When Kenny Dillingham took over a bruised Arizona State after 2022, one of his first calls catered to his coaching staff. The ASU head coach decided to hire O-line coach Saga Tuitele. Dillingham’s decision is paying dividends three seasons later on the NFL stage. Tuitele shone this week in Mobile on Day 2 of practices at the 2026 Senior Bowl, wrapped under clear skies.

ASU OT Max Iheanachor looked comfortable early against NFL-caliber rushers. Then came the rep everyone started talking about. He locked up with Michigan edge rusher Derrick Moore, and the two exchanged a few aggressive swings before teammates pulled them apart. That moment was a collision of two draft paths moving fast in opposite directions. And the Sun Devils’ head coach wasted no time framing what people were seeing. 

“Didn’t play football in HS!” Kenny Dillingham wrote on X on January 28, sharing the clip himself and tagging both Max Iheanachor and Saga Tuitele. “Went JUCO was new to football, worked his but off the last 3 years! Now he is getting drafted!”

Max Iheanachor looks like an NFL tackle before you even turn on the tape. He’s 6’6, 330 pounds, with 34.25-inch arms. His strength jumps out immediately, but the intrigue deepens once you understand the timeline. 

Born and raised in Nigeria, Max Iheanachor didn’t move to the United States until he was 13 years old. Football wasn’t a priority at that point in his life. In fact, Iheanachor didn’t play at all until his freshman year at East Los Angeles College. He had no high school reps nor youth pipeline, just raw size, coordination, and a steep learning curve that flattened quickly. 

Max Iheanachor earned a roster spot at the JUCO level, transferred to Arizona State in 2023, and hasn’t stopped playing since. He’s logged over 2,100 snaps for the Sun Devils, becoming a fixture on the right side during the 2024 and 2025 seasons. When ASU made its Big 12 title run two years ago, he was a major reason QB Sam Leavitt stayed upright.

On the field, Max Iheanachor is smoother than most linemen with triple his football experience. The 22-year-old’s footwork allows him to mirror speed without having to panic. In fact, Iheanachor rarely looks rushed. His punch timing appeared to be more advanced for a player who’s only been playing for five years, often disrupting a rusher’s momentum before the rep fully develops. The offensive lineman’s skills were on display against Texas Tech this past season, where he held his own against David Bailey and Romello Height and arguably produced his best tape of the year.

Today’s scuffle also highlighted the other side of the matchup. Derrick Moore has been one of the biggest risers at the Senior Bowl so far. He collapsed pockets with a powerful bull rush, set firm edges in run defense, and turned heads with his ability to convert speed into power. He missed just three tackles last season and elevated his production in 2025 after modest sack totals in previous years.

Max Iheanachor can still add functional power. His hands don’t always jolt on contact, and he lacks a consistent nasty streak in the run game. But the baseline is strong, and the growth is clear. In the right system, his ceiling is higher than his current draft slot suggests. 

A bigger picture for Kenny Dillingham’s Arizona State

With Max Iheanachor moving to the NFL, Arizona State is set to replace at least three starting O-linemen in 2026. Kenny Dillingham and his staff are already leaning back into the JUCO pipeline, landing 6’8 tackle Jarmaine Mitchell, who flipped from Georgia. This pursuit and acquisition show the program’s confidence in development.

Fourteen Sun Devils have declared for the draft, including Raleek Brown, Keith Abney II, Jordyn Tyson, and Chamon Metayer. Arizona State hasn’t had a first-round pick since Brandon Aiyuk in 2020, and hasn’t placed two in the first round since 2001. Yet recent mocks have Tyson going No. 6 to Cleveland and Abney II sneaking into the first round at No. 32. 

That kind of momentum doesn’t happen without proof points. Max Iheanachor’s Senior Bowl moment, heated exchange and all, was one of them. April 23 will tell the rest of the story.