James Brown, a trek up Mount Kush and a basketball trick shot

ARLINGTON, Texas — Gerry Dillingham shook her head as she took in the scene around her.

Her son, Arizona State University football coach Kenny Dillingham, was on the podium set up near the end zone at AT&T Stadium, accepting the Big 12 championship trophy on Dec. 7 after the Sun Devils beat Iowa State, 45-19, and in the process qualified for the College Football Playoff. 

Confetti fell to the ground around her. ASU’s players hugged coaches and family members, and jubilantly displayed large Big 12 Championship signs.

Running back Cam Skattebo grabbed two Sharpies and asked his offensive linemen to sign the large wrestling-like championship belt he won for being named the game’s Most Outstanding Player.

The scene was as surreal as it was surprising.

Just over two years ago, on Nov. 26, 2022, ASU hired Dillingham, bringing home an alum and a 32-year-old coach who called ASU a “special place” and the Sun Devils the one team he wanted to lead more than any other.

“It’s unreal,” Gerry said. “It’s crazy. “This is what he dreamed of since he was 10 years old. It was his dream. And it has come to fruition.”

A few minutes later, in his postgame press conference, Dillingham was asked if he ever thought this was possible, that in just his second season as coach, ASU would be one of 12 teams in the playoff, one of 12 teams that could win a national championship.

He smiled and said one word.

“No.”

So, one question: Just how did this happen?

Dillingham recently said he’ll never again have a season that exceeded expectations like this one.

That’s not hyperbole.

ASU was picked to finish last in the Big 12 preseason media poll. That’s last; as in 16th out of 16 teams. Moreover, the last six schools to join the Big 12 failed to record a winning conference record in their first season.

Yet here ASU is, set to play a quarterfinal playoff game Jan. 1 in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta.

Tim Healey, the radio play-by-play voice for ASU football for the past 27 years, said this season has surprised him like no other.

“I can't think of a team that was coming off the two worst seasons in the history of the program (the Sun Devils finished 3-9 in 2022 and 2023), was picked to finish last in a 16-team league and is playing for the conference championship,” Healey said a few days before the ASU-Iowa State game. “Yeah, this is all-timer.”

Even ASU’s coaches admit to being a bit stunned by the team’s success.

“I thought we’d be competitive in games,” said running backs coach Shaun Aguano. “So, yes, I’m a little surprised. Absolutely.”

Talent helps, of course. Transfer quarterback Sam Leavitt was named the Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year. Wide receiver Jordyn Tyson was named Offensive Newcomer of the Year. Skattebo rushed for 1,738 yards and 21 touchdowns, became a cult hero in the Valley, and received the gold standard in endorsements when former Alabama coach Nick Saban called him his favorite player in all of college football.

Skattebo has been modest in declaring himself a Heisman Trophy candidate, but in Saturday’s win he struck the Heisman pose after his three touchdowns.

“I’ve been disrespected my whole life,” Skattebo said. “I’ve always been the underdog, and nobody respects the fact that I’m the best running back in the country.

“I’m going to stand on that. And if people want to disrespect that, I’m going to keep proving those people wrong.”

Then there’s Dillingham, who, in his second year as a head coach and, at the age of 34, was named Big 12 Coach of the Year.

“What impresses me most is his creativity and his lack of rigidity,” said ASU President Michael Crow, who attended the conference championship game. “We win at ASU in everything we do by being innovative. And now we have a football coach that’s equally as innovative as the university. When you do that, you’re going to win more.”

The first thing any head coach has to do is establish the culture he wants. That was difficult for Dillingham to do in 2023. He was a first-year coach, with a team lacking in talent.

But, this year, that culture has taken hold.

“When you come in year one, the team you’ve got is the team you’ve got. You’re just trying to acquire talent to compete,” said assistant head coach Charlie Ragle.

“But after year one, with the guys that stay, the coach can say, ‘This is what we’re going to be about. Smart, tough. Take care of the ball. Be a good person.’ That’s what he’s preached, and finding the right fits for that kind of program are some of his biggest achievements this year.”

“We assembled the culture,” added safety Xavion Alford, “that was supposed to be here.”

Offensive lineman Leif Fautanu said he sensed a difference in this year’s team as far back as Camp Tontozona. One afternoon, the players started their annual trek up Mount Kush, named after legendary ASU coach Frank Kush.

In 2023, Fautanu said, half the team stopped halfway up the mountain, decided they had gone far enough, and headed back down to camp. This year, not a single player took the easy way out.

“We made the collective decision as a team to go up together,” he said. “That kind of gave me the mindset like, ‘Oh, this team wants to do stuff together.’ And that’s paid off.”

Said defensive lineman C.J. Fite: “You could tell then how close we were going to be, and that something special was happening.”

Ragle said he knew the Sun Devils might make that last-place Big 12 prediction look silly after they had spirited back-to-back practice days in pads at Tontozona.

“And you’re like, ‘Man, you know what? I don’t know how good we’re going to be, but we’ve got something with this group. They work hard,” Ragle said. “And then, I think as time went on, you saw that they genuinely liked each other.

“It was a culmination of those two things. We weren’t like, ‘Oh, we’re going to go 10-2.’ But we knew we had something and were going to be better than people thought we were.”

That “something” includes the strong bond Dillingham has with his players, a bond that can be seen by the way they respond to him on the sidelines, in practice and in informal situations.

Dillingham is not afraid to chew his players out — with 2:26 left in Saturday’s game and the victory securely in hand, Dillingham was still screaming at the offense because they weren’t lined up properly — but he also understands the importance of keeping things loose and fun.

Like when he plays his, as Fautanu calls them, “nerdy songs” at the beginning of practice. The coach’s favorite: “I Feel Good,” by James Brown.

“He loves that song,” Fautanu said. “Every time he gets the chance to put it on, we hear it. It’s kind of funny. We’re always like, ‘All right, bro. Whatever.’”

The players also get a kick of out of Dillingham’s patented shot at the basketball hoop set up in the team room. Fautanu could only describe it as a fadeaway scoop shot.

“And he’s like, ‘Yeah, I did it on purpose,'” Fautanu said. “Apparently, that’s his move.”

This surreal, unexpected ride has energized the Sun Devil football community in a way that maybe hasn’t been seen since ASU went to the Rose Bowl in 1996 and came within 100 seconds of a national championship.

Take longtime supporter Tim Hovik, who owns San Tan Ford. Hovik was supposed to be in Madrid over the weekend, on a long-scheduled vacation. Instead, he canceled the trip and chartered a plane to Dallas for the game. Southwest Airlines added two flights to Dallas to meet the demand by Sun Devil fans.

Even ASU men’s basketball coach Bobby Hurley attended the game, taking advantage of a rare weekend off to cheer on the Sun Devils.

“This is great,” Hurley said. “I don’t have to make any decisions.”

ASU athletic director Graham Rossini said the support “shows what’s possible when the ASU fan base and community comes together for a cause.”

Rossini said there was a “noticeable change” in donations after ASU’s 27-19 win over Utah on Oct. 11, adding up to “hundreds of thousands of dollars on a month-to-month basis.” That money, he said, will be used to help athletes with name, image and likeness revenue.

“The better way to look at it,” Crow said, “is that we’re going to keep most of, if not all of, our major athletes.”

Revenue and recruiting weren’t on Dillingham’s mind when he finally made his way to the interview room following Saturday’s game. He answered 15 questions about Skattebo and Leavitt, about decisions made during the game and improvement made throughout the year.

“I’ve never been on a team,” he said, “that’s grown this much.”

Finally, on the 15th question, he was asked what this moment meant for longtime ASU fans who have supported the program since Kush was coach.

“I think it just shows what we can be with the right direction and the right players who are committed to the program and committed to the work,” he said. “I think you can achieve anything here.”

As they stood on the sideline before the Sun Devils’ 49-7 victory over Arizona on Nov. 30, Ragle shook hands with wide receivers coach Hines Ward and told him to soak up and appreciate what this 2024 ASU football team has become.

“I said, ‘Enjoy this, brother, because these seasons, they don’t come around very often,’” Ragle said. “So you have to treasure it.”

Treasure it, they have.

And now, the dream continues.