Is George in today?

Oh ho! Neneva, what's the capital of Alaska? Juneau? Juneau know the capital of Alaska? Juneau know the capital of Alaska? Capital of Alaska is Juneau.

That was on my son's pre-K card.

Group progression.

We're doing a great job, ball and all.

I know it's really weird and uncomfortable.

It makes absolutely no sense.

No.

I thought really poised good day from cutter bully You know just efficiency wise but you know You obviously want to see some some more playmaking there now that they're gonna be heading back to the valley the team will have Sunday off They'll resume practice on Monday and Tuesday and then Wednesday evening for a day off on Thursday for the first day of classes and we'll see if maybe Kenny's ready to name a starter in that quarterback race and after practice had a chance to talk to Kenny Dillingham and some players and So first up, let's get the thoughts of the head coach and the head man himself, Kane Dillingham.

Yeah, it was a good scrimmage, situational football.

Defense destroyed the offense in the red zone area.

Offense moved the ball really well, really efficiently.

Just couldn't score when they got in the low red zone.

And the opportunities where they could have created explosive plays, defense got them down.

A couple one-on-one tackles, Skoran made an awesome one-on-one tackle, saved the touchdown.

this team at

shows should fans expect on Saturday?

Hopefully a fun one.

Hopefully our guys are playing hard.

Hopefully they're flying around.

Hopefully you can feel the energy.

So I think that's what the I tell our guys, I don't want talent to define our football team.

You never define the best teams as like, man, that was the most talented team.

Are you happy with how they responded and how you want them to respond and stuff

favorite part about bringing the guys up here?

just hanging out with everybody and you're just trapped with everybody you're all kind of in misery together and you got to find a way how to enjoy how to enjoy it i mean we are we are just joking around i was talking to all the staff and uh talking to some players like has there ever been a place you stayed that had worse living arrangements than here and there has not been an answer other than no right like it's just this is stuck 40 years old it's Hasn't changed since Vince Amy was in here.

Actually, I think they added a bunk.

So instead of a double, there's a triple now.

Bunked somewhere.

But it is as old school and as from a living arrangements, you know, as bad as it can get.

But from a culture...

How are you hoping some of your guys old and new will grow over the next couple of days?

And then to follow up real quick, obviously, how many times do people say activate the balance? And then do you remember, I couldn't remember, was that an ad lib or did you have that on notes to say?

I never do notes, so I can't read a presentation like that.

I can't read in public.

That's not my strength.

So definitely an ad lib from that perspective and a lot, which is a good thing.

I mean, it's a little like goofy now, right? Because now people say it so much, it's kind of funny, right? But it's a good thing.

Like, even though it's quirky and weird, people have rallied behind it.

What kind of was your evaluation before spring and maybe meetings in the summer or something like that about how they all meshed together and the opportunity to kind of use maybe a couple of them in various ways this season?

And then when did Cutter Boley kind of get on your radar? And what's that relationship been like? And what do you like about his game?

Yeah, so I'll start with Mikey, because you mentioned him first.

I remember Mikey, Arizona high school kid, always a productive player, always produced more than everybody thought he could around him.

He was always an overachiever.

And then we face him year one at Arizona State as a head coach.

We play him, and he just torches us.

We lose by like 28 points.

So I guess what's the approach here?

So as you had to rebuild the roster this off-season, what was your approach to it? How did you, what did you tackle first?

I wanted to get our kind of guys.

I wanted to get guys that were driven, had a little bit of a chip on their shoulder, uh, in some way, shape, or form, guys that would fit in the culture and, uh, that love football.

And then obviously the talent level is the talent level, right? We wanna continue to get bigger.

Uh, so I think this is the, the biggest team we've had, uh, by design, uh, because we wanted to get bigger, and we wanted to get guys that love football, uh, that, uh, you know, really fit our core values of who we are, and I think we accomplished that for the most part.

So our guys are coming together, and like I said, we're a bigger football team.

Um, but just sort of like what to expect when, when you guys play week one.

Yeah.

What do you think the biggest challenges are as the head coach of ASU of making sure that doesn't happen?

Yeah, I would say the race that it's becoming, it's getting a bigger gap in terms of like the financial race of this thing is getting steeper and steeper and steeper.

So I think you got to be willing to continue to get involved and find creative ways to stay involved, to be competitive, you know, just like, you know, Major League Baseball.

You know, it's the same thought process there is, you have to be willing to invest at a high level in order to stay near the top.

And you don't have to be the top, but you got to be somewhere in the game so you can compete with the top if you want to get there.

So I would just think really that, and then hopefully creating something that people feel like you add value to them.

Like if they come to your program, they can become a better person, they can become a better player, and they can leave having more value.

Where do you think that line is?

And I'm curious, what is the key to developing a good quarterback?

I think you gotta understand them as a person.

I think you gotta understand, like, why the way...

Why do they throw the ball downfield when they shouldn't? Why do they turn it over? Uh, why don't they throw the ball quick game? Why do they like to scramble? I think you gotta understand, like, oh, well this guy's a perfectionist.

If it's not perfect, he's the guy who turns his toothbrush.

Well, if it's not the perfect thing that he...

It's exactly right, and he's athletic, he's been making athletic plays his whole life.

But do you think that making significant inroads there can really send the message to Texas, to California of what we're doing? We're gonna get the local kids too in addition to these other guys and bring them all together.

Over the past two years, how important is it to keep the momentum in the right direction?

Yeah, I think you just got to show that you're going to be competitive.

I think when people look at a football game, when they watch a game, they want to watch fun.

They want to watch exciting.

They want to watch people who care.

They want to watch discipline, right? They don't want to watch a game and you have 19 false starts, right? They want to watch a game where the guys are giving everything they have, right? They can see the passion.

They can see the discipline.

Do you feel that culture is maybe the stabilizing force that can negate some of that?

And I'm curious, what is the key to developing a good quarterback?

I think you gotta understand them as a person.

I think you gotta understand, like, why the way...

Why do they throw the ball downfield when they shouldn't? Why do they turn it over? Uh, why don't they throw the ball, quick game? Why do they like to scramble? I think you gotta understand, like, oh, well, this guy is a perfectionist.

If it's not perfect, he's the guy who turns his toothbrush.

Well, if it's not the perfect thing that he...

It's exactly right and he's athletic, he's been making athletic plays his whole life.

But do you think that making significant inroads there can really send the message to Texas, to California, of what we're doing? We're gonna get the local kids too, in addition to these other guys, and bring them all together.

How have you seen yourself improve and grow over the last almost half a decade now of being the head coach at Arizona State?

Yeah.

I think you just learn from your mistakes, which is such a simple thing to say.

But, like, all right, these were the issues last year.

These are the problems we had.

How do we prevent this from happening again? Okay, we had a really veteran team last year.

Okay, we got banged up.

Kenny, before we get out- get you out of here, what would your message be to- to Sun Devil Nation ahead of a 2026 season where there is obviously a lot of excitement, again, just to- to get out to- to Mountain America Stadium?

And how do you, like, what are you looking for in that to understand how competitive they might be?

One, when they practice, like when our guys go on the road or they're competitive, do they want to compete when they're on campus in different things? Do they want to play you in a video game? Do they want to play pool? Do they want to play ping pong? Do they want to compete? Do they want to play bags? There's so many ways that you could figure out if a kid's competitive.

So is a kid competitive? Is he a good person? And to me, we have three core values.

Be a good person, make good decisions, and have more fun working harder than anybody in the country.

being a good person is a minimum standard, right? Making good decisions should be a minimum standard.

Are guys going to make their bad decision as well? Yeah, nobody's perfect.

I'm not perfect.

As the CEO of a program, because that's what a football coach is now, how do you delegate? How do you figure out how much time to spend on certain things? How do you know how to get deep into the minutia while not? And then how much do you spend on offense versus how much do you spend on defense? Do you try to do equal? I'm just curious about that.

Why did you want to bring him into the building, and then what's it like having him on the staff?

Well, one, if you have the ability to bring him into the building, how could you not? Right? I know there's other...

You know, he's been wanting to get into coaching, and he's had his, his own path, right? But, like, how can you say no to somebody who played the game the way he played it with that much passion? You know, he's been good at everything he's ever done.

So, I mean, for me, it was a, a combination of this guy wants to coach, this guy...

The way this guy played the game was the style of play that I want the identity of our football team to be in terms of just the passion and the physicality behind it.

Um, I, that's what I want our football team to be.

So when we had the opportunity to hire him, it's a no-brainer to bring a guy in who's been there, who's done that.

Has anybody stepped up and scratched the big check or checks that you were looking for?

Can you talk about, like, why ASU is your dream job, and if you, you know, if you're, if you're saying that and not planning on going anywhere else, uh, speak a little bit on that.

Yeah, so obviously I'm born and raised here.

I grew up going to games.

Uh, you know, my, my family moved out here, my parents, when they were, you know, 50 years ago.

My wife's born and raised here.

We were neighbors in high school.

So, uh, I grew up rooting for Arizona State.

(laughs)

Um, when you have a young quarterback and you're building that culture, and now you're a winning culture, what are the steps for Sam Levitt? Productive, doesn't make a ton of mistakes? Um, do you, do you lighten the leash up a little bit? Do you let him do more? Like, like what's the growth for a young quarterback at the college level? Can you open up the playbook, or did you use all of it last year?

Yeah, I think, uh, no, we grew as the season progressed, so I think a big reason for our success was we opened that playbook up gradually throughout the season.

Uh, as Sam got better, Sam got more comfortable, JT.

I mean, there's multiple players that, that went into it, but obviously your quarterback's a big piece.

And, uh, I think this year it's gonna be, how do we control early downs? I think the biggest sign of a quarterback is if you lean on him controlling early down quick passing game.

If your quarterback can take control of first and second down and rhythm passing game, and you have enough confidence in him, that's when a quarterback really takes control, that's when he can really grow into become a Heisman-level player.

So I think for him this year, it's taking control of the early downs and putting the ball in his hands more on good down and distances, uh, earlier in games and on early downs.

(laughs)

Um, when you have a young quarterback and you're building that culture, and now you're a winning culture, what are the steps for Sam Levitt? Productive, doesn't make a ton of mistakes, um, do you, do you lighten the leash up a little bit? Do you let him do more? Like, like what's the growth for a young quarterback at the college level? Can you open up the playbook, or did you use all of it last year?

Yeah, I think, uh, no, we grew as the season progressed, so I think a big reason for our success was we opened that playbook up gradually throughout the season, uh, as Sam got better, Sam got more comfortable, JT.

I mean, there was multiple players that, that went into it, but obviously your quarterback's a big piece.

And, uh, I think this year, it's gonna be, how do we control early downs? I think the biggest sign of a quarterback is if you lean on him controlling early down quick passing game.

If your quarterback can take control of first and second down and rhythm passing game, and you have enough confidence in him, that's when a quarterback really takes control, that's when he can really grow and become a Heisman level player.

So I think for him this year, it's taking control of the early downs and putting the ball in his hands more on good down and distances, uh, earlier in games and on early downs.

(laughs)

Uh, I don't know if that sentence makes sense.

What do you expect to happen tonight between Texas and Ohio State?

I haven't watched enough Ohio State to give a really, really good opinion.

I know Texas is going to be really good on defense.

I know they're not going to give up big plays.

So I think the key to Ohio State, I think the key to the game is how do you stop Ohio State and one of the best wide receivers in college football in a long time? And you can't just double-team them because Ohio State's too good to do that.

So what are you doing to get the quarterback to think he's double-teamed Move his eyes off of him, but him really be singled out.

And I think that's one of the hidden things in the game is the deception of him being doubled.

Well, like, is there a cutoff point of what they're allowed to do and say? Like, do they have total autonomy here?