Report: Arizona State sanctions trigger extension in Kenny Dillingham's contract

Kenny Dillingham made a name for himself last season with the Oregon Ducks, in guiding Bo Nix to by far, the best season of his college football career. Nix has had an up-and-down career thus far, but managed to put together a spectacular 2022 season with the Ducks in his first year in Eugene. Dillingham was a massive reason for his success and that played a role in landing the head coaching position with the Arizona State Sun Devils.

When he took the job this offseason, Dillingham knew that the Sun Devils would likely face NCAA sanctions. So, he put a special trigger in his contract that would deal with the sanctions when they came. Since the Sun Devils recently self-imposed a bowl game ban, Dillingham’s 5-year contract is likely now a 6-year deal, according to John Canzano.

It’s a brilliant move by Dillingham’s agent. That’s very impressive work. Even though the language says the bowl ban is “self-imposed,” and not from the NCAA, Canzano reported on his Twitter page Sunday afternoon that the extension will be “rubber-stamped.”

Arizona State self-imposed bowl ban for the 2023 season

Arizona State is expected to self-impose a bowl ban for the 2023 season, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. The self punishment stems from the Herm Edwards era of Sun Devil football.

“Sources: Arizona State is expected to self-impose a one-year bowl ban for the 2023 football season,” Thamel wrote on Twitter. “The decision stems from the ongoing NCAA investigation for alleged violations that occurred under former coach Herm Edwards.”

Arizona State athletic director Ray Anderson later released a statement.

“In light of the ongoing investigation & our membership obligation to maintain the confidentiality of the matter, we will not be commenting further at this time,” he said.

The investigation dates back to 2021.

“The investigation stems in part from a dossier of documents sent to the NCAA on May 31 of 2021 detailing repeated and gratuitous recruiting violations, including multiple instances of ignoring restrictions implemented during COVID-19 recruiting dead period,” Thamel wrote in a Twitter/X thread.

There were alleged violations committed by Edwards, who was fired last September, just three games into his fifth season with the school. Edwards went 26-20 in five years at the school, going 1-2 in bowl games.

He twice led the Sun Devils to eight wins (2019 and ’21) and was responsible for bringing in top quarterback recruit Jayden Daniels, who’s now at LSU.

After the NCAA investigation began, multiple assistant coaches were placed on administrative leave and coaches Antonio Pierce and Zak Hill resigned following the ’21 campaign. 17 players in total, including Daniels, WR Johnny Wilson (Florida State) and LB Eric Gentry (USC) all entered the transfer portal.

Edwards was in “impermissible local meetings” with recruits along with three assistants and associate Pierce, according to a report at the time. Between March 2020 and May 2021, programs couldn’t meet with recruits in-person due to COVID-19.

Arizona State coaches allegedly paid for recruits’ travel to Tempe and covered their lodging in addition to meeting with them. Those are the most serious allegations of the investigation.

The NCAA also looked into alleged recruiting travel outside of Arizona by members of the coaching staff. At that time, the NCAA wasn’t allowing that.

Additionally, former Arizona State assistant coordinator for football operations Eric Bowman allegedly accepted money from football coaches in exchange for Arizona State athletics apparel. He then gave that apparel to recruits without cost.

Dillingham is entering his first year as the head coach of the Sun Devils. Arizona State begins their 2023 season against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds.

On3’s Nick Kosko also contributed to this article.