ATLANTA – Arizona State and Kenny Dillingham have agreed to a five-year contract extension that will make the young head coach one of the highest-paid coaches in the Big 12, a source briefed on the deal confirmed Tuesday night.

In his second season, Dillingham led Arizona State to a Big 12 championship and the College Football Playoff. The fourth-seeded Sun Devils will face fifth-seeded Texas in the playoff quarterfinals on Wednesday. It’s the program’s biggest game in decades and has thrust the energetic Dillingham into the national spotlight.

ESPN first reported Dillingham’s extension.

Dillingham, 34, started this season with a base salary of $3.95 million, according to USA Today’s college football salary database, putting him near the bottom of the Big 12 in terms of compensation. With Arizona State’s march to 11 wins and the CFP, Dillingham earned more than $2 million in performance bonuses. Last month he decided to distribute some of that money to lower-level employees.

Dillingham, an Arizona State University graduate who grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona, has called this his dream job since the day he was hired in November 2022. Arizona State was coming off a three-win season and facing NCAA sanctions for recruiting violations that occurred under previous coach Herm Edwards. Dillingham had to overhaul its roster in its first season. The Sun Devils took a 3-9 lead.

That season, they were picked to finish last in the Big 12, but achieved bowl eligibility a few days after Halloween. The Sun Devils finished with six straight wins and Dillingham was named Big 12 Coach of the Year.

“I knew it was going to be a challenge and I knew it was going to be difficult,” Dillingham said this week. “But at the same time, I really felt like I understood the city and the place enough.”

This is Arizona State’s latest commitment to its football program, which previously had a reputation for underperforming. In November, Arizona State signed offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo and defensive coordinator Brian Ward to three-year contract extensions.

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