Kenny Dillingham Speaks on State Of Team, Baylor Bad Loss and Week 6 vs. Hawaii

On Monday, Kenny Dillingham took to the podium ahead of Arizona State's Week 6 home matchup against Mountain West's Hawai'i.

However, the weekday press conference was not focused on the Rainbow Warriors. Rather, focusing on everything that occurred at Mountain America Stadium just two days prior.

Following a 55-19 blowout loss to Baylor, the questions surrounding the Arizona State football program are at an all-time high. Searching for answers, here is what Dillingham had to say for:

"You're Hired To Be Fired"

ASU's brutal loss sent fans and the media into a tailspin, including a few (likely overreactive) takes of Dillingham not being the guy for the job at ASU.

Dillingham's not on the "hot seat" after one bad loss, but for the Arizona State alum and Scottsdale native, he is aware of the unique situation he is in as the coach of Sun Devil Football.

"I want to live here for a long, long, long, long time. Who wants to lose? Most coaches get fired. It's what you do. You get hired to get fired," Dillingham said. "I chose a route in which if I want to live somewhere for the rest of my life, I can't get fired. Very challenging. So there is extra pressure cause you want to live here. You can't live in a place you suck at. So you got to figure it out."

Dillingham would go on to talk about the bigger picture reality of modern-day college football, dealing with social media as a coach, and the viewpoint of dealing with it for the players.

"We're a walking, living reality show, and if you get involved in the show, there's gonna be drama," Dillingham said. "Don't get involved in the show."

The Class of 2013 Sun Devil talked originally after Saturday's game about how the fans should feel, sharing the disappointment with the fan base. He went on to talk about the fan point of view on Monday.

"If I was a fan, I would say 'Burn it down!'" Dillingham said. "I would assume that's what they are saying, and I don't blame them. The reality is just everybody doing their job a little bit better."

The State of the Sun Devils, Four Games In

Many say you know what you have in a football team after the first four games. A third of the season now in the books, what kind of expectations does Dillingham now have?

"You're going to see significant improvement," Dillingham said simply. "You will see significant improvement."

As basic as the answer sounds, Dillingham's teams have a track record of responding after a bad loss.

In 2025, ASU fell to Utah 42-10. The next weekend, they took down No. 7 Texas Tech 26-22.

In 2023, ASU lost to Utah 55-3. A week later, the 2-7 Sun Devils upset the 6-3 UCLA Bruins, 17-7.

Now, in 2026, the team may not be coming off a meeting with the Utes, or playing a conference opponent next up, but a big performance against Hawaii could still pay dividends for ASU.

After hosting the visitors from the island, ASU will take on No. 11 Texas Tech and No. 8 BYU in two of the remaining October matchups, both on the road.

Moving On? Not Quite

After a bad loss, the typical football stereotype is to "burn the tape". Flush it from your memory and move on. No need to dwell on it.

Dillingham, however, does want to dwell on it. He wants his team to dwell on it as well.

"I want us to dwell on it. Are you kidding me? I want our guys to feel that. If you don't feel that one, I mean, you don't feel anything. Like that, that, that, that, that should hit you in the face, and you should dwell on that. And you should say, that's unacceptable. You should say, how do I fix it? You should say, What are the problems?"

The fourth-year head coach went on to say that "dwell" might not be the right word, but instead, "embracing" the loss is important.

Dissecting the loss is important for the current state of ASU, as there is not just one simple fix to their problems. Instead, it's finding the laundry list of issues and finding the solutions.

"We're going to do everything in our power to become overachievers again by the end of the season, and it started today," Dillingham said. "There's no secret sauce. I wish there was. I'm not just going to tell you we're going to do one magical thing that's going to fix it. We're going to do a bunch of things that are very, very small."

Dillingham and the Sun Devils will try to implement their small fixes on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, when they host Hawaii at 7:30 p.m. AZT in Tempe.

Add us as a preferred source on Google