A lot is riding on the Arizona State Sun Devils this season. They had a decent run in 2024, winning the conference title and making the playoffs. All eyes are on Kenny Dillingham, who has been their head coach since 2023.
However, it seems the Sun Devils have lost their drive. The team lacks focus, which was evident during their practice session on Thursday. Coach Dillingham didn’t mince his words while criticizing the team for its poor mindset.
“We’ve got to be better,” Dillingham said after Day 2 of practice at the ASU Fall Camp. “Offense in general, too many drops in the offense group. It was a bad day. I mean, it was a really, really bad day on offense.”
More than angry or frustrated, Dillingham sounded disappointed in his team. He believes it’s okay for players not to be able to make good plays, but problems begin when they’re not even dedicated to the craft.
“Don’t be mad going 5-7, 6-6, 3-9. Somebody has to go those records. It’s gonna be tons of teams who do it, why not us? We didn’t practice bad. We didn’t practice with passion. We didn’t care if we scored a touchdown. It was a good practice for a bad team,” he added.
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Dillingham seems to have a no-tolerance policy for players who don’t bring their passion to the field. The recent practice session was a nightmare for him, where apparently none of his players showed that they cared.
As per the coach, this could be a result of the Sun Devils now being one of the favorites, as they’ve lost their underdog tag.
Kenny Dillingham believes being a favorite is less fun
Athletes use different ways to motivate themselves. For some, being acknowledged or being a favorite helps. For others, it’s the underdog status that makes people say they don’t stand a chance, which works better.
“It’s actually less fun,” Dillingham said of going from underdog to favorite (via The Sporting News). “It’s more motivating for people to say that you suck. It’s way more difficult when people say you’re good. I’m not actually one who likes to hear how good you are anyway, so for me it’s uncomfortable.
“I’d rather be the underdog, somebody people count out, so this is uncomfortable to get that positive praise,” he added.
It’s possible that the Sun Devils’ recent success and the compliments that followed got to the players’ heads. But the good thing is that Coach Dillingham has recognized the problem early. In the coming weeks, fans would hope to hear better words from Coach Dillingham after a day of practice.
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