Kenny Dillingham addresses coaching rumors, says Jake Fette is starter
· Yahoo Sports
It’s that time of year again — Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham is being connected to coaching rumors. This time, it’s a place he knows well: Tallahassee.
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With Florida State firing Mike Norvell on Nov. 1, the coaching carousel is starting to fly again, and Dillingham is firmly planted on it. It’s not the first time. It was Michigan in 2025, which directly led to a lucrative contract extension for Dillingham. When asked about the Florida State opening, Dillingham addressed it, but did not directly squash it.
“We’ve done this before,” Dillingham said with a smile and slight chuckle at his weekly Monday press conference on Nov. 2.
“I’m trying to find a way to beat Colorado," he said. "This is a team that people don’t talk about enough, in my opinion. They’ve been in every single football game. They’ve had leads in almost every single football game. They stop the run at a high rate. They’re explosive on offense. This is a good football team. I’m 100% of the mindset: ‘Let’s go play our best football game versus Colorado.”
Later, when asked about the possibility of a reunion with Norvell — who gave a young Dillingham his first opportunity in college football — in Tempe, Dillingham indicated he did not see that happening.
“Probably not going to happen," Dillingham said. "He’s not going to come back here. He’s going to have a lot of opportunities to go be a head coach somewhere. I’m rooting for him.”
—Logan Stanley
Fette likely to remain starter
After getting his first start against BYU, it looks like freshman quarterback Jake Fette is going to remain the starter for the Sun Devils moving forward.
When asked who the starting quarterback is, Dillingham gave a straightforward answer.
“I think right now you gotta say it’s Jake Fette,” Dillingham said. “I think he’s earned it. Mikey’s (Keene) working his way back. But I think Jake played really, really well in the second half, especially for a freshman on the road in that environment. To really take command, the way he played in the second half, was of a veteran. That gave me a lot of hope.”
Dillingham liked how Fette communicated on the sideline by quickly and accurately identifying his mistakes and taking ownership.
Fette struggled in the first half against BYU under heavy pressure, completing 9-of-18 passes for 47 yards while being sacked six times.
The second half was much improved for Fette, going 7-of-14 for 61 yards and two touchdowns. Notably, Fette was sacked zero times in the second half.
“Even with how he just managed the football game was confident,” Dillingham said. “There was one time I had to burn a timeout. But other than that, procedurally he was clean. He motioned. He made checks. He was aware of the clock. All those things give people confidence.”
—Logan Stanley
ASU back to its brand of football
After the London trip to play Kansas, ASU seemed to lose its identity as a team. There was an apparent lack of passion and “juice” among the players, which factored into the two blowout losses to Baylor (55-19) and Texas Tech (53-25).
While ASU came up on the losing end against BYU — the game was tied entering the fourth quarter — Dillingham believes the team has discovered itself again.
“They're playing ASU football again, and I don't know how we lost that for three weeks,” Dillingham said after the loss to BYU on Oct. 31.
Dillingham again doubled down on those comments.
When asked about how he disciplines (in reference to a late third-quarter unsportsmanlike penalty from Isaiah Iosefa), Dillingham said that play in question isn’t one where he’s going to penalize the player. Iosefa was celebrating with teammates after the play, but was called for a penalty with a BYU player underneath him while celebrating.
“That emotion and passion we’re seeing again is Sun Devil football,” Dillingham said. “I’m not going to take that out of our players. We just have to be able to harness it differently. Take that same celebration with your six teammates that are all around you and just do it eight yards away. That simple.”
The team is inching near to where Dillingham wants it to be.
Earlier this season, Dillingham said he was still searching for who this team was and what makes them tick.
“I think the way we’re playing the last two games, even though we didn’t win, we’re playing way closer to the identity I want our teams to have,” said Dillingham.
—Logan Stanley
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kenny Dillingham addresses coaching rumors, says Jake Fette is starter