Kenny Dillingham (born April 28, 1990) is an American football coach who is currently the head football coach at Arizona State University. He previously served as the offensive coordinator at the University of Oregon, Florida State University, Auburn University and the University of Memphis.
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Arizona State |
| Conference | Big 12 |
| Record | 14–11 |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | April 28, 1990 Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Arizona State (2012) |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 2007–2012 | Chaparral HS (AZ) (QB) |
| 2013 | Chaparral HS (AZ) (OC/QB) |
| 2014–2015 | Arizona State (OA) |
| 2016 | Memphis (GA) |
| 2017 | Memphis (QB/TE) |
| 2018 | Memphis (OC/QB) |
| 2019 | Auburn (OC/QB) |
| 2020–2021 | Florida State (OC/QB) |
| 2022 | Oregon (OC/QB) |
| 2023–present | Arizona State |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 14–11 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 1 Big 12 (2024) | |
| Awards | |
| Big 12 Coach of the Year (2024) | |
Coaching career
editEarly coaching career
editDillingham began his coaching career at 17 years old, after he tore his ACL during his senior year.[1] He started off working with the junior varsity team at Chaparral High School before being promoted to the offensive coordinator of the varsity team at 21 years old.[2] While he was coaching at Chaparral, he went to Arizona State University, graduating in 2012 with a degree in interdisciplinary studies. He was hired to be an offensive assistant at Arizona State in 2014 under offensive coordinator Mike Norvell, whom he had met while coaching at Chaparral.[2]
Memphis
editAfter Norvell was hired to be the head coach at Memphis in 2016, Dillingham was hired as a graduate assistant for the Tigers.[3] Dillingham spent the 2016 season as the de facto quarterbacks coach, since the team did not have an official quarterbacks coach. After Tigers offensive coordinator Chip Long left to be the offensive coordinator at Notre Dame, Dillingham was named the official quarterbacks coach for Memphis and added tight ends coach to his duties for 2017. After Long's successor Darrell Dickey left for Texas A&M, Dillingham was promoted to offensive coordinator for the 2018 season. In 2017-2018 Memphis had back to back top 5 offenses in college football. While at Memphis Dillingham was rated the #1 recruiter in conference by the 247 recruiter rankings.[4]
Auburn
editDillingham was hired by Gus Malzahn to be the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Auburn in 2019, replacing Chip Lindsey. [5][6] During his time at Auburn he helped Bo Nix become the SEC Rookie of the Year while leading the most improved offense in the SEC. He spent one season with the Tigers, where they recorded a 9-3 record averaging 33.2 points per game.[7] Auburn also had its highest recruiting ranking in the 247 recruiting ranking era during Dillingham’s year as OC.
Florida State
editAfter Norvell left Memphis to be the next head coach at Florida State, Dillingham departed Auburn to join Florida State as their offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, replacing Kendal Briles.[8][9][10]
Oregon
editOn December 17, 2021, Dillingham was hired as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Oregon under head coach Dan Lanning.[11]
Arizona State
editOn November 27, 2022, Dillingham was named the 26th head coach at Arizona State University, replacing Herm Edwards.[12] He is the first Sun Devil alumnus and native Arizonan to hold this position.
In his second season, Dillingham's team was projected to finish last in the Big 12 according to the conference’s preseason media poll.[13] However, they exceeded expectations, winning the Big 12 Championship game by defeating Iowa State and earning a first-round bye in the 2024 College Football Playoff.[14]
Personal life
editDillingham and his wife, Briana, have one child.
He has wanted to coach Arizona State since he was young as it is his hometown team.[15]
Head coaching record
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona State Sun Devils (Pac-12 Conference / Big 12 Conference) (2023–present) | |||||||||
| 2023 | Arizona State | 3–9 | 2–7 | T–9th | |||||
| 2024 | Arizona State | 11–2 | 7–2 | T–1st | Peach† | ||||
| Arizona State: | 14–11 | 9–9 | |||||||
| Total: | 14–11 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
References
edit- ^ Sonnone, Brendan (December 16, 2019). "FSU OC Kenny Dillingham on the 'offense built for playmakers'". Noles247. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
- ^ a b Vitale, Josh (December 11, 2018). "Who is Kenny Dillingham? A few things to know about Auburn's new offensive coordinator". The Montgomery Advertiser. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
- ^ DeGroff, Tammy (February 17, 2016). "Norvell Adds Two to Staff". University of Memphis Athletics. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
- ^ "Norvell Announces Staff Additions and Promotions". University of Memphis Athletics. January 3, 2018. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
- ^ Goldberg, Rob (December 9, 2018). "Auburn Reportedly Hires Memphis' Kenny Dillingham as Offensive Coordinator". Bleacher Report. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
- ^ Blum, Sam (December 10, 2018). "Auburn hires Memphis' Dillingham as OC/QB coach". AL.com. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
- ^ "2019 Football Cumulative Statistics". Auburn University Athletics. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
- ^ Green, Tom (December 9, 2019). "Source: OC Kenny Dillingham leaving Auburn for FSU". AL.com. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
- ^ Taylor, John (December 11, 2019). "Ex-Auburn OC Kenny Dillingham officially hired at Florida State". CollegeFootballTalk | NBC Sports. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
- ^ Weiler, Curt (December 9, 2019). "Auburn offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham joining FSU staff". Tallahassee Democrat. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
- ^ Krueger, Nate (December 17, 2021). "Lanning hires Kenny Dillingham as Offensive Coordinator". Oregon Ducks. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
- ^ Bradley, Cole (November 28, 2022). "Kenny Dillingham career breakdown: an in-depth look at ASU's new head coach". 247Sports. Retrieved August 7, 2024.
- ^ Leuzzi, John (December 7, 2024). "Where was Arizona State voted in Big 12 preseason poll? Sun Devils' turnaround, revisited". AZCentral.com. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
- ^ Norris, Kyle (December 8, 2024). "Arizona State gets four seed in College Football Playoff, receives first-round bye". abc15.com. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
- ^ "Arizona State Head Football Coach Kenny Dillingham Introductory Press Conference". Arizona State University Athletics. Retrieved November 26, 2024.