Breaking news,;.Kenny Dillingham departure is today As Big 12 announce his resignation..
Arizona State’s unwavering competitive spirit was on full show during their two overtime battle in the Peach Bowl on Wednesday.
Remarkably, the Sun Devils are carrying the same steely spirit to bring more talent to Tempe.
The key ingredient of head coach Kenny Dillingham’s secret sauce is giving second chances.
In a college football era where NIL is almost the unstated prerequisite to building a highly productive roster, Dillingham is fostering a culture of creating a winning team through the second wind.
“That Arizona State hasn’t seen a max exodus is a credit to its playoff run and to the culture Dillingham has built in Tempe,” CBS Sports’ John Tatly explains.
The reason?
“The hard-working underdog group is full of second-chance players who needed a new opportunity to maximize their potential.”
ASU’s star QB-RB duo Leavitt and Skattebo are prime examples.
“Leavitt and Skattebo started their careers elsewhere but flourished in a new environment this season. That opportunity has begotten loyalty back to the program, at least in the short-term,” Tatly wrote.
ASU Athletic Director Graham Rossini also doubled down on that sentiment.
“We don’t want ASU to be the stepping stone for people to get established and use that momentum to flip it for the next job,” Rossini told CBS Sports.
“We want this to be a place where people can come have success because they are resourced, they are supported, and there is alignment in the university, and it becomes much more of a longevity play than maybe has been the case in the past.”
To top that off, ASU’s undying loyalty also stems from them not pawning their job of convincing the young athletes of it being a good school to NIL deals.
Instead, they capitalize on having them “for the right reasons.”
“We don’t ever want a kid to commit to Arizona State because we were the highest bidder like that,” Arizona State tight ends coach Jason Mohns told CBS Sports, talking about their recruiting needs and the role of NIL in it.
“That shouldn’t be at the top of his list of why he chose Arizona State. I think it’s finding the right kids that are making their decision based on the right reasons, and that’s why our kids who are here and having success and having people come after them behind closed doors with big offers, our kids want to stay here.”
Dillingham built a non-NIL-centric loyal program, a dream for several schools, which might be one of the reasons why ASU locked him down for five more years.
Despite losing in their first College Football Playoff game, ASU will still keep winning in the recruiting department in the offseason
