Top Candidate For Michigan Coaching Vacancy Is Suddenly Off The Board

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Shortly after Michigan fired Sherrone Moore, fans started speculating about Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham's future.

Dillingham, 35, has cemented himself as one of the brightest young coaches in all of college football over the past few years. He had stops at Memphis, Auburn, Florida State and Oregon before being named the 26th head coach at Arizona State. After going 3-9 in 2023, he led the program to an 11-3 record and College Football Playoff appearance the very next year.

While on ESPN's "Get Up" this Friday, college football analyst Josh Pate made the argument that Dillingham is "tailor-made" for the Michigan job.

"It is desirable, but they’ve got to get Michigan figured out. I said yesterday, it seems like five years ago, but I said yesterday that before Michigan operated a coaching search, they needed to figure out what Michigan was. That’s kind of reflected in the marketplace of candidates," Pate said, via On3. "But I feel kind of strongly about this… that job looks tailor-made for a guy like Kenny Dillingham. I know other names will be thrown out, but I’m telling you, Kenny Dillingham for most college football fans is a guy who they’ve heard sound bites from."

Is Dillingham even available?

Dillingham is "close" to signing an extension with Arizona State, according to Chris Karpman of Sun Devil Source. The deal would increase his annual base salary.

"By winning eight regular-season games, Dillingham was already due to receive an automatic $200,000 raise that would increase his 2025 base pay of $5.8 million to $6 million next year, along with an automatic rollover extension of one year that will extend his agreement through Dec. 31, 2030," Karpman wrote. "Even so, it's not close to as much as what some of college football's top earners will make next year and beyond."

After Karpman broke this news, Dillingham told the media that he hasn't had any conversations with Michigan about its coaching vacancy.

Barring a sudden change of heart, Dillingham will remain the head coach of the Sun Devils.

This story was originally published by The Spun on Dec 13, 2025, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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