What does success really mean in college football? Most people would say it’s about winning championships and trophies and making playoff appearances. But Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham thinks differently.
He credits last season’s turnaround to a shift in mindset. Fresh off winning the Big 12 title and earning a Peach Bowl spot, ASU heads into 2025 with huge expectations. Yet, Dillingham won’t let his team get caught up in chasing trophies. Instead, he’s challenging his players, including star QB Sam Leavitt, to focus on growth.
Kenny Dillingham Resets Arizona State’s Mindset After Sam Leavitt’s Rise
Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham recently appeared on “Big 12 Today” to discuss his team’s mindset heading into the new college football season. He sat down with analysts Ari Sports and James Westling to reflect on spring practices and how the Sun Devils are staying focused after their breakout year.
Dillingham didn’t sugarcoat his philosophy. For him, chasing trophies isn’t the main goal.
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“Our goal is not to win a national championship. Our goal is not to win the Big 12 championship… none of these things exist to me. To me, it’s just be the very best we can be,” he said.
That mindset helped spark one of the most surprising turnarounds in college football. After a rough 3-9 finish in 2023, Arizona State bounced back in 2024, finishing 11-3, winning the Big 12 title, and earning a Peach Bowl appearance against Texas.
QB Sam Leavitt, a transfer from Michigan State, played a key role in that turnaround, earning Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year honors for his standout performance. But Dillingham wants his team to stay humble.
“Like I tell our guys, the better you end up being, the bigger the moments become, naturally. So if you just double down on being the very best over and over again, you’re going to create a bigger moment and a bigger moment and a bigger moment,” he explained.
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The season ended with a heartbreaking loss to Texas in the Peach Bowl. Arizona State fell 39-31 in double overtime. Still, Dillingham believes there’s value in the pain. “For us, we didn’t end on a high,” he admitted.
“So that is the positive—if our guys left our season feeling good, like, come on, like, we got our butt kicked, like, we lost a football game, you should not have a high after that. You should be down, and we should be able to try to crawl ourselves out of that.”
On this note, Kenny Dillingham is in beast mode, reshaping the program’s culture for the upcoming season. Instead of focusing on titles, he wants his players to embrace the grind, improve daily, and let success come naturally. But whether this mindset will be enough to make them a top contender again remains to be seen.
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