Kenny Dillingham had served an UNO reverse on the Sun Devils haters. They were projected to finish last in the Big 12 in 2024. And the rest is history. Dillingham’s boys won the conference in their first year after moving from the Pac-12. Year three of the Dillingham era is coming with much intrigue. They have got a big source of motivational boost. 

But Dillingham chose to sip on the motivational juice that came from their 66-year-old tradition. Something that Arizona State linebacker and College Football Hall of Famer Bob Breunig linked to a military boot camp. That’s their Camp Tontozona. “It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” said Breunig, who went to Camp Tontozona three times between 1972-74. And that’s what Dillingham takes pride in. 

On August 5, right after the camp, the head coach faced the media. The clip was then shared on X by analyst Justin LaCertosa. “I love it. I love the camaraderie of it. That’s what it’s all about. That’s how you build a team, is you make memories,” Dillingham sounded all passionate with his voice filled with emotions. “My favorite photo, other than my wedding photo and my photo at my son’s birth, is the photo on the field with the entire team right before we sang the fight song with all the trees in the background. If you could sum up college football in a photo, it’s that image.” 

The camp was established in 1959 by Arizona State University’s legendary football coach Frank Kush. His main motive was to find a place for his team to train without any distractions and build unity in the Tonto National Forest. If there is any head coach other than Kush, to whom the Camp T and the annual trip to Payson mean a lot, it has to be Dillingham. After all, the tradition had been struck off the Sun Devils’ calendar since the turn of the century. 

Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and the three-year hiatus. But as soon as Dillingham took the seat, he ensured to make that Camp Tontozona happened every year of his stint at Arizona. The top of the mountain is now home to one of the new traditions since Dillingham took over. This camp featured multiple events that helped with team building. Last season, the players went halfway up the infamous Mount Kush before deciding to make the full hike as an entire group. There is also a tradition known as time capsules. In this season, Dillingham’s boys listed off goals in letters to their future selves. Out of them, 17 returning starters got lucky to open the capsules and read them. 

Along with team-building, Dillingham is able to derive his motivation from the smile they could put on the Arizona State fans’ faces, as the head coach shared, “It’s not just a football thing. This is an Arizona State thing; this is not just for our football team; this is for our fans. This is what they bring their kids to, this is what their dad, uncle, grandpa, mom, cousin used to bring them to.”

Amidst all these happy moments, Dillingham and Arizona State did get snubbed. However, the head coach did not allow it to ruin his mood.  

A classic Kenny Dillingham clapback after poll snub 

We have seen that Dillingham never had a problem in accepting criticism. Being self-aware, he has always kept room for self-improvement. Arizona State tight ends coach Jason Mohns exposed this character trait of Dillingham on the Speak of the Devils podcast. He shared, “He’s so humble and he asked things, ‘Hey, where can I get better and what can I do?’ And I just told him, like, ‘Hey listen, usually an employee doesn’t tell their boss they’re proud of him.’”

Mohns further continued, “He’s got no ego. I think that’s one of the things that allows him to be so successful in modern college football, the is that he doesn’t have 10 or 15 or 20 years of this is how I always did it and this is how I’m going to do it. He’s kind of learning on the fly as college football evolves.” And we have already seen the results. Dillingham was the one who dragged the Sun Devils out of the tunnel of darkness left by Herm Edwards. From a 3-9 overall record in 2023 to 11 victories and a top 10 finish last season. So, by now, Dillingham knows what he can bring to the table. But something tried to break his morale. On August 4, US LBM released its Coaches Poll preseason Top 25 ranking. 

In that list, Kenny Dillingham’s Arizona State leads five Big 12 teams in the ranking, beating Kansas State, Iowa State, BYU, and Texas Tech. But overall, they have been placed at No.11 in the entire country. Obviously, this was taken up during the media conference. Turns out that Dillingham is not quite bothered about the rankings. He replied with a grin on his face, “Polls are always accurate, so we should really lean into it.” When the head man sees the vision, the road to glory gets clearer.