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Kenny Dillingham says Arizona State admin is "pushing the chips to the table" after huge victory

David Howman

Kenny Dillingham and the Sun Devils have plenty of reasons to be happy right now. Not only did they secure a victory over West Virginia on Saturday, but Cincinnati's loss earlier in the day greatly improved their odds to get back to the Big 12 championship game.

Arizona State won their second straight game despite having lost Sam Leavitt for the year, with Jeff Sims delivering another solid performance. The win came after reports that Dillingham had told players that he was returning to the team in 2026 despite rumors that he was considering other job openings.

"I was never leaving," Dillingham said with a smirk in the postgame press conference. And while that will surely make fans breathe a sigh of relief, what he said on top of that is worthy of even more celebration:

"Graham [Rossini] was right. We met on Friday with our admin and people who represent [university president] Dr. Crow and I have a lot of confidence that they're all in. I have a lot of confidence that our administration is pushing the chips to the table on winning football here.

I think everybody's got to start understanding that this university's supporting football, this university is really doubling down on what we're doing right now."

Those comments will raise some eyebrows. The biggest knock on Arizona State for some time has been the lack of financial investment in football relative to other programs, like Texas Tech or even how Clemson went all-in on football early on in the Dabo Swinney era before becoming national champions.

Dillingham did not immediately detail what he means by "all-in" and it's unclear if that relates to contract extensions for him and key assistants, investments in football back-office structures, or more in-line with the type of NIL roster spending that many other programs have taken under in recent years.

Regardless, the reigning Big 12 Coach of the Year made it clear that he has the resources to win and win big right here in Tempe. When jokingly asked if he's still leaving Arizona State, Dillingham couldn't help but laugh:

"I was never leaving, Greg. Contrary to the "betrayal" article, I was never leaving, I never said I was leaving. This is home. "

The immediate conversation right now turns to the Big 12 race and where things lie for the Sun Devils, but the big picture remains extremely bright. Arizona State has their head coach, and it seems that the administration is now willing to do whatever it takes to support him.