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Kenny Dillingham addresses his contract extension with Arizona State

Barkley-Truaxby:Barkley Truax•about 12 hours•

BarkleyTruax

Kenny Dillingham
(© Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK)

Ahead of the College Football Playoff quarterfinals, Kenny Dillingham and Arizona State agreed to a new five-year contract, per report. Including incentives, he could be extended by as many as 10 years.

Dillingham addressed his new contract, which includes a raise, publically for the first time following the Peach Bowl loss against Texas.

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“I wanted that to be released at a time people weren’t going to talk about it,” Dillingham said after the Peach Bowl loss. “I wanted this to be about the guys, the game and the players, so we released it basically at midnight on New Years so it’s not in the media because it’s not about me. It’s about these guys.

“But I’m fired up that we can continue to build this thing, and like I said, I’m a Sun Devil, and that’s awesome for me, but I didn’t want that to be a distraction or people to really talk about it.”

His star running back, Cam Skattebo, was next to the Sun Devils head coach in the postgame press conference.

“Congratulations. I didn’t even know,” Skattebo said.

His coach joked. “Exactly. It worked.”

Dillingham made $3.95 million in base salary this past season, according to the On3 Coach Salaries Index, and that number went up thanks to incentives. That put him 13th among coaches in the Big 12 Conference. His new deal will take him toward the upper echelon of coach salaries in the league, and it came as Arizona State was preparing for its first College Football Playoff game.

While the Sun Devils fell short of their ultimate goal, the stage has been set for a 2025 season surrounded by high expectations. Arizona State went from 3-9 in 2023 to 11-2 and a Big 12 championship this season, and more of the same success is likely to be expected moving forward. Arizona State expects to be back in the CFP mix this time next year as well.

The Sun Devils will kick off the 2025 season on Aug. 30 at home against Northern Arizona, but have an opportunity to get a win over an SEC team against Mississippi State on the road the following week.