Here’s what we know: The Michigan Wolverines have targeted Arizona State head football coach Kenny Dillingham since firing Sherrone Moore.
Dillingham has responded to that with an emotional press conference, where he did not overtly shoot down his candidacy for the Michigan job. He did, however, reemphasize how special of a place ASU is to him. That approach came against Tuesday, when Dillingham said his job wasn’t to assure fans he would remain but to fight for those in his “foxhole.”
That can be viewed as a leverage play as his agent remains in contract talks with Arizona State.
And it leads to a question: How nervous should Sun Devil fans be as long as Dillingham doesn’t ink a new contract and the Michigan job remains open?
SunDevilSource.com’s Chris Karpman told Bickley & Marotta that on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being most tense, “I think we’re probably around a six, trending toward seven. … This could ratchet up to an eight or nine over the next couple of days.”
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Karpman said that Michigan’s interest in the coach hasn’t waned.
“I can’t say whether there has been any dialogue directly between Dillingham and Michigan at this point,” Karpman said. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if that ultimately ended up happening if (ASU and Dillingham) can’t come to an agreement on a new amended contract here within the next several days or something.”
Sun Devil fans might have taken Dillingham’s emotional press conference Saturday about Tempe being special as a confirmation that he is staying.
But Wolverine fans, optimistic about landing the Scottsdale native, might have heard it with a different set of ears. Was it an emotional goodbye to ASU?
“That (Michigan interest) doesn’t change how I feel about here,” Dillingham said Saturday. “That doesn’t change that my sister’s my neighbor, that doesn’t change that my parents live three doors down, that doesn’t change that my son’s best friend is my sister’s daughter.
“None of that changes, but it is one of the best jobs in America. It’s an unbelievable brand, iconic brand, and it’s a great opportunity for somebody.”
Karpman does not believe Dillingham’s comments lent evidence toward either assumption, that he was certainly staying or had decided to go.
“I think that he’s just a very emotional person as it relates to ASU,” Karpman said. “This is a coach who, for sure, could have aggressively courted and been given opportunities to coach in the SEC or the Big Ten already. And he could have made several million dollars a year more at those jobs — maybe $4 million, $5 million at the high end — more than he’s making at ASU.
“I don’t think this is about money … but I also think that he wants to feel like the university is as committed to him as he is loyal to the university. (If) he felt like that were the case, I don’t think he is going to end up leaving.”
Dillingham has spoken openly about supporting those around him and gaining enough support to build a winner in Tempe. On Tuesday, he said that his job was to fight for the people in his foxhole.
Karpman believes he is fighting for a larger staff, more resources and the cash to retain assistant coaches to sustain success.
“My sense is that he doesn’t have a general manager. He doesn’t have the same amount of staffing (or) resources or compensation pool for his staff that other places have,” Karpman said. “… Reading the tea leaves here more than from a reporting standpoint … he wants more resources that will allow him to feel good about the situation in two years from now.”
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