The Arizona State Sun Devils and head coach Kenny Dillingham agreed to a new 5-year contract the night before their College Football Playoff quarterfinal against Texas in the Peach Bowl, ESPN’s Pete Thamel first reported.

ASU athletic director Graham Rossini announced to fans in Atlanta shortly after the report was released that ASU had extended Dillingham after the dramatic turnaround in his second season.

Dillingham’s contract includes a performance-based model with incentives that can last up to 10 seasons. Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro reported. According to Gambadoro, it includes commitment, retention and performance-based bonuses.

SunDevilSource.com’s Chris Karpman reports that Dillingham’s new contract comes with a raise. Gambadoro added that the raise will put Dillingham’s salary in the top three of Big 12 coaches.

Dillingham, 34, is a local man who attended Arizona State University after graduating from Chaparral High School. He started as an assistant at ASU in 2014 before stops at Memphis, Auburn, Florida State and Oregon. After one year as Oregon’s offensive coordinator in 2022, he was hired by the Sun Devils as their new head coach.

What led to Arizona State giving Kenny Dillingham an extension?

Dillingham has led a total revitalization of the Sun Devils football program.

After posting a 3-9 record in its debut season last year, ASU posted an 11-2 record heading into Wednesday’s match, made possible by a Big 12 title win in the school’s first full season in the conference became. The Sun Devils were picked by the media to finish at the bottom of the conference.

Instead, Dillingham led a team effort that earned running back Cam Skattebo a fifth-place finish in Heisman Trophy voting, while redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt landed far too early on the lists for the 2025 Heisman.

ASU signed offensive and defensive coordinators Marcus Arroyo and Brian Ward to three-year contract extensions in November as Dillingham stressed the importance of taking care of the coaching staff before signing a new contract.

How is the Arizona State football program progressing?

The deal includes a commitment to ensure financial stability for future hiring and, according to Thamel, to “participate fully in revenue sharing.”

Revenue sharing is one of the few key elements in the House v. NCAA case, which is expected to be settled in April. There are also 20 additional football scholarships, up to 105 for the program the school is committed to.

As for those currently filling Arizona State’s scholarship spots, many players have already expressed their commitment to return to ASU, including defensive standouts Clayton Smith, CJ Fite and Myles Rowser. Sam Leavitt and Jordyn Tyson have talked about next year in Tempe as a matter of course.

It is not expected that the Sun Devils will lose an important player from their rankings even after the end of the season.

The player retention is notable, especially given reports of a $6 million offer from another school for Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, who many expect to be taken in the NFL draft after the Longhorns’ postseason.

ASU filled the need and depth early in this portal cycle, adding two wide receivers (Fresno State’s Jalen Moss and Clemson’s Noble Johnson), running back Kanye Udoh (Army), tight end Khamari Anderson (Kentucky) and kicker Jesús Gómez (Eastern Michigan) added. .

The incoming freshman class is ranked eighth in the Big 12 by 247 Sports, and the Sun Devils have a leg up on the 2026 class in quarterback Jake Fette (No. 142 overall).

Peach Bowl coverage of the ASU-Texas matchup can be heard starting at 8 a.m. on Arizona Sports

Follow @AZSports