The Arizona State football team moved quickly to calm the noise around Kenny Dillingham’s name popping up in the Michigan coaching rumor mill, with athletic director Graham Rossini acknowledging contract talks and calling the moment “exciting” for the Sun Devils as they work through details to keep their head coach in place.
Dillingham, though, made the Michigan part of the story a lot simpler. In an interview cited by On3, he said the Wolverines never offered him the head coaching job and that the chatter never reached anything close to that stage. “I never got offered a job. None of that ever, ever happened, and it never got to that point,” Dillingham said.
He still went out of his way to respect what Michigan represents. Dillingham described the job as an “unbelievable” opportunity with major resources, people committed to winning, and a roster that’s already positioned to compete.
In the same On3 report, he added that whoever lands the role will be stepping into one of the best brands and best-supported programs in the country.
That combination, a clear denial paired with admiration for the job, fits how these coaching cycles often go. Dillingham didn’t pretend Michigan isn’t a premier destination, but he just rejected the idea that he was ever actually in it.
The other piece of the puzzle is that the Arizona State football team has been working to lock him down in the first place. Rossini publicly discussed ongoing negotiations, stressing how much the school values Dillingham’s leadership and the trajectory since his first year in Tempe.
And that work appears to have produced a concrete outcome. On3 reported that Dillingham agreed to a contract extension with Arizona State, a deal that includes a staff salary pool up to $11 million and averages $7.5 million per year for Dillingham, according to Pete Nakos.
So if Michigan rumors were the spark, Dillingham’s message was about having no offer, no near-miss, and a clear path forward where he’s already planted.
