TEMPE — Kenny Dillingham entered uncharted waters this week.
For the first time as Arizona State head coach, he does not have his close friend, mentor and confidant in the building. Special teams coordinator and assistant head coach Charlie Ragle is taking a medical leave of absence.
“The hard part is not replacing the football. Football is football,” Dillingham said Monday. “The hard part is replacing the staff dynamics of who are people going to complain to now, right? It’s the natural human nature. Not everybody likes everything we do, like, who do they go complain to?
“Coach Ragle was an instrumental part in taking a program that was on life support and bringing (it) to the highest it’s been in decades, and sometimes people don’t take that into account.”
“an instrumental part in taking a program that was on life support and bringing them to the highest it’s been in decades.”
everything kenny dillingham said about charlie ragle, what his departure means and why the unit has struggled in recent weeks: pic.twitter.com/9NRlCijItl
— Damon Allred (@iamdamonallred) October 27, 2025
Dillingham said Ragle had been battling health issues “for quite a few years now, and it’s just kind of come to a head where he’s got to get right and get healthy.”
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Would the leave have come if ASU’s special teams hadn’t been performing poorly recently?
“I don’t know. I mean, it just depends. This is a stressful job,” Dillingham said. “I know right now it’s not the best thing for his health, and it’s sad to see ’cause … he had so much more value than what people saw on a Saturday night.
“His ability to get everybody on the same page and prevent problems from escalating and (improve) staff morale is something that you can’t put in words.”
Dillingham not only has to navigate not having that friend by his side. He’ll be tasked with fixing the unit’s issues that contributed greatly to the 24-16 loss on Saturday to Houston.
The Sun Devils also allowed Texas Tech to take a late lead after ASU controlled much of that game.
In the immediate aftermath, assistant special teams coordinator Jack Nudo steps up with the help of analyst John Wozniak, in addition to Dillingham’s close involvement with the unit.
“It is sad not to have Charlie out here. Like I said, that’s real,” Dillingham said Tuesday. “Not having that energy, the passion, just him as a person, for me, is definitely something that’s very different.
“Even walking in the building, his office is next to mine, so it definitely is different, but I have the utmost confidence in Jack.”
assistant special teams coordinator jack nudo, stepping up after charlie ragle went on medical leave, repping the snap/hold with kanyon floyd: pic.twitter.com/aFRvITYxZh
— Damon Allred (@iamdamonallred) October 28, 2025
What Houston issues does Arizona State special teams need to bounce back from?
Penalties crippled ASU on returns in the loss, starting with a holding penalty decreasing a Jaren Hamilton kick return from 29 yards to 19.
The Sun Devils’ next shot at a return came when Zechariah Sample muffed a 56-yard punt at ASU’s 12 before returning it 29 yards. This was nullified by a block in the back, pushing the Sun Devils back from their 41 to their 9.
Another holding hurt a 29-yard kick return to start the second half.
“We’re in chase mode too many times,” Dillingham said. “We’re giving officials opportunities to throw flags, and that’s how I looked at it with our guys. Whether I agree, disagree, that’s irrelevant.
“If we get in chase mode too many times, we’re opening ourselves up. So we’re going to really focus on not being in chase mode this week, improving that aspect.”
Sample, a redshirt freshman getting more run recently on special teams and as a wide receiver, twice made what Dillingham called a young player’s mistake.
In the second quarter, he fair-caught a punt at ASU’s 8-yard line and he fair caught another at ASU’s 5 with 2:08 left in the game as it trailed by eight.
“We gotta just make sure we don’t field punts inside our 5,” Dillingham said. “Some of this stuff is when young guys play, they’re going to learn. Some of it’s like, ‘Hey this is the first time you’ve done it. Alright, that’s fine, like, let’s not do it again.’
“Zech’s a guy for us who’s done such a great job growing up, maturing and gaining trust in this program. I got the utmost trust in him back there making decisions — (or) him on offense. He’s really grown. He’s one of the most improved players on our team, in my opinion.”
Field goal operations have been the most consistent piece of special teams this season behind Jesus Gomez, but that has seen its own downturn in recent weeks.
After starting the season 9 of 10 in the first four games, Gomez has hit 8 of 13 since, including missing his first two attempts on Saturday to keep ASU scoreless through three quarters.
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