Report: Kenny Dillingham will leave Oregon to become Arizona State's next head coach
Oregon offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham is reportedly set to become the next head coach at Arizona State.
Less than an hour after the Ducks’ loss to rival Oregon State concluded on Saturday, Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated reported that Dillingham has emerged as the leading candidate to become the next head coach in Tempe.
Multiple outlets, including The Athletic and ESPN, released similar reports soon after.
Dillingham, 32, is in his first season of a three-year contract that pays him $1 million annually.
A Phoenix native and Arizona State alum, he was an offensive assistant with the Sun Devils from 2014-15. He served as offensive coordinator at Memphis, Auburn, and Florida State before joining Dan Lanning’s staff last December.
During his first season in Eugene, Dillingham’s offense has been one of the most productive in the country. Through the first 11 games, the Ducks ranked fourth in the nation at 40.2 points per game and third in total offense at 511.2 yards per game.
He was recently named a semifinalist for the Broyles Award.
It is unknown at this point if Dillingham will continue coaching through Oregon’s bowl game.
Last week, Oregon head coach Dan Lanning was asked what has made Dillingham so effective in his role with the Ducks.
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“He’s done a great job in a leadership role, obviously there for the entire offense,” Lanning said of Dillingham’s role. “And I think Kenny will be the first one to tell you when you get those awards; that’s really a credit to everybody on that side of the ball, every one of those players, every one of those coaches. But Kenny does a phenomenal job day in and day out and preparing his side, really collaborating with his coaches, he would tell you, it’s a group effort.”
While meeting with reporters during preseason camp in August, Dillingham discussed his vision for Oregon’s offense and the excitement his players felt for the opportunities they would find to make plays this season.
“I think they’re excited,” Dillingham said. “I think they’re excited to not get loaded boxes. There’s nothing wrong with the mentality of running the football; there’s been a lot of teams throughout the test of time who win a lot of games saying, ‘We’re gonna run the ball and that dude seven yards off the ball is gonna have to tackle me, and if you don’t make the tackle, we’re gonna go for 50.’
“There’s nothing wrong with that philosophy. It’s just not the philosophy I have. I wanna try to put our players in the best position to win one-on-ones with guys as far away from them as possible in the run game. If those guys get too close, we’re gonna have to get out of that play and try to put ourselves in a better play with better numbers, better angles, and better grass.”
