Arizona State coach: College football system is 'a mess, point blank'
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As chaos unfolded during Sunday’s bowl selection process, with Notre Dame and Duke both pleading their case for inclusion in the playoffs and Notre Dame eventually opting out of bowl season entirely, Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham was an interested bystander.
His team was locked into the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl, though the Sun Devils opponent, eventually Duke, took hours to identify. Meanwhile, the ACC and Notre Dame were taking shots at each other and Dillingham was trying to figure out who on his team was going to opt out of the Sun Bowl.
A year ago, Dillingham and Arizona State were preparing for the playoffs, and now Dillingham has definite thoughts on the state of the whole system.
Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham: ‘The whole industry is a mess’
“There is no right answer,” Dillingham said on a Zoom call to discuss his team’s appearance in the Sun Bowl. “I could give you an answer, and it’s gonna be a wrong answer still.
“We’ve created a mess, point blank. The whole industry is a mess. The only thing that’s not a mess is the dollar signs. Those are still pointing up. Everything else is a mess, the dollar side, the business of it, that’s skyrocketing. Everything else is a mess. That’s being transparent and honest. Other than the ratings, the dollars, the money involved, it’s a mess. This is just another piece of the mess.”
As for what Arizona State will put on the field in the Sun Bowl, Dillingham didn’t have any idea yet and predicted “50%, possibly higher” for participation, calling that a wild estimate.
Sam Leavitt, the quarterback who led the Sun Devils to the playoffs last year but missed most of this year with a foot injury, has entered the transfer portal and Dillingham wished him well. He also said he won’t begrudge any players who opt out of the Sun Bowl.
ASU bracing for Sun Bowl opt outs
“This is a new era of college football,” Dillingham said. “I’m going to support whatever our players do, whatever they deem is best. I’m going to support that and get behind it, and we have a lot of seniors, a lot of guys that have been playing.
“These guys that need to get rest or need minor surgery postseason in order to get ready for the NFL draft and progress, I’m telling those guys you need to do what you need to do to get your body right for your prep and your future.”
On the other side of the field, Arizona State will face a Duke team that began Sunday hoping to make the playoffs as the ACC champion, but the committee ultimately took Sun Belt champion James Madison ahead of them.
Duke coach Manny Diaz: Sun Bowl ‘a blessing’
Coach Manny Diaz said that doesn’t detract from the opportunity to play in the Sun Bowl.
“I think there’s a real important point that needs to be made of the importance of bowl season and the experience of what bowls provide,” Diaz said via Zoom. “Just as a head football coach, the fact that I get three more weeks to coach this senior class, I look at a blessing.
“The fact that this senior class gets to spend three more weeks together — I think it’s easy in this playoff era to think everything is about the playoff.
“And certainly we’re disappointed in the committee’s decision today. But that’s not going to take away from the fact that this football team who is so close, so together, that we get to be together again. And we get to fight another day.”
He was philosophical about Duke’s snub.
“What we found out (Sunday) is no different than what other schools found out,” Diaz said. “No different than what Notre Dame found out, or Texas or Vanderbilt. If you put it in a committee’s hands, it’s outside of your control.
“We had it in our control. We know that there are things we could’ve done differently. … But I don’t think anybody in that room enjoyed that.
“My message to the team was: We’re learning how to build a big-time program here. And this season has been a remarkable teacher for us, with everything that we’ve gone through.”
That will continue into the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @BrMTbloomquist on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Sun Bowl bound ASU coach calls college football ‘a mess, point blank’
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