Arizona State Coach Kenny Dillingham Praises NIL Booster

Arizona State football head coach Kenny Dillingham said the school “wouldn’t have a football team” without booster Nap Lawrence contributing to its NIL program.

Sun Devils booster Charles “Nap” Lawrence pledged $1 million to Dillingham’s “Activate the Valley” NIL plan during the first-year head coach’s introductory press conference in November. Lawrence, an insurance salesman and long-time supporter of Arizona State, told AZ Central that his donations to ASU have totaled about $9 million over the years.

“First of all, we wouldn’t have a football team without Nap Lawrence,” Dillingham said Thursday. “You can put that in every single streaming media you want. Nap Lawrence built our football team. Because of what he did the first day I got hired. We would not have a team. Point blank, zero; we would not have a football team without Nap Lawrence.”

Dillingham, 33, continues to stress the importance of NIL amid college football’s realignment chaos that will see his Sun Devils leave the Pac-12 after this year to join the Big 12 to earn more TV rights revenue. Arizona and Utah will accompany Arizona State in their move to the Big 12 as the Pac-12 is set to have just four teams starting in 2024.

“So to see him out there, that dude’s as valuable to the program as anybody on the field,” Dillingham said of Lawrence. “I called him the other day and said, ‘Come out on the field, do whatever you want. Without you, we don’t have a team.’ Point blank, simple. Because that’s the new day and age of college football.”