With the change in format for the College Football Playoff this year, it was known that the Big 12 champion would get a bid. Very few knew it would be Arizona State, picked to finish last in their first season in the new conference, who would emerge as Big 12 champions.
Second year head coach Kenny Dillingham capped off a miraculous turnaround season for the Sun Devils, finishing 11-3 with a Big 12 title and a playoff berth. He also led the most exciting playoff game of the year, and perhaps ever, although his team ultimately lost to Texas 39-31 in double overtime of the Peach Bowl.
How does Arizona State replicate this, though?
The Big 12 has seen just two programs reach the playoff: Oklahoma and TCU. The Sooners, who went 6-7 in their first year in the SEC, returned to the playoff three more times but are 0-4 all-time in playoff games. Meanwhile, TCU went all the way to the national championship game, but the Horned Frogs are 14-11 since then and have yet to even finish in the top five in the conference.
The Sun Devils are losing their best player in Cam Skattebo, but they've already put in work to fill his spot via the transfer portal. These are the next steps that Dillingham needs to take to ensure Arizona State can win the Big 12 again next year.
Keep this roster together
One of the benefits of the exrtended schedule from making the CFP is that it's less tempting for high profile players to enter the portal early, but Dillingham has done a good job in general of constantly recruiting his own players to ensure they want to stay.
So far, the following starters/key contributors have already publicly confirmed they'll return next year:
- QB Sam Leavitt
- RB Kyson Brown
- RB Raleek Brown
- WR Malik McClain
- TE Chamon Metayer
- OT Josh Atkins
- OT Max Iheanachor
- OG Ben Coleman
- DE Prince Dorbah
- DE Clayton Smith
- DE Justin Wodtly
- DE Elijah O'Neal
- DT CJ Fite
- DT Jacob Rich Kongaika
- DT Zac Swanson
- LB Keyshaun Elliott
- LB Jordan Crook
- LB Zyrus Fiaseu
- CB Javan Robinson
- CB Keith Abney
- S Myles Rowser
- S Xavion Alford
That's almost the entirety of their starting lineup among players who still had remaining eligibility. Star receiver Jordyn Tyson has yet to announce anything, but sources have indicated for the past month that he will be coming back as well, as Tyson and Leavitt have moved into an apartment together.
Other important players returning are reserve guard Sean Na'a, who could figure into the rotation next year, and backup quarterback Jeff Sims. His return is silently impactful, as it would be difficult to find anyone in the transfer portal who would want to back up Leavitt with no real chance of seeing the field. Sims, who started the game against Cincinnati, has played in 34 games over five years and offers rare experience as a college backup.
Of course, there will be another transfer portal window opening up later this year, so Arizona State isn't out of the woods yet. Still, keeping this many key players at this point is a great start.
Fill holes with the portal
The Sun Devils have already added several big names in the transfer portal, including receiver Jalen Moss, running back Kanye Udoh, and safety Adrian Wilson. They also lansded a new kickrer in Jesus Gomez, who could help fill the biggest hole on this team.
Gomez should be the biggest impact addition, as he should easily win the starting kicker job. But Moss projects as a high-ceiling second receiving option next to Tyson, while Udoh could slot in nicely as the new top runner next to Raleek Brown and Kyson Brown.
The Sun Devils still have holes to fill though. Dillingham stated after the Big championship game that he hoped to add three receivers, and thus far has added just two. The Sun Devils are also losing three offensive linemen that started multiple games for them, most notably center Leif Fautanu, and should be looking for options there.
Depth along the defensive line is also necessary, especially inside. Jeff Clark is out of eligibility, and defensive coordinator Brian Ward likes to use a deep rotation in the trenches. The trio of Fite, Swanson, and Kongaika is really talented, but adding one more reliable body would be big.
Retain the coaching staff
The Sun Devils have already gotten a good start on this. Dillingham signed a contract extension on New Year's Eve, while coordinators Marcus Arroyo and Brian Ward both received extensions earlier in the year. Now comes the hard part.
Most head coaching vacancies have been filled by now, but teams are still building out their staffs. This is the time when assistants get poached, and Arizona State must be proactive on this front.
Offensive line coach Saga Tuitele and linebackers coach AJ Cooper both appeared on hot boards for new jobs, Tuitele in connection with the USC offensive line job and Cooper with the Wake Forest defensive coordinator job. Both have been filled, but it shows how those two are already on other teams' radars.
Defensive backs coach Bryan Carrington has been an ace recruiter for Arizona State, especially in his home state of Texas, where a good chunk of the roster is from. Arizona State had another stellar Texas recruiter, Ra'Shaad Samples, get poached last offseason by Oregon. Locking up Carrington would be huge for the continued talent acquisition efforts of this program.
Develop the offensive line, secondary
Arizona State played admirably in the Peach Bowl and likely would've won if not for some terrible special teams play, but they also got beat in two key areas: offensive line and the secondary.
Leavitt was under constant pressure in the game, frequently being flushed out of the pocket. In the regular season, Leavitt was pressured on just 32.6% of his dropbacks, but that number shot up to 43.2% against Texas. Skattebo was also stuffed several times on his runs in this one.
Arizona State returns three key starters on the offensive line, but they'll need to see more out of this group going forward. This offseason will be the first one with offensive line guru and former NFL player LeCharles Bentley partnering with Arizona State on an offseason training program that has already paid dividends on the recruiting trail. If it can help further develop the Sun Devils' trenches, that would be massive for their odds going forward.
As for the secondary, Quinn Ewers was able to find open receivers too often. Ward had to rely on zone coverage a lot throughout the year, mostly because his defensive backs aren't good enough yet in man coverage. Robinson and Abney are two strong, scrappy cornerbacks but their physical limitations were put on display in the Peach Bowl.
Arizona State has a lot of confidence in several young defensive backs, namely Rodney Bimage, Plas Johnson, Chris Johnson, and Tony Louis-Nkuba. Bimage is viewed by some to be the frontrunner for the third cornerback role next year following Laterrance Welch's dismissal, but the Sun Devils will need these young players to develop fully for them to have a realistic shot of being back in the playoff this time next year.
Grow the NIL war chest
This is the area that needs the most help right now. Arizona State is going to be one of many schools that will soon begin paying players under the revenue sharing model set forth by the House v NCAA settlement, but it won't be enough.
Dillingham has shared before that he does not believe in shelling out NIL dollars to land high school recruits, but rather that he sells players on committing to Arizona State and then earning NIL deals once here. Under that model, building up the NIL war chest is going to be pivotal towards retaining talent for the Sun Devils going forward.
Arizona State has managed to place deals for the likes of Skattebo, Leavitt, Tyson, and a few other key contributors, but their total war chest still pales in comparison even to the rest of the Big 12, let alone the SEC and Big 10 teams they'll be competing with in the CFP, should they return.
The Sun Devils continue to build up money through their Sun Angel Collective, but more work will be needed in the coming months to ensure Arizona State remains one of the power teams in college football rather than fading into obscurity as a one-time wonder.