Kenny Dillingham Development Emerges Amid Auburn Rumors

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Kenny Dillingham Development Emerges Amid Auburn Rumors

The ever-evolving coaching carousel in college football has drastically shaken up the landscape of the sport, and the dominoes are only just beginning to fall.

With high-caliber positions at LSU, Florida, Auburn and Penn State headlining nine open Power 4 head-coaching jobs, the rumor mill has been hard at work to predict who those programs will hire.

And of course, whenever positions of this quality open up, many people direct their attention towards the up-and-comers in the coaching realm as prime candidates.

Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham certainly fits that label, as the 35-year-old has spearheaded a resurgence at his alma mater after emerging as one of the best offensive coordinators in the nation. He led ASU to the 2024 Big 12 Championship and College Football Playoff and owns a 20-15 record through three seasons.

Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt celebrates with head coach Kenny Dillingham after their win over TCU.

While still young, Dillingham has already bounced around to a handful of FBS programs in his career, and it just so happens that he spent time at a program that is now in search of a new leader.

Dillinham acted as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Auburn in 2019, and the Tiger program has been rumored to be in hot pursuit of their former employee.

But it will take a lot to pull Dillingham away from his alma mater, as he’s been outspoken about how much leading the ASU program means to him.

And to that point, instead of deflecting or ignoring the many rumors surrounding his connection to the Auburn job, Dillingham opted to address them head on with his team last week.

Prior to the Sun Devils’ 24-19 road win over Iowa State, Dillingham reportedly walked into multiple position meeting rooms and explained to his players that he would be returning for his fourth season at the helm in 2026.

“He just walked in, said he wasn’t going anywhere next year, and that it’s going to be business as usual,” the parent of one ASU defensive player said of the message relayed to them. “Then he left. He also did that with other [positions on the team] because those players heard the same thing and they talked about it after.”

Dillingham clearly wanted to nip any rumors of his departure in the bud as his team looks to close its up-and-down season strong.

Arizona State is currently not practicing during its bye week due to extensive injuries on the roster, as star quarterback Sam Leavitt and veteran offensive lineman Ben Coleman are out for the season while wide receiver Jordyn Tyson and all-conference safety Xavion Alford have been working to return to the field.

Dillingham is very familiar with injuries in the sport, as a torn ACL in high school brought his playing career to an end. But soon after, he got involved in coaching at that level before he made his way into the Arizona State program to work under then-offensive coordinator Mike Norvell.

The current Florida State head coach brought Dillingham with him when he took over at Memphis in 2016, and the duo helped manufacture three potent offenses at the Liberty Bowl.

Following his time at Memphis, Dillingham was then brought into the fold at Auburn, where he coached Bo Nix for one season before spending the 2020 and 2021 campaigns as the offensive coordinator at Florida State.

Prior to his time in Tempe, Dillingham linked back up with Nix at Oregon, and the two created one of the nation’s most efficient offensive attacks in 2022.

Related: 8 Coaching Candidates to Replace Hugh Freeze at Auburn

Related: Paul Finebaum Ranks Auburn Job As Third Best SEC Opening

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Nov 6, 2025, where it first appeared in the College section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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