Kenny Dillingham Discusses West Virginia, Coaching Advice, and More

TEMPE -- Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham spoke to media in his weekly Monday press conference off the high of a 24-19 win over Iowa State on Saturday.

Dillingham discussed a wide range of topics - from injury updates to praising West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez - and more.

To watch the full press conference, view below.

Below is a partial transcript of key topics covered by Dillingham on Monday.

On Changing Landscape of College Football

Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day running the quarterback, you look at Utah right now and the triple option premise that they have, winning a lot of games, scoring all points. You look at Vanderbilt right now, with that style of play. You know Houston, when they beat us. I mean, I think it was 20 or 19 quarterback runs. There's so many different ways to win in college football.

I think you got to figure out your own team and where you fit in that you know what personnel you can get around the quarterback and derive the best plan. But there's so many different ways you know, to win in their strengths and weaknesses, to every choice that you make, to every decision you make. So I think, yeah, there's a lot of ways to win. I think in this era, people kind of get to pick and choose their own route a little bit more.

On Plans For Week Off

“Yeah, I mean week off of football. I mean, they're still coming in and lifting and running and and getting rehab and stuff like that this week. But yeah, I think that getting away from the game, you know, similar to last year, even before the Peach Bowl week off, which most people you know don't do, I just feel like sometimes you need to get away. And that the greatest you know, and the hardest thing you can do sometimes is to let go. And I think the ability to, like, let go for a few days and then come back on Sunday…”

So I don't want to leave anybody else out, but I think for the most part, those are the guys that would potentially have a chance to get back no sipp’s, I mean, Sipp (Kyson Brown) is probably going to be out for the year. That's just not trending. And you know, he's doing everything he can to get back to it's just not training in that direction for him to return this year.”

On Conversations About Future With Sam Leavitt

“He’s got to get surgery. He's got to take care of himself. I'll probably give him a couple weeks. And, you know, let him get through this. We're not in a rush. No, I want him to make the best decision for him in terms of whether you need to go pro or not. And you know what him and his team believe are the best decision for him? You know, that's why I do this. So, you know, give them some time to get healthy and get surgery done with and get back around the team and and get his head, you know, back in a good direction of progress…”

On Justin Wodlty’s Performance vs Iowa State

Yeah, Wodtly played great. That could have been his best games at Sun Devil, like looking back, we put it. We ended up putting a game ball after I watched the table on Saturday night and Sunday morning, I put it. We put a game ball in his locker, because I was a guy that, after I watched it, I felt like deserved a game ball, so I made sure we put one in his locker, because he played probably his best game. Could be his best games at Sun Devil.

On Last Week’s Mindset

“Yeah, I told the guys, if you're not ready to do whatever it takes to get a win, if you're not ready to get into a dog fight, it's going to be 60 minutes, and the team that lasts the longest is going to win, and we're going to run the football, we're going to stop the run, and it's going to get ugly. And if you're not ready to be in that type of game, just stay here. Rest up, and we'll be good to go. And I wanted guys to be there that were ready for that style of game, because that's what I thought it was going to take in order to win.”

Read more on why the Arizona State men's basketball team will exceed expectations in the 2025-26 season here, and three major takeaways following a gutsy win over Iowa State here

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