Kenny Dillingham compares Sam Leavitt to Bo Nix

Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham will look to take a step in the right direction this upcoming season for the Sun Devils as they enter the Big 12 Conference following a three-win season in his first year at the helm in 2023. Which quarterback play will play a huge role in.

Young and veteran quarterbacks transferred to Arizona State this offseason and will battle for the starting job under center, and at Big 12 Media Days, Dillingham spoke about both signal callers. Starting with Michigan State transfer Sam Leavitt, who he gave a lofty comparison to with a recent first-round draft pick he’s previously coached.

“I feel good. I think we have a young guy in Sam Leavitt who cares,” Dillingham said. “He’s passionate. He actually reminds me of Bo Nix in terms of his personality, his swagger, his demeanor, his type A-ness, right? Which is good, because I’m the opposite. So I can balance him out and tell him — I mean, you want to try to be perfect, but you got to go to the next play.”

Nix is fresh off of two of the most prolific quarterback seasons in Oregon history where he threw for 8,101 yards and 74 touchdowns, also rushing for 20 touchdowns.

Leavitt thew for just 139 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions in the four-game appearances of his true freshman season with the Spartans. And although he has a long way to go in reaching the level of Nix, him having similar intangibles is a great sign. Especially considering those same intangibles played a major role in Nix being selected with the No. 12 overall pick by the Denver Broncos.

“Then you have a guy like Jeff Simms, who has every physical tool. He looks like you, he’s 6’7, not quite that big, right?” Dillingham asked jokingly. “Built like a Greek god. So he has all the physical tools to go out there and be successful. (He’s) been a starter for four straight seasons now in college football. So I think we have a really good balance.”

Simms joins the Sun Devils after spending the first three seasons of his college career at Georgia Tech and last year at Nebraska. Bringing experience, dual-threat ability, and physicality with him to Arizona State with 25 career starts under his belt where he’s thrown for 4,746 yards, rushed for 1,355 yards, and scored 42 total touchdowns.

“I think it’s our job as a staff, is to pull out the strengths and to mitigate the weaknesses of those guys, and don’t put them in the positions that they haven’t had success in the past, or for a young guy, don’t put him in positions to fail,” Dillingham concluded.

Whether the Sun Devils go with a rookie or a vet, there’s no question that it will be fascinating to see what the quarterback position looks like this year in Tempe during the program’s upcoming Big 12 debut season.