TEMPE — Kenny Dillingham knows the value that can come from a football program like Michigan showing interest in him as a head-coaching candidate.
The Arizona State coach was given the opportunity Tuesday to explicitly say he doesn’t have interest in the Wolverines’ opening. He didn’t.
If he’s not considering whether he should take the Michigan job after it fired head coach Sherrone Moore last week, playing the leverage game can be helpful to him, those on his team and by proxy, ASU.
“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,” Dillingham said of potentially easing panicked fans’ minds. “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 1. That’s absolutely never changing.
“Absolutely never changing. That piece is never changing.”
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Many coaches who have stayed at their current spots throughout the coach hiring cycle have benefited from remaining, with a major example of BYU’s Kalani Sitake getting a boost in resources after Penn State showed interest in him earlier this cycle.
SunDevilSource.com’s Chris Karpman reported Saturday that Dillingham and ASU were “close” to an agreement on an amended contract, and On3’s Pete Nakos later added that staffing and resources have been central to those discussions.
“I think one thing for stability is your assistant staff, the support for them, the support for your players, right? In this nature of the arms race, you got to get the arms,” Dillingham said Tuesday. “And then longevity. In this crazy era of college sports, longevity is security. Security is protection, for if there’s something bad that happens, then you 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 two things that are needed to actually build and continue to grow a program in the climate of chaos.”
ASU offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo and defensive coordinator Brian Ward were given extensions of more than $1 million annually at the end of last season. But ASU is still lacking in other areas, such as not having a general manager.
Kenny Dillingham was asked Tuesday if he could help Arizona State fans worry less about Michigan's interest in him as his agent works on a new contract with ASU:
"I think my job is to try to do whatever I can for the people who are with me — the people who are in the foxhole,… pic.twitter.com/yIURcgqmJB
— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) December 16, 2025
General manager positions were recently introduced to college football as a response to NIL, and implementations should ramp up as the House settlement ripples take effect with essential salary caps in place.
Michigan introduced its football GM, Sean Magee, less than two months after announcing Sherrone Moore as coach in 2024. His job description, per the announcement:
Magee will oversee all aspects of the recruiting and player personnel departments as well as coordinate the program’s NIL initiatives. He will handle the identification, evaluation and recruitment of prospective student-athletes in conjunction with the head coach and staff and manage the roster of current student-athletes while identifying future needs for the program.
Because ASU does not have a GM, those responsibilities fall on Dillingham.
Whether having a GM is the hang-up with the reported contract amendment or not, sought-after coaches who chose to stay put have made a lucrative killing off of interest from other programs, not only in the case of Sitake but also Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz and Texas A&M’s Mike Elko.
There’s no doubt it’s within Dillingham’s best interests to see what playing nice with the rumors — instead of staunchly denying like Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer did over the weekend — can get him. DeBoer, by being at Alabama, doesn’t have to rely on leverage for resources.
“It’s a whole different model than it was 12 months ago, 24 months ago,” Dillingham said. “It is constantly changing, and as the cost to enter increases … 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’s just it 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.
“And it’s unfortunate because you could 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 for how to become 3x what you just were four days ago because four people at other institutions chose to be all in.”
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