TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona State football coach Kenny Dillingham is getting a big raise following the Sun Devils’ unexpected trip to the College Football Playoff.
The Arizona Board of Regents approved on Thursday a contract extension for Dillingham through 2029 and a salary increase to $5.8 million starting this year, with a $100,000 increase each Jan. 1 for the duration of the term. He made $4.1 million last season.
The contract includes one-year extensions and raises for reaching certain benchmarks, up to a $450,000 increase for an 11-win season.
The 34-year-old Dillingham orchestrated one of the biggest turnarounds in recent college football history, taking the No. 10 Sun Devils from three wins a year ago to the New Year’s Day Peach Bowl against No. 4 Texas. Arizona State mounted a massive comeback in the CFP quarterfinal behind running back Cam Skattebo before losing 39-31 in double overtime.
Dillingham picked up significant bonuses during Arizona State’s run, which included a Big 12 championship in the Sun Devils’ first year in the league after being picked to finish last in the preseason poll.
The former Oregon offensive coordinator was the youngest head coach in the FBS when he took over a struggling Arizona State program at 33 last year. The Sun Devils were hit hard by injuries during his first season while playing with the cloud of an NCAA investigation into recruiting practices by former coach Herm Edwards.
The uber-enthusiastic Dillingham pushed all the right buttons this season, leading a team that won six straight games into the CFP for the first time. Dillingham made a shrewd move by landing quarterback Sam Leavitt out of the transfer portal – among others – and has fully utilized Skattebo, who finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy vote.