Kenny Dillingham career breakdown: an in-depth look at ASU's new head coach (2024)

Dillingham started coaching at 17 after tearing his ACL playing linebacker during his senior year of high school. He started with Scottsdale Chaparral High School’s junior varsity team as an assistant before moving up to quarterbacks coach and eventually becoming an offensive coordinator with the varsity team for one season, in 2013.

He spent several years as quarterbacks coach at Chaparral before becoming a coordinator in 2013 when he was 21 years old, a year after he graduated from ASU with a degree in business/economics.

Dillingham led the No. 1 offense in the state of Arizona in 2013 and the Firebirds won 12 games en route to the Division II State Championship game.

He served under longtime Chaparral head coach Charlie Ragle, whom Dillingham added to serve in an on-field role on his inaugural staff at ASU on Monday. Ragle posted a 63-7 all-time record as coach of the Firebirds, winning three consecutive state titles from 2009-11.

Dillingham said Sunday that Ragle was one of his biggest influences in coaching at the outset of his career.

It was around this time that Dillingham met former ASU offensive coordinator Mike Norvell, who offered Dillingham the chance to shadow him during meetings and practices and in film sessions, leading to his hiring in 2014 as an offensive assistant under Norvell.

Dillingham worked with tight ends as a quality control intern in his first year at ASU alongside former position coach Chip Long, who is currently the offensive coordinator at Georgia Tech. Dillingham assisted Long's teachings of ASU tight ends De'Marieya Nelson and Kody Kohl, who combined for 29 catches, 292 yards and five touchdowns that season.

ASU’s offense averaged 36.9 points per game and 273.5 passing yards per game under Norvell’s direction, leading to a 10-3 finish on the year and an appearance in the Sun Bowl.

Dillingham continued to work under Norvell before he was promoted to a new role the following season as an offensive assistant.

In April 2015, ASU promoted Dillingham to an offensive graduate assistant role, following former ASU assistant Bo Graham’s resignation that year for "personal reasons."

Dillingham continued to work with ASU tight ends in 2015, including Kohl and Raymond Epps. Epps had just four catches and a touchdown that season while Kohl posted 32 receptions, 368 yards and four scores.

Norvell’s offense averaged 34.6 points per game and 477.4 yards of offense per game with 52 total touchdowns. He was hired by Memphis in December and brought Dillingham on as a graduate assistant shortly after ASU finished 6-7 under Todd Grahamthat season.

During his time at ASU, Dillingham worked with quarterbacks Mike Bercovici and Taylor Kelly in some capacity alongside Norvell before transitioning to Memphis.

He assisted in in-state recruiting efforts as well.

Dillingham coached quarterbacks as a graduate assistant in his first year at Memphis — given the program didn’t have a quarterbacks coach other than Norvell — before officially being promoted to the full-time role a year later.

He was a direct mentor to former Memphis quarterback Riley Ferguson that season, who passed for 3,698 yards and 32 touchdowns. The Tigers ranked in the top 15 in the FBS in scoring offense (38.8 points per game) and passing offense (304.4 yards per game).

Ferguson, who was a first-year starter at the FBS level, set a program record for passing touchdowns that season before breaking it a year later with 38 touchdown passes.

Norvell went 8-5 in his first year as head coach of the Tigers as the youngest head coach in the FBS at the time.

In his second year at Memphis, Dillingham was tabbed as the No. 2 recruiter in the American Athletic Conference by 247Sports, bringing in seven prospects, including three of the top-20 players from the state of Oklahoma in the 2017 class.

The 2017 season was Dillingham’s first season as a full-time position, leading the tight ends and quarterbacks in his second year under Norvell after Chip Long, who also followed Norvell from ASU to Memphis, left to become the offensive coordinator for Notre Dame ahead of the season.

Memphis’ offense had the No. 2 scoring unit in the nation (45.5 points per game), ranking fourth in the NCAA with 532.1 total yards per game, seventh in the nation in passing yards per game with 335.0 and sixth in passing efficiency at 160.15.

Memphis tight ends Joey Magnifico and Sean Dykes teamed up for 38 receptions, 650 yards and six touchdowns. Working with Ferguson for the second straight year, Dillingham oversaw his development closely en route to All-AAC first-team honors after he passed for 4,257 yards and 38 scores.

The Tigers went 10-3 for the second time in three seasons.

Dillingham was elevated to offensive coordinator in his third season at Memphis, becoming one of the youngest coordinators in the FBS at 28, though didn’t call plays under Norvell. He received his promotion in January following the end of the 2017 season.

Norvell said in a radio interview that year that he “knows this offense as well as anybody I’ve been around.” He described Dillingham as “passionate,” “relentless,” and “a great football mind.”

Dillingham oversaw Memphis’ offense and mentored former ASU quarterback Brady White, who threw for 3,296 passing yards and 25 touchdowns. Dillingham and Norvell ran an offense that averaged 42.9 points and 523.1 total yards per game, rushing for a program record 3,919 rush yards with former All-American running back Darrell Henderson.

As a pupil under Norvell for nearly five years at that point, Dillingham developed an understanding of his mentor’s dynamic offensive scheme that often played with quick tempo, while attempting to create one-on-one matchups for its playmakers in space. His first year as coordinator under Norvell gave him an opportunity to help implement that offensive system in an elevated role, which likely influenced his offensive philosophy moving forward.

“Pro-style offense that plays fast,” Dillingham said, characterizing Norvell's offense shortly after joining his staff at Florida State in 2019.

Dillingham was hired by former Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn to replace Chip Lindsey as the team’s non-play-calling offensive coordinator in 2019. He was the youngest coordinator in the SEC at that point.

He mentored current Oregon quarterback Bo Nix as a freshman with the Tigers during SEC Freshman of the Year campaign. Nix threw for 2,542 yards and 16 touchdowns, while rushing for 313 additional yards and seven scores as a 13-game starter.

The Tigers’ offense ranked third in the conference in scoring, averaging 33.2 points per game.

At 29, Dillingham was named to 247Sports’ “30under30” list as one of the fastest-rising coaches in college football under the age of 30. At that point, Dillingham was already regarded as one of the top offensive minds in the nation.

“It doesn’t help that it sounds arrogant but when I was 19 I believed I’d be the youngest offensive coordinator in the country and the youngest head coach in the country,” Dillingham said in an interview with 247Sports in 2019.

After his brief stint in Auburn, Dillingham rejoined Norvell as a non-play-calling coordinator at Florida State, where he spent two more seasons under his longtime mentor. He worked with four different quarterbacks who started games for the Seminoles during the 2020 season, including Jordan Travis.

Florida State averaged 199.9 rush yards per game under Norvell and Dillingham’s guidance with Travis and running back Jashaun Corbin leading the way. The Seminoles finished at 3-6 during the truncated 2020 campaign, but turned in a slightly-better result in 2021 at 5-7.

Dillingham helped recruit a number of talented players during his time in Tallahassee, including a trio of four-star prospects during the 2021 cycle: quarterback AJ Duffy, offensive lineman Julian Armella and wide receiver Destyn Hill.

Shortly after former ASU graduate assistant Dan Lanning was hired as Oregon’s head coach last December, becoming the youngest head coach in the Power 5 at 36 years old, he didn’t waste any time adding Dillingham to his staff.

Lanning raved about Dillingham’s passion for the “development of student-athletes” and the explosive potential that the Ducks’ offense would have with him calling plays for the first time in his career at the outset of his hire.

His former mentee, Nix, announced his decision to transfer to the Ducks two days before Dillingham was added to Lanning’s staff, which seemingly took care of their starting quarterback situation for the 2022 season.

In one regular season in Eugene, Dillingham managed an explosive Oregon offense that currently ranks third in the Pac-12 in points per game (39.7), third in rushing yards per game (216.3), fourth in passing yards per game (291.4), fifth in red-zone efficiency (85 percent) and second in total yards (6,093).

As a result, Dillingham was a semifinalist for the Broyles Award, which recognizes the nation’s top assistant coach.

He has also been instrumental in the development of Nix, in what is likely his final collegiate season. Nix is expected to be a Heisman Trophy finalist after throwing for 3,388 pass yards and 27 touchdowns, with an additional 504 yards and 14 scores on the ground.

He has fit in well with Dillingham’s offensive scheme, which is heavily influenced by Norvell’s system. Dillingham’s offense is a fast-paced, zone-read/option heavy attack that frequently gets tight ends involved in the passing game. Oregon consistently mixes between four- and five-wide sets as well.

On Sunday, Dillingham officially became the 26th head coach of the Sun Devils, and by far the youngest in the Power 5.

His deep ties to the program and the state as a whole made him a desirable candidate for the job once Herm Edwards stepped down in September. ASU vice president for athletics Ray Anderson mentioned a younger, up-and-coming candidate who was “more in tune with the evolving change in the landscape of college athletics” was what the program was potentially looking for in its next coach.

Dillingham is just that.

His rapid ascent within the last decade from an offensive assistant to Power 5 coordinator and now head coach has made him one of the most touted young coaches in the nation, and he’s still only 32 years old.

As he begins to build his staff, potentially with a number of former ASU staffers returning to Tempe, Dillingham will have a chance to get out in front on the recruiting trail and the transfer portal, which is set to open on Dec. 5.

Dillingham announced during his introductory presser that he would be retainingShaun Aguano on staff after serving as the interim replacement to Edwards for the final nine games of the regular season, though he noted it would take some time for him to build out the rest of his staff.

"That's step one," Dillingham said. "Shaun's done an absolutely remarkable job here. As a person, everybody in this Valley respects him and anybody who's ever met him respects him."

On Monday, he added Ragle, who just wrapped up his first season as Idaho State's head coach, and former ASU defensive standout Vince Amey to his staff a day after his hiring, both of whom knew Dillingham during his time at Chaparral when Ragle was its head coach.