ASU Coach Kenny Dillingham Talks Jeff Sims, Iowa State Challenge
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TEMPE -- Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham spoke with the media once again on Wednesday following Arizona State's last practice of the week.
To watch the entire availability, view below.
Below is a partial transcript from Wednesday's conversation with Dillingham.
On Wednesday's Practice, Iowa State
"I thought was pretty good day, you know? I thought the intent was there, and I'm excited. I'm excited to see some guys step up. I mean, that's the challenge. Gotta have guys step up and make plays in a good road environment. Yesterday, it's the best team at home over the last team at home over the last two years has been us. The Second best is Iowa State at their home record. So this will be a good challenge for us."
On Relationship with QB Jeff Sims
"Yeah, I think it's just trust. You know, we trust him. He trusts us. So I think the trust and the honesty and the transparency is something our primers are with. So he trusts us. I think he's got a long, crazy career, so I think it's pretty cool for him to be able to really finish this thing out and play a few games. And I'm excited to go watch him play this week."
On Injured Players Continuing to Show Up
"Yeah, I mean, we took six guys to media days. Four of them aren't playing right now. You know that's that's kind of crazy to think about it like that, and but it is fun to see that those guys are still engaged in their building, and they still want to be a part of it. They want to be out here. It's not what you want, but when you're in this situation and you have those guys still, you know, involved at that level gives you a lot of confidence in what we're doing."
On State of Iowa State Matchup
"No, it's a battle of two really good teams that are frustrated, probably that, you know, we're not winning more games. So it's a battle of two teams that, you know, I know Coach Campbell, and he's one of the best coaches in our league, and he finds ways to win for a long time. And he's not an excuse maker. He's a guy that just finds ways to win. And I hope that from that perspective, it's the Battle of two teams that are that want to win a football game really badly, that feel like they're close."
On Quarterback Room
"Yeah, they're workers. I mean, they like football, and when you like football, you multiply the people around you, and then you're ready for your moment. Like Jeff did an unbelievable job last week, coming in, converting the fourth down, then getting us into field goal range, and then coming in again later in the game, and moving the ball down the field and scoring.
So Jeff did a great job last week, and we got a lot of confidence in Jeff, you know, going in this game, you know, we know he's going to be the starter 100% so I really feel like we can put together a plan around him and his skill set. And, you know, versus a defense that's a little different than some defenses we face, just structurally. So it's good to know that he's going into this thing, and we got a lot of confidence."
Read more on why the Arizona State men's basketball team will exceed expectations in the 2025-26 season here, and on why the 2025 football team is at a crossroads following a loss to Houston here.
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Kevin Hicks is an Arizona State alumni and now serves as the Arizona State Beat Writer On SI.