While it’s no secret that Arizona State Kenny Dillingham is a Sun Devil through and through, ASU AD Graham Rossini does not want to leave it up to chance.
On Thursday, ahead of the biggest game of the year for Arizona State, Rossini made a statement about his intentions to keep Kenny Dillingham as a Sun Devil for life.
“We want Kenny to be a Sun Devil for life,” Rossini said to Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo. “That’s an easy conversation, and we’re prepared to take it on. We want to make sure we keep the core group of coaches, assistants, and coordinators in place and give them every resource to maintain this roster at the highest level.”
“We’ve been in close contact on that all season long and making sure he’s set up for success,” Rossini continued. “We’ve added to his budget and made sure they’ve got the tools they need to be successful. … We’ve got a young team that’s got a chance to be a generational group of Sun Devils, and we want to make sure they’re focused on the right things and that we’re investing in their journey here.
Part of the mission of keeping Dillingham around is the commitment to retaining key members of his coaching staff, despite receiving interest from outside programs. Two key wins in that aspect were delivered by ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Saturday morning, who noted that Arizona State locked up offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo and defensive coordinator Brian Ward on separate three-year contract extensions that average out to over $1 million per year.
Rossini finished his thoughts by saying, “He wants to be here forever. I want to be here forever. We’re going to work on those conversations when it’s the right time. Right now, it’s keeping the team intact, keeping the fanbase connected, and building resources that’ll allow us to do all of these things.”
Arizona State kicks off their Week 13 matchup vs. No. 14 BYU on Saturday, November 23rd, at 2:30 p.m. CT.
