In just his second year leading Arizona State, head coach Kenny Dillingham guided the program to its first-ever College Football Playoff appearance following an impressive 11-3 season. Dillingham was named the 2024 Big 12 Chuck Neinas Coach of the Year after securing the Big 12 Championship.
Success has seemingly followed Dillingham since he first teamed up with FSU head coach Mike Norvell, beginning as an offensive assistant at Arizona State. His coaching journey included stops at Memphis (2014), Auburn under current Florida State offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn (2019), a stint as Florida State’s offensive coordinator (2020-21), and a brief stop at Oregon before landing the head coaching job at ASU.
Winning it all in the Big 12 is not something that comes easy, and Dillingham credits a lot of his success to both Norvell and Oregon head coach Dan Lanning.
“One-hundred percent the practice structure from a defensive perspective,” Dillingham said of what he learned at Oregon on Next Up with Adam Breneman.
READ MORE: Former QB commit details why he decommitted from FSU, still believes in Mike Norvell
As a reporter, it makes me smile to see the guy who used to randomly pop his head over the top of the Moore Athletic Center to ask about recruits—and the one who played pranks on us while we waited for interviews outside—now achieving success at the highest level.
“I’m not coming here to be your dictator,” Dillingham continued when asked about his message to the Sun Devils. “I’m coming here to build something with a group of people and have a lot of fun doing it.”
Norvell has built a reputation for recruiting players and staff who embody a humble, winning mindset. Dillingham spoke about one of the crucial moments of his coaching career, saying that Norvell opened the door.
“I came down here (ASU) to spring practices, and Mike Norvell was the OC, and I said, ‘I wanna just come to learn.’ and he said, ‘Well, just come up whenever you want,’ Dillingham said. “I came up every day. I took that and thought, ‘Alright, they’re going to kick me out now.’ And that was like my olive branch. I have a chance now.”
While FSU has undergone a coaching overhaul, both former offensive and defensive coordinators have landed in prestigious positions. Adam Fuller is now coaching in the NFL, and Alex Atkins is at LSU. There’s a method to the madness of the guy who acts like he drinks a gallon of coffee before jogging into practice, and that energy carries through to those he impacts—Dillingham included.
“I believed in the path of what coach Norvell was doing, and I believed in the trajectory of that place, and I believed in the person.”
READ MORE: four-star 6-foot-9 offensive tackle Chastan Brown commits to Florida State
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