Kenny Dillingham turns heads with comparison of Arizona State, Oregon in 2020's
Kenny Dillingham turns heads with comparison of Arizona State, Oregon in 2020's
For years, and perhaps decades, West Coast college football fans have wondered why Arizona State isn't a better program. The Sun Devils have been competitive in most seasons, but they have never been great or serious contenders for major bowl games or a national title.
It's always been quite the mystery that not even Sherlock Holmes would be able to solve.
All the pieces are there. The facilities are good enough. The stadium is good enough. But perhaps the only thing missing was the right man at the helm. But perhaps with Sun Devil alum Kenny Dillingham, ASU finally has the right man.
He showed the promise of Sun Devil football last season as they won the Big XII in their first season in the conference and were in the College Football Playoff, where ASU took Texas to double overtime before going down 39-31.
According to Dillingham, it was just the tip of the iceberg of what the Sun Devils can do with the program. He wants to emulate the rise of Oregon of the 2000s and Clemson in the 2010s.
"You have Clemson this last cycle, from 2010 to 2020. They just showed up. People think they've been around forever," Dillingham told On3.com writer Pete Nakos. "You have Oregon from 2000 to 2010. You can go back in history and figure out which teams have shown up in which era. There hasn't been a team in this era, in the 2020s. The lifestyle you have in Arizona, if we can create some staff consistency, and then we're in a league where we can continually compete to win."
Clemson won two national championships in the last decade, but have fallen off some. Oregon, meanwhile, is still in pursuit of its first national title, but the Ducks are usually in contention in most seasons. Dillingham's challenge in Tempe now is to keep the Sun Devils consistently in the playoff conversation.
They're off to a good start.
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