Working hard since this offseason started, ASU football head coach Kenny Dillingham has recruited a plethora of players to construct the Sun Devils’ 2024 roster ahead of the program’s first season as a member of the Big 12 Conference.
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Since departing for the Pac-12 and joining the Big 12 along with Utah, Colorado and Arizona, ASU is one of 16 teams in the newly-expanded conference that provides a huge step up in talent and skill. Schools like Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, BYU and Texas Tech are just some of the other programs that make up the rest of the conference, setting up for an enticing season with a lot of twists and turns ahead.
When speaking on Tuesday at the 2024 Big 12 Football Media Days in Las Vegas, Dillingham is looking forward to playing new teams and seeing how the Sun Devils will match up against them.
“Super excited to be in the Big 12,” Dillingham said. “Excited to play in all of these unbelievable cities with the unbelievable atmospheres for our guys to play in. I think this is one of the best-coached conferences in the league. From top to bottom, I think every game is going to be a grind and I am really excited to be a part of it.”
While the skill level will be raised across the board, Arizona State is already anticipating a whole new world of offensive and defensive schemes that will test them going in. Known for being one of, if not, the most run-dominant conferences in college football, the Sun Devils will have to be alert and ready if they want to compete for the chance at a conference championship.
With new challenges that they will soon encounter this season, Dillingham emphasized that there will always be something new a team will present and ASU will have to be well-prepared to tackle those hurdles.
“This league probably has more diversity in terms of defensive scheme than any league I’ve ever been in,” Dillingham said. “Most leagues I’ve been in have one or two flavors, this league has a variety of different flavors, so you have to able to practice that throughout your fall camp and build that into your schedule so this first time your guys haven’t seen it is a week leading up to the game. I think that is one of the most fun parts from an offensive perspective. Defensively, this league has turned into smashmouth and you have to practice tough to be competitive in this league and that is something I hope our defense embraces what it takes to stop people in this league with all of the running backs.”
Building an identity at the forefront of ASU entering Big 12
After back-to-back seasons in which they finished a combined 6-18, ASU is focused on looking forward to the future and forgetting the past. ASU went 3-9, allowed 31.8 points per game and was blown out by 25-plus more times (4) than they won a game last season.
Being dealt with arguably the hardest schedule in the conference with upcoming matchups against all of the top five teams according to the Big 12 Media Preseason Poll, it will be interesting to see how Arizona State will handle the adversity and be able to win football games.
Even though Dillingham would say he wants to win every game possible, the way in which he can get there is by building a culture of grit and determination throughout the program with the right players who have the right mindset.
“For us, it is continuing to establish a culture of toughness,” Dillingham said. “I think that’s the No. 1 thing that if you watch this league and the teams that have continually won in this league and in college football is that they are tough. Training and teaching our kids how to respond to adversity during the good and the bad. Those are things we have been harping on for the last year, and those are things during fall camp that we will continue to preach.
“Success in our program is being the best you can be all the time at whatever you are doing,” Dillingham said. “We want to get better, we want to grow every single day. There is not a win total, there is not a goal like that, just be the very best that we can be at everything we do.”
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Reporter Alec Cipollini covers ASU Athletics, Phoenix Mercury and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini
