TEMPE — Before Kenny Dillingham was hired as Arizona State football coach ahead of the 2023 season, Deion Sanders was a potential candidate in the same hiring cycle.
There was a time they almost coached together on the same sideline, Sanders has said. Instead, they ended up as “classmates” from the same head coaching cycle at two Pac-12 teams on their way to the Big 12.
Both coaches saw quick success and contended for the title in their inaugural seasons in their new conference. A Colorado loss to Kansas in its penultimate regular-season game — along with help elsewhere — opened the door for ASU to sneak into the title game and win it.
Dillingham won Big 12 coach of the year as a result, and Sanders told reporters it was “well deserved. He should’ve ran away with it. It shouldn’t have even been close.”
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One year later, Colorado is 3-7 and has struggled for much of the season after losing Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter and quarterback Shedeur Sanders to the NFL.
“You know, he’s won 300% more games this year than the year before he took over,” Dillingham said Monday, laughing. “Life’s about relativity, so relative to when he took over that program, that program is 300% better… Just wins on the field. Sometimes, you got to put things in perspective. I think he’s done a great job there.”
Colorado’s 16 wins over Sanders’ first three seasons, with the potential for two more this year, have only been topped once in a three-year span over the last two decades for the program (20 wins from 2016-18).
That’s with Sanders battling health issues, such as bladder cancer and blood clots, both of which led to major procedures this year.
Colorado has also seen spikes in fan attendance and university applications since Sanders took over.
“I mean, people are talking about Colorado, recruits want to go to Colorado. They’ve won a high percentage of more games with him than before him,” Dillingham said.
“He’s battled a bunch, and it just shows the type of person he is. He’s a fighter and a winner, and that’s shown up at Colorado since he’s been there.”
Dillingham has his own opportunity to do something ASU has only seen once in the last two decades, as reaching nine wins this year would give the program 20 over its last two seasons. Todd Graham led the only other time that happened (2013-14) since 1996-97.
“I applaud him tremendously,” said Sanders. “His character, the consistency, what he’s asking of his young men and he’s got a quarterback down, and he’s still fighting through the storms.
“He is one of my favorites. I’m proud, I’m happy for the opportunity to play against this team this week … I got love for the coach and everything he exudes for that program.”
The Colorado coach added he always speaks highly of ASU to recruits he’s no longer in the running for.
This will be the second time the pair have faced off as head coaches.
Colorado won a hotly contested first game 27-24 in 2023 after ASU tied it in the final minute before Shedeur Sanders threw a 43-yard bomb to help set up a game-winning field goal with 12 seconds left.
Facing Jeff Sims again is a full-circle moment for Colorado’s Deion Sanders
In his second game as Colorado head coach, Sanders faced current Arizona State quarterback Jeff Sims while he was at Nebraska. Colorado won 36-14 after forcing three Sims turnovers to keep the Cornhuskers scoreless in the first half.
The signal caller scored on a 57-yard rush in the second half but had just 10 yards across his nine other carries in the game. He threw for 106 yards on 9 of 15 passing.
“They haven’t had a lot of success throwing the ball with (Sims),” Sanders said of the rematch. “We recall him from a couple of years ago … same quarterback, same guy, same DNA. But what they’re doing with him has been phenomenal over the last couple games.”
When asked Tuesday what he remembers from the loss, Sims said he’s doing his best to “keep the past in the past.”
“I’m looking forward, and I’m just excited to get out there with my guys,” he said. “They’re a high-motor team, they give a lot of effort and they’re a sound team, so we just got to go out there and execute our offense.”
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