Arizona State head football coach Kenny Dillingham could in for a payday should an agreement bringing his base pay to $6.4 million this year, according to a new report from Chris Karpman of 247Sports on Thursday. Dillingham signed a new, five-year $7.5 million contract to remain in Tempe last December.
The agreement includes three key details: A staffing pool increase of $2.2 million (now $11 million total); a $9 million buyout for Dillingham, should he he leave the school before Dec. 1; Two trigger events, a three-win season or $25,000 in annual ticket sales, allowing additional years to be added to his new contract. Arizona state law limits such contracts to a maximum of five years.
ASU is obviously motivated with Dillingham, and his turnaround of the school’s football program continues to reap the rewards of two consecutive winning seasons after securing their first Big 12 title and a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff in 2024.
Dillingham and Tempe have made headlines in the NIL space, where the former Oregon staffer has kicked up dust in building the school’s purse advocating for local dollars and small business partnerships to build his football program.
Entering his fourth season, Dillingham is setting out to justify a lot of that talk – as well as his new, lucrative contract.
While the loss of Sam Leavitt hurts, it was also wildly expected and Dillingham went to work in the portal to bring Cutter Boley from Kentucky, and Mikey Keene from Michigan, add to veterans to a quarterback room brooding with younger potential via Cameron Dyer, Michael Tollefson and Jake Fette.
Simply put, Leavitt jumping ship for LSU was hardly the end of the world, and Dillingham will be retooling the Sun Devils for another run at the Big 12 title behind one of the best returning rosters in the league: senior defensive lineman C.J. Fite, senior wideout Jalen Moss, redshirt senior safety Adrian Wilson, and fifth-year linebacker Zyrus Fiaseu are all expected to be back.
The 2026 schedule isn’t particularly kind to the Sun Devils, though.
Key road matchups include Texas A&M (Sept. 12), Texas Tech (Oct. 17), BYU (Oct. 31), and Arizona (Nov. 28). ASU travels to London the weekend of Sept. 19 to challenge Lance Leipold and Kansas in the Union Jack Classic.
Most way-too-early power rankings position Dillingham and the Sun Devils in the 23-27 range, but as we get closer to football season, don’t be surprised if folks rate Arizona State’s schedule among the toughest, if not the toughest, the Big 12.
