Kenny Dillingham addresses the media after signing day

TEMPE, Ariz. — Early signing day has come and gone for high school football players. A chance to sign their letters of intent to go and play college football at their selected institution. This was also the first signing day for the second recruiting class of the Kenny Dillingham era.

ASU had a good signing day yesterday ranking in the top half of the BIG 12 and top 40 nationally.

For a first-year head coach in Dillingham, it is a nice accomplishment to get your tenure started.

Here is what Dillingham had to say during the press conference.

How did the class pan out for Arizona State football and Kenny Dillingham

Dillingham started out by talking about each position group that he recruited and how he feels the team is shaped.

Recruiting size: “I thought our class we got bigger up front and we got longer in the back end. Linebacker included, and I think that was one of our goals, was to become a bigger defense and a bigger offense. We need to become a bigger team. The games that really got out of control for us, were when we faced size. So we tried to attack that to clean that up…… We still have to address the tackle position. You know, we signed one tackle but we got to get more tackles in this next class and this next two and a half weeks.”

Tight end: “At tight end, I think we got bigger and we wanted guys who could put their hand in the dirt and block somebody and then be a threat in the vertical play action. And then we also got a guy who can flex out and kind of be a hybrid wideout. So I think we got the best of both worlds there. I think we have some speed on the roster so we were really just getting the best available there.”

The defense

Defensive line: “D-line obviously we gotta continue to get bigger. That’s one thing, Ramar is going to be a gigantic kid, gigantic guy. he’s still growing into his body, but that’s gotta be something we continue to address is the size.”

Edge: “Our edge guys are very, very athletic. That was something I was very pleased with, was the athleticism we signed at edge. The ability to make an impact as a freshman on the edge on third down sub packages is there. I think they are both crazy explosive the linebackers are signed, you know, one and then a couple from the portal, but we wanted to get speed and athleticism. We will need to sign one guy who’s a little bit bigger.”

Defensive backs: “And then the back end I think the back end was phenomenal how we recruited the back tend size, the speed, the length and the work ethic of those guys. The effect that they are all showing up early do not be shocked to see a wave of some of these young guys play for us in the back end early on.”

Overall, Dillingham is thrilled with the class that has been put together for the 2024 cycle.

What he thinks about when his best classes should be coming

One thing that Dillingham did mention is when he thinks he should begin to get elite classes for his program. Year one is obviously not going to be a good year for any new coach coming in.

Some say that year two is when the real talent starts to come into a program, but Dillingham thinks otherwise.

“If you’re a good recruiter, it’s not a one-year process,” Dillingham explained. “It’s a two to three-year process. So your best class should not be year one, it should not be year two, it should actually be years three and four.”

Dillingham believes that you have to slowly build relationships with kids down the line to get a feel if they are the right fit for your program.

He has preached about relationships time and time again and it is beginning to come to fruition.

The standard of what recruiting should be at Arizona State

One of the things that Dillingham said he wanted in future recruiting was to be towards the top of the conference each year.

He feels it is obtainable with the kids in the state and his connections to kids from other states.

“We should be a top two, top three team, recruiting in this league, Dillingham emphasized. “I don’t think we did a great job, I thought we did an average job. I don’t know exactly where we finished up, but I think it was the top half. Like that’s the standard is I want to finish one through three.”

The bar has been set by Dillingham so down the road we will see if that truly is obtainable or not.

Impact of Bryan Carrington 

One of the main positions that Dillingham and company wanted to clean up was the secondary whether it be corners or safeties.

Defensive backs coach Bryan Carrington has been ranked as one of the best recruiters in the Big 12 and it showed this year. Notably, Carrington was able to recruit Kamari Wilson and LaTerrance Welch from the SEC to come and help with their back-end presence.

Dillingham noted how much he loves and appreciates Carrington and the work he is doing.

“Yeah, he’s a stud,” Dillingham praised. “He’s an elite relationship builder. He’s a really good person and he’s elite with people. He understands people. He motivates people… I think coaching and recruiting correlate together because at the end of the day, recruiting is building trust and building relationships to get somebody to trust to come play for you. Coaching is building trust and building relationships to get somebody to go play hard for you and listen to you. So I think his same traits that make him a good recruiter are going to make him get better and better as a football coach. He’s a game changer for us.”

Dillingham’s approach to in-state recruiting

Since Dillingham got the job at Arizona State the most important thing besides relationships he preached was keeping kids in state. Arizona is full of immense talent and if ASU wants to compete for conference titles they are going to have to recruit in-state.

The best teams have taken a majority of their kids from in-state and Dillingham knows that from his previous spots.

“Yeah I always knew it takes two years,” Dillingham said. “I wasn’t concerned I mean we did everything we could. I think we sent the whole staff to go see a specific prospect in the state just to show our commitment to the state, to the whole team. But I knew year one, you only have one year to build a relationship and it’s harder to do that with an in-state kid. So year two, we’ve been on these guys for almost two years now… I anticipate us making a few splashes with the top dudes in the state this year. That’s it, I hope for it. That’s what my expectation is. And if we don’t, I failed when it comes to recruiting in-state then we will have to reevaluate. I am pouring everything I can into this state, into recruiting the state.”

Overall, it seems Dillingham is very pleased with the class he has put together and those who will be on campus in just a few short weeks.

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