Kenny Dillingham Praises West Virginia Coach

TEMPE -- Kenny Dillingham has taken the Arizona State Sun Devils to a 6-3 record heading into their final bye week of the season after a 24-19 win over Iowa State last Saturday.

Dillingham gave his team the week off ahead of a matchup against the West Virginia Mountaineers, but remains focused for the challenge that lies ahead after the team took down Houston last week.

That includes showing respect for West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez - Dillingham praised the coach for "opening doors" for him while the former was a grad assistant at Arizona State. He also broke doen what the longtime head coach has done as an innovator and how he continues to succeed after over 20 years in that capacity.

Dillingham Praises Rodriguez as Innovator

"You know, he was one of the innovators in the zone read world with the quarterback, the innovators in the RPO world, taking, you know, the game to being extended triple option. He was one of the first people to do that. And what's impressive about him is, now some people have just, you know, almost reinvented the game and then got stagnant.

He kind of reinvented the game, then has always stayed kind of a step ahead of the game as well. He hasn't just said, Well, I did this, so I'm going to keep doing this. He has his belief, and what he believes in his style of play will work forever. Come off the ball, knock the opponent backwards, quarterback, read a defensive end to get your hat right. I mean, it's a math problem that will work till the end of time."

Rodriguez is known for coaching programs beyond their means - having taken West Virginia to incredible heights in his first stint and leading Arizona to a New Year's Six bowl early in his tenure. Much of this has to do with the ability to adapt on a continual basis as Dillingham said.

This extends into Rodriguez's approach as a program-builder as well - it has lent to the West Virginia program improving significantly from the start of the 2025 season until now.

"And he knows what he is. He knows what it takes to win. His team has played really, really hard. His team is usually overachieve because they feed off of his passion, and you can see that on their tape, so you can see them getting better as a football team. So I have a lot of respect for coach Rodriguez.”

West Virginia is coming off of a game in which they ran for nearly 300 yards against Houston, and are suddenly in position to win a second consecutive game this week against Colorado. Rodriguez also might have his quarterback in freshman Scotty Fox Jr after the talented passer has excelled in consecutive starts.

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

Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page when you click right here.

Please follow us on X when you click right here, as well as @khicks_21 for nonstop Arizona State coverage!