Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham thinks his program needs a sugar daddy—and he’s issuing the public call for one.
On Saturday, Dillingham agreed to a new five-year contract with his alma mater that will pay him an average of $7.5 million annually. He signed the new deal after being a target of Michigan’s coaching search, joining a slew of coaches this season who benefited from the coaching carousel chaos with a lucrative extension to stay where they are.
Dillingham, just 35, led Arizona State to the College Football Playoff in 2024 and is 22–16 in three seasons coaching the Sun Devils. ASU will play ACC champion Duke in the Sun Bowl on Dec. 31.
Just hours after signing his new deal, when asked what Arizona State needs to become one of college football’s top programs, Dillingham’s answer became a public plea.
“We need to find one of these really rich people in this city to step up and stroke a check, and I’ll do everything I can to make you the most famous person in the city,” Dillingham told reporters on Saturday. “We live in Phoenix, Arizona. You’re telling me there’s not one person who could stroke a $20 million check right now? There is somebody out here who can. … Somebody can step up and completely take this place from the direction it’s going to, ‘Holy cow.’ And it’s right here in this city.”
Dillingham is referencing some of college football’s top programs that enjoy one wealthy donor who cuts the largest checks, such as Nike founder Phil Knight at Oregon, Cody Campbell at Texas Tech, or even Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison at Michigan. Both the Ducks and Red Raiders are in the College Football Playoff this season.
Super donors such as Knight and Campbell give their schools significant funds at a time when others are struggling to balance their books in light of the $20.5 million revenue sharing they’ve started with athletes because of the House settlement.
Arizona State already has one wealthy alum backing one of its major programs in NBA star James Harden, who has helped fund the Sun Devils’ NIL war chest for its men’s basketball program.
Dillingham’s comments aren’t the first time he’s pleaded with his local community to be more involved in NIL. In November, he asked local businesses to participate in more NIL deals with his players than they had been.
“Every restaurant, if you don’t have a food item named after an Arizona State Sun Devil, why? I don’t get it, $500 a month, $1,000 a month, it’s a business expense because it’s a marketing expense. If you’re a local company and you want to engage community, or if you’re a new business and you want to get people involved, what better way to get your brand out there to the city than utilizing our players?
“Everybody thinks this is like a race—‘I can’t give a $700,000 deal.’ No. We have a city behind us. If every restaurant in our city gave a kid a $500 or $1,000 a month deal to advertise them for them … I feel like we’d be in a good spot.”
