Sparky, the Arizona State Sun Devils mascot. Taken by James Santelli, Neon Tommy. September 24, 2011. - Wikimedia Commons

Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham didn’t just climb the coaching ladder, he did a speed run straight to the top.

Dillingham’s coaching career began at 17 after tearing his ACL playing linebacker during his senior year. His first gig was as an assistant with the Scottsdale Chaparral High School JV team. He eventually became the quarterbacks’ coach and later the offensive coordinator for the varsity team.

After graduating from Arizona State with a degree in business/economics, he orchestrated the state’s hottest offense and helped lead the Thunderbirds to a state title.

Then, he took the leap to the college game. He latched on with former ASU offensive coordinator Mike Norvell and followed him from Tempe to Memphis. Stops at Auburn, Florida State and Oregon followed. In November of 2022, he became the youngest head coach in the Power 5 when he returned to lead the Sun Devils program.

What Dillingham lacks in age, he makes up for in gumption.

When he took over, the Sun Devils’ program had hit a new low. Previous head coach Herm Edwards had just been dismissed amid a flurry of NCAA recruiting violations. The Pac-12 conference was on the brink of folding. And the team lacked an identity, having just lost future Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jayden Daniels.

But in two short seasons, Dillingham ushered in a new dawn in the desert.

In 2024, the Sun Devils were the darlings of the Big 12 conference, rattling off 11 wins and earning a spot in the College Football Playoff. Once they got there, they took the country by storm, pushing the mighty Texas Longhorns to the absolute brink with legendary showings by running back Cam Skattebo and quarterback Sam Leavitt.

Now comes the hard part.

Arizona State can’t come out of nowhere again. The Sun Devils had their moment in the sun. What comes next?

It’s hard to put into words just what former running back Cam Skattebo meant to Arizona State’s push to prominence.

The five-foot-nine, 219-pound ball of butcher knives was the heartbeat of the Sun Devils’ program. He ran like a bat out of hell, combining a malicious mean streak with an unfuckwittable attitude. If real life mimicked College Football 25, he would’ve had a 99 break tackle rating.

The underlying numbers back up Skattebo’s badassery. According to Pro Football Focus, Skattebo was second in his draft class with 50 broken tackles and 120 missed tackles in 2024. Furthermore, he averaged 4.1 yards per carry after contact, making him a superweapon in short-yardage and goal-to-go situations.

Skattebo was a leader, too. He possessed a certain level of gravitas that resonated with teammates, and perhaps that will be even harder to replicate than his on-field production.

While there’s no perfect formula for replacing a player like Skattebo, Arizona State turned to the transfer portal for immediate help. Kanye Udoh, a former Army player, is expected to be the bellcow for this offense this upcoming season.

Udoh popped off for the Black Knights in 2024, albeit in a drastically different offensive system. He rushed for a little over 1,100 yards and 10 touchdowns, good for a 6.2 YPC average. I’m guessing Udoh saw what Skattebo did in this system and wanted a piece of that.

Other backfield contributors include junior Kyson Brown and redshirt junior Raleek Brown. I suspect both will get touches in some form or fashion. But I fully expect Udoh to be RB1 when healthy.

ASU will surely need to find a new semblance of offensive balance without its heart-and-soul runner. Getting Jordan Tyson back should help. The first-round talent missed a lot of time last season, but his ball skills and deep threat abilities are undeniable.

Upon his arrival from Michigan State, Sam Leavitt felt like a relatively unknown commodity.

The three-star quarterback from West Linn, Oregon, barely played in East Lansing. So he did what lots of college football players do in today’s day and age—he hopped in the Transfer Portal. Leavitt landed in Tempe and hit the ground running in Dillingham’s offense.

How good was Leavitt during the Sun Devils’ high-flying 2024 campaign?

Source: Hudl IQ

Using Hudl IQ Player Radar Data, we can see that Leavitt was an above-average Big 12 quarterback in almost every discernible metric. He was slightly below average when it came to Usage%, but that shouldn’t come as a surprise considering how frequently the ball ended up in Skattebo’s hands.

Leavitt showcased some impressive mobility and downfield passing abilities in his first season at Arizona State. I was particularly impressed with his ability to create explosive plays and keep drives moving.

How did his play stack up against similar quarterbacks across the country?

Source: Hudl IQ

Using the Hudl IQ Player Comparison tool, we can see that Leavitt’s game most resembles that of new OU quarterback John Mateer, Texas quarterback Arch Manning (limited sample size), new Duke quarterback Darian Mensah and former Montana State quarterback “Touchdown” Tommy Mellott. That’s some seriously good company!

Leavitt is on the lower end of a few of these key metrics, but he had an insanely impressive start to life under Dillingham. I’d like to see him improve on his EPA/Play and EPA/Pass, but that should increase in another year in the offense. If he can also get his Success% in the mid-50s and Completion% in the mid-60s, he’ll really be in business.

I’m betting that with another year of seasoning, Leavitt takes another nice step forward in 2025. I don’t see why he can’t be one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the Big 12 and across college football.

The Big 12 has positioned itself as the slot-machine conference of college football. Pull the lever and get a different result every time.

Last year, it was Arizona State’s turn to take the top spot. In 2025, it’s anyone's guess.

The Sun Devils will have plenty of competition in their attempt to repeat as league champions.

Iowa State is always a tough out. Baylor and Kansas State bring back promising quarterbacks in Sawyer Robertson and Skylar Thompson. Utah is poised for a bounce-back in the post-Cam Rising era. Texas Tech splashed some serious cash in the offseason and re-upped the roster via the Transfer Portal. And BYU returns a ton of talent from a team that won 11 games a year ago.

Where does Arizona State sit amongst the Big 12 hierarchy? For now, at the very top.

Looking ahead, though, I think this current iteration of ASU comfortably sits at the adult table with the rest of those aforementioned teams. According to ESPN’s Bill Connelly, the Sun Devils return 79% of their production from last season, good for the number two spot in the country. This group brings back 78% of its offense and 79% of its defense.

The schedule is pretty kind, too. Arizona State has tough road games at Baylor, Utah and Iowa State. But gets TCU and Texas Tech at home, all while avoiding BYU and Kansas State. That’s pretty doable for a team with this much returning talent.

Even with key departures like Skattebo, this group should be more than good enough to compete for another Big 12 title.

In February of 2024, Dillingham went semi-viral for his comments about the state of college football.

Coaches across the country began publicly complaining about the lawless nature of NIL and the uneasiness that comes with the transfer churn. Dillingham was having none of it.

Arizona State was once a program adrift in the desert. In two short seasons, it stood on college football’s biggest stage—proof of just how far, and how fast, Kenny Dillingham has taken the Sun Devils

Dillingham and Arizona State had their moment in the sun. What comes next?

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