TEMPE, Ariz. — Ahead of Saturday's major matchup with the BYU Cougars, Arizona State signed offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo and defensive coordinator Brian Ward to three-year contract extensions, according to multiple reports.
This comes as the 8-2 Sun Devils are in the midst of one of their best seasons since the turn of the century.
The extensions will pay Arroyo and Ward more than $1 million per year, according to reports from ESPN's Pete Thamel and SunDevilSource's Chris Karpman.
ASU has been one of the major stories of this college football season. After back-to-back 3-9 seasons and being picked by the media to finish dead last in their first year in the Big 12 Conference, head coach Kenny Dillingham and his staff have engineered one of the biggest turnarounds in recent memory.
Heading into Saturday's game against BYU, the Sun Devils were looking to finish undefeated at home for the first time since 2004 and were in the conversation for both the Big 12 Championship and a possible berth in the College Football Playoff.
Arroyo has played a major role in developing both redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt, who is now one of the top quarterbacks in the Big 12, and senior running back Cam Skattebo, who has become one of the best running backs in the nation since transferring to ASU from Sacramento State.
Ward, meanwhile has led a major turnaround on the defensive side of the ball. In 2023, the Sun Devils had the 109th-best defense in the nation and gave up an average of 31.8 points per game. This year, the Sun Devils have jumped up to the 52nd-best defense and have only given up 22.8 points per game.
Arroyo joined the Sun Devils in Dec. 2023, taking over as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Beau Baldwin, who was fired after the season. Arroyo has previously worked at UNLV, Oregon, Oklahoma State, Southern Mississippi, Cal, Wyoming, San Jose State and with the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Ward, who is originally from Glendale, joined Dillingham's staff in Dec. 2022, coming to the Valley after spending time as the defensive coordinator at Washington State. Ward has also worked at Nevada, Syracuse, Bowling Green, Western Illinois, Drake, McPherson College, Glendale Community College, Wabash College, Missouri Southern State and North Dakota State.
Arizona sports
The city of Phoenix is home to four major professional sports league teams; The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, NBA's Phoenix Suns, WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Cardinals have made State Farm Stadium in Glendale their home turf and the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix is home to both the Suns and the Mercury. The Indoor Football League’s Arizona Rattlers play at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale.
Phoenix also has a soccer team with the USL's Phoenix Rising FC, who play at Phoenix Rising FC Stadium in Phoenix.
The Valley hosts multiple major sporting events every year, including college football's Fiesta Bowl and Guaranteed Rate Bowl; the PGA Tour’s highest-attended event, the WM Phoenix Open; NASCAR events each spring and fall, including Championship Weekend in November; and Cactus League Spring Training for 15 Major League Baseball franchises.
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