Kenny Dillingham Praises Philanthropic Efforts of Roster
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TEMPE -- The 20th-ranked Arizona State Sun Devil football team has much to be thankful for despite a 2025 season that has been full of injuries, as well as three gut-wrenching losses.
The team also recognizes that there is much more to the season of Thanksgiving than just football - they displayed true selflessness and servitude to the Phoenix area last week.
This was in the form of the team donating nearly $14,000 to the Saint Mary's Food Bank to purchase turkeys for those in need - as well as personally showing up to do work for the bank.
Head coach Kenny Dillingham put the football program and his responsibilities in perspective, while also praising his team for upholding the culture that has been installed in a statement made following Wednesday's practice.
Dillingham Puts Things in Perspective
"Yeah, it's awesome that those guys wanted to, you know, raise money for the organization, and then, not only raise money for the organization, go physically do the act of, you know, passing out the turkeys to everybody. I think that's one of the goals, our number one goal of our program, be a good person, make good decisions, have more fun working with anybody in the country.
And you know, winning and losing games is great, but I think these guys becoming good people and growing up as people has always unfortunately, I'll get judged off, winning and losing externally, I'll get judged off, man, we got awesome kids. Internally, that's just important."
Dillingham will be remembered for wins and losses by the masses, but the impact he leaves on his rosters on a yearly basis will be what truly defines his tenure.
Arizona State's Culture is Budding
This is far from the first example of members of the football program displaying selfless behavior.
Quarterback Sam Leavitt donated all of the profits he retained from NIL merchandise sales back to the team, while also donating $15,000 to the Pat Tillman Foundation earlier this year. Numerous other players continue to do philanthropic/charity work quietly - with Dillingham also reportedly taking part in such activities, although the head coach stays mum on it publicly.
The Arizona State football culture has come a long way in recent seasons - the hope is that the foundation Dillingham has built will continue to be felt for many years to come, transcending recruiting classes, potential roadblocks that are sure to come in the future, and everything in-between.
Read more on why the Arizona State men's basketball team will exceed expectations in the 2025-26 season here, and on major takeaways from the Sun Devils’ convincing win over Colorado in week 13 here.
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Kevin Hicks is an Arizona State alumni and now serves as the Arizona State Beat Writer On SI.