a website you go to every day, you look at it the next day and it’s like, what’s what ‘401 code’ or whatever. It’s like, that’s not even a website anymore. It got bought out and closed by the bigger company because they don’t want the competition. That’s kind of the world we’re in a little bit right now, is the tech boom of college football. And you’ve just got to be ready to change and just hope you treat people right along the way.

On if he’s surprised to see so many quarterbacks planning to enter the NCAA transfer portal when it opens Jan. 2

Not at all. Absolutely not at all. This is just the new normal, and it’s uncomfortable for some people, but I keep saying it: This is a different industry, and it’s a whole different model, than it was 12 months ago, 24 months ago. It is constantly changing. And as the cost to enter increases — not just for a player, but to build a team, to build a program, to maintain a staff — you’re going to constantly see change, because that’s the world that we’re in right now. And there’s nothing wrong with that. It just is what it is, and you’ve got to be able to adapt, to continue to raise your level and operate, or you’re going to die.

It’s unfortunate, because you can go in one day with a plan, and the next day, that plan sucks. It’s 3x to run that plan! You better be ready to have your plan of how to become 3x what you just were four days ago, because four people chose to — at other institutions — be all in. Now, you’ve got to change some things up if we want to be competitive, or you’ve got to find a way to kind of survive those moments if you’re not competitive until the seams kind of settle.

And that’s the challenge right now. You’re in that balance of trying to succeed while also, if you fall behind, are you still going to be coaching? Or are you not going to be coaching at that time? Because this industry is wild, and you go from shit house to castle overnight. That’s the other aspect of this whole industry that just makes it very interesting.

On if he’s seen panic from the ASU fan base on social media about him potentially leaving

To be honest, I don’t go on social media a lot this time of year. I usually go on in the offseasons, or if I go on it’s specific because somebody sends me something. Usually, I get sent things, and that creates my activity on social media. It’s not me in the scroll world, so I really don’t know what’s happening in the scroll world. I’m more in the get sent something, I’m like, alright, I’ve got to comment on that thing; that’s pretty cool. Sometimes, I get fun things from my friends, and I comment on that. But I’m not … it’s a layering of social media, it’s like a filtration system of friends and family for social.

So, I couldn’t tell you. But you can see the city’s bought in. The city loves what this program is doing right now. Sold-out crowds, unbelievable environments, talked about all the time — I do listen to sports radio, since I’ve been doing it since I was eight in the city, maybe seven. 

On if he feels the need to calm down that panic

I think my job is to try to do whatever I can for the people that are with me — the people that are in the foxhole, the coaches that are in the foxhole with me. I’ve got to do whatever I can to fight for those people, for my family, for everything from that perspective. I love it here. I’ve said that since day one. That’s absolutely never changing. Absolutely never changing. So, yeah. That piece is never changing.