TEMPE, Ariz. — It's safe to say it has been a very busy almost two months for Arizona State head football coach Kenny Dillingham and his staff.
Since the Sun Devils' season ended with a loss to archrival Arizona in the Territorial Cup, the Sun Devils have hit the recruiting trail hard, bringing in 17 recruits and 22 transfers.
When speaking with the media on Friday, Dillingham said unlike last year, when his brand new staff was just trying to get a team on the field, this year has been all about filling in the needs of his team, specifically size, speed and depth.
"So last year, it was just like put food on the table," Dillingham said. "This year is like no, we have a starch, right? We need a vegetable, right? That's how I'd say the difference is."
Dillingham has become known for his metaphors, like comparing ASU's offensive struggles this past season to putting truffles on french fries, but the dinner plate metaphor was just the first way that Dillingham described recruiting in the transfer portal era on Friday.
"We were filling in the cracks rather than laying the cement, right," Dillingham said. "Say this is like round two of painting a wall. Anybody can go and paint the wall once, it ain't gonna be good. You better go and paint it a second time and get all the lines cleaned up and then a third time and that's kind of how recruiting works-- you're not always going to hit on a guy. You're gonna miss. Everybody's human, right? And when you paint and you miss, you gotta go back and paint over it."
Their transfer class, which is ranked 17th in the nation and third in the Big XII by 247Sports, includes the player voted as San Diego State's 2023 team MVP (linebacker Zyrus Fiaseu), a former Arizona Wildcat (defensive lineman Jacob Kongaika), a quarterback to compete with Jaden Rashada (Sam Leavitt) and a cornerback who came home after a year away (former Basha Bear Cole Martin).
Players like these, Dillingham said, will help him raise the standard for his program and take a step forward as ASU looks to accomplish their offseason mission — winning — after back-to-back 3-9 seasons.
"You've either eventually got to change and take the lumps early, or you've got to adapt over a slower period of time," Dillingham said. "I'd rather get hit on the chin in year one than have it linger longer."
Dillingham also told reporters he takes an honest approach when it comes to recruits and his players. When he's on the recruiting trail, Dillingham doesn't make promises, which he hopes helps build trust in him and his staff.
"I think in this process there's so many lies, there's so many false promises," Dillingham said. "There's so much BS that goes into it. The brutal truth, the brutal honesty, I think that helps. I think the guys trust me when I say things are going to change, things are gonna get better where we're going. I think they trust that. And then, to be honest, who wants to leave Tempe, Arizona?"
"People move here to retire," Dillingham added. "So when a kid from somewhere in the country moves here, he trusts his coaching staff. He knows he's getting better. He knows the growth's gonna be there. It's like, man, who has it better than me? and I think that's really what we can create here is the environment of, 'Man, why would I want to leave?'"
The second-year head coach made special note of the addition of Martin, a four-star cornerback who spent the last year with the Oregon Ducks before entering the transfer portal and coming home. Martin is just the latest Sun Devil to transfer home as Dillingham signed six players from the Valley out of the portal in 2023. But, he hopes that the trend changes.
"I think the more people like (Martin) that come home and the more people like that come home and have success, I think the more times eventually people won't have to go away to come back," Dillingham said. "I think that's the one advantage of the transfer portal is there's not much grass greener than Tempe, Arizona, right?
"You leave and the transfer portal allows you to realize that and come back," Dillingham continued. "And all I want is the ability to get those elite players back on our roster if they do leave and come back. And then hopefully some of those elites skip that step, just come here right out of it."
However, Dillingham did say he does have limits when it comes to the transfer portal, as he hopes that he does not have to bring in many players when the portal reopens in the spring.
"The portal is real," Dillingham said. "You're gonna have more roster transition than ever. You can't hide from that. But, I want to bring those guys in in the winter so our guys can feel each other, meet each other, get to know each other throughout all winter, all spring. And then we add a few, you know, sprinkles in there and the gets to know 10 guys, 12 guys, 15 guys like it used to be in that summer/post-spring cycle."
Arizona sports
The city of Phoenix is home to five major professional sports league teams; The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, NBA's Phoenix Suns, WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks and NHL's Arizona Coyotes.
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. The Coyotes play at Mullett Arena on ASU's Tempe campus.
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 on a yearly basis, 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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