The Arizona State Sun Devils are coming off a huge season in which they won the Big 12 Championship and earned a spot in the College Football Playoff. Big changes are on the horizon for Sun Devil fans, including the addition of a new indoor facility that will serve as a tailgate area.
Following last season’s success, the Sun Devils enter this year with all eyes on them. It marks a new standard for the program—one that head coach Kenny Dillingham admits isn’t exactly enjoyable. For Dillingham, it all comes down to mindset, and he believes it’s easier to maintain the right one when a team is the underdog.
"It's actually less fun," Dillingham said of going from underdog to favorite. "It's more motivating for people to say that you suck. It's way more difficult when people say you're good. I'm not actually one who likes to hear how good you are anyway, so for me it's uncomfortable. I'd rather be the underdog, somebody people count out, so this is uncomfortable to get that positive praise,” Dillingham said.
Back in May, Dillingham shared a bold assessment of Arizona State's future, predicting a strong decade ahead for the program.
"You have Clemson this last cycle, from 2010 to 2020. They just showed up. People think they’ve been around forever. You have Oregon from 2000 to 2010... 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,” Dillingham stated.
However, on Thursday, his tone shifted, and he didn’t mince words about his team's current state.
Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp
"Don't be mad going 5-7 ... 6-6 ... 3-9 ... Somebody has to go those records. We didn't practice bad. We didn't practice with passion ... It was a good practice for a bad team,” Dillingham told the media.
This is far from the direction the Sun Devils hoped to be heading. As the defending conference champions, expectations are high. While it's still early in fall camp, the team clearly needs to show significant growth—and quickly—before the season begins.