👋 GOOD MORNING

Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024 — Happy Wednesday! Halfway through the last full workweek of 2024, and it feels good!

The college football transfer portal is in full swing, and there are plenty of opinions around whether bowl season is the most appropriate time to open it up. Alas, it is what it is, and today we’ll look at why Kenny Dillingham’s approach to players who have entered the transfer portal is yet another reason why the coach is reaching legendary status in Tempe.

Before we get to that, though, I have a few random odds and ends to call out:

• PHNX is hosting a College Football Playoff watch party on Jan. 1 at Gila River Resorts and Casinos – Wild Horse Pass. Get more details here, and we would love to see you there!
• Congrats to Sun Devil women’s golf redshirt sophomore Patience Rhodes, who was named to the ANNIKA Award Fall Watch list. She’s one of only 11 underclassmen on the list, and the award is given annually to the top female collegiate golfer.
• I spent a lot of time highlighting the ASU women’s volleyball team’s historic season, but I also wanted to extend a huge congratulations to the Arizona Wildcats women’s volleyball team, which won the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) with a victory over Bowling Green. The Wildcats finished 24-9 this season, winning their final 11 matches of the season.

On to the show!

Kenny Dillingham’s Transfer Portal Approach Should Be The Standard

It’s really not surprising to see why student athletes want to play for Kenny Dillingham.

What may be surprising, though, is that even the ones who have already decided to leave want to stick around to see the season through.

Dillingham has masterfully built the ASU football program into a top college football destination in just two seasons at the helm, this despite the massive challenges the Sun Devils face recruiting against blue blood schools across the nation. The 34-year-old is one of the youngest head coaches in all of college football, but you’d never guess that based on how he runs the program.

He and his staff have fostered a culture of trust, accountability and respect, and that’s highlighted by the numerous Sun Devil players who have already entered the transfer portal, but choose to remain with the team throughout their upcoming College Football Playoff journey.

The best part? Dillingham welcomes them with open arms.

All Are Welcome to Finish What They Started

It would be easy for a head coach to be put off by a player entering the portal.

Some of it is the nature of how things are set up, since the portal is only open from Dec. 9 – Dec. 28. Any of the currently rostered players are forced to make a very difficult decision — enter the portal during a dream season to pursue opportunities elsewhere, or remain committed and potentially accept a lesser role in the future.

Dillingham has made that transfer portal decision a little easier given his approach: Encourage the student athletes to do what’s best for them, while still welcoming them back to finish what they started this season.

Imagine that.

“My job is to help these guys,” Dillingham said. “Just because they went into the portal doesn’t meant they shouldn’t have the opportunity to continue to be on the team and to finish out the year, if that’s what they want to do.”

There’s defensive back Kamari Wilson, who spent just one season in Tempe after transferring from Florida, or tight end Markeston Douglas, who is transferring back to Florida State, where he started his collegiate career.

Both are practicing ahead of the Peach Bowl despite being in the transfer portal, and Dillingham couldn’t be happier to include them.

“I think all of it is just a place where people want to be, and they like each other,” Dillingham said. “Everybody says you can’t build culture anymore — you’re building teams. I may be old school and I may be stuck in my ways, even though I’m young, but I still believe that culture is important.

“I still believe trying to retain your roster, and keep your roster, and keep the guys on your roster happy is still important, and I still believe in all those old school principles.”

What better way to build a strong culture than show the student athletes you truly care about them?

It’s Not About the Best Players, It’s About the Right Ones

Dillingham is in the middle of a balancing act, preparing his team for the College Football Playoff while also recruiting through the transfer portal. The Sun Devils have already addressed a few needs, receiving commitments from kicker Jesus Gomez and wide receiver Noble Johnson, and more will certainly follow as the weeks wear on.

True to form, the Sun Devils aren’t just looking for the players with the most talent. It’s about commitment, attitude and even a little bit of personality.

“If you’re a good kid, if you’re super competitive and you love ball, that’s our style,” Dillingham said. “People that had positive attitudes, or just smiles about them, and talking to them wasn’t miserable … At the end of the day, these coaches and these players, we’re around each other so much, if you don’t genuinely like being around someone, it’s going to be horrible to be around that dude for that amount of time.”

Sometimes that even means turning away top talent.

“The hardest thing in this process is seeing really good players and saying no,” Dillingham said. “If you have the physical skillset to play, and you may be two or three notches below someone above you but we know you’re wired right, I definitely want that guy that’s wired right.”

Keep That Motor Runnin’

Despite all of the accolades this season, and despite proving just about every talking head wrong within the college football landscape, Dillingham isn’t content with what the team has accomplished this season.

His expectation is that ASU players follow suit.

“If you’re satisfied when you have a chance to be one of eight teams left in a sport that started with over 130, and you’re like, ‘Oh, well, we made it,’ golly, that would be disappointing,” Dillingham said. “I think we’re different than that.”

The coach is as genuine as he is talented, and that he’s a local product bringing his alma mater to national prominence makes the story all the more sweeter. But, in typical fashion, Dillingham deflects any attention from himself to the student athletes, which is honestly what any good coach would (and should) do.

But in this day and age of “Coach Prime,” top-dollar NIL offers and the transfer portal, that attitude becomes more and more difficult to find.

Not in Tempe.

“The majority of our guys, if not everyone out here, truly want to be here,” Dillingham said. “If a situation happens where they can’t be here because of A,B,C, I get it. Everybody has their own life. You have to do whatever is best for yourself and whatever can get you where you want to go, but I’m just happy everybody is out here today.”

His players have left no doubt that they’re happy to be out there, as well.

ICYMI:
How Dillingham and his staff built a College Football Playoff team in just two seasons
A message to Sun Devils fans after an unexpected Big 12 title: Just Enjoy the moment
Full PHNX Sun Devils Coverage

🧢 TIP OF THE HAT BY BRANDED BILLS
Congrats to the Arizona Wildcats women’s volleyball team, which finished the season with 11 straight wins en route to the NIVC championship. The atmosphere in Tucson was electric, and they set the stage for great things to come in the future.