Oklahoma State axed Mike Gundy on Tuesday, four days after a home loss to Tulsa became the latest in a series of embarrassing results.
The Cowboys are the first Big 12 school to execute an in-season termination since Arizona State fired Herm Edwards three years ago (almost to the day).
The Sun Devils were in the Pac-12 back then, and the circumstances were different — Edwards’ program was under NCAA investigation for recruiting violations — but the on-field product in Tempe in the fall of 2022 was, like the current team in Stillwater, second-rate.
So much has changed for the Sun Devils, who host undefeated No. 24 TCU on Friday night. In the 36 months since Edwards was cut loose, they have slogged through nine games with interim coach Shaun Aguano, hired a permanent coach in Kenny Dillingham, self-imposed a one-year bowl ban, been slapped with NCAA sanctions, overhauled the roster and the culture, risen from nowhere to win the Big 12, pushed Texas to the brink in the College Football Playoff and received the program’s highest preseason AP ranking in nearly three decades.
ASU’s trajectory shifted so rapidly and dramatically that in the span of 371 days, the Sun Devils lost to Arizona by 36 points and beat Arizona by 42 points.
Plot twists unfold at unprecedented speed in the era of the transfer portal and NIL. When the perfect head coach has been identified, nothing short of violating state law should prevent the university from doing what’s required to secure a long-haul deal.
And that’s exactly what ASU did with Dillingham: Athletic director Graham Rossini and president Michael Crow found a way to extend Dillingham’s contract beyond the five-year limit (for state university employees) imposed by the Arizona Board of Regents.
“I asked president Crow if there was a way for performance to unlock years,” Rossini told the Hotline before the season. “Could we include trigger components?”
Perfectly legal under the regental policy, Rossini’s plan was pieced together last fall as the Sun Devils churned toward the Big 12 title. Dillingham, who grew up in Phoenix and attended ASU, was in the second year of a five-year deal, and the university wanted to secure a long-term commitment.
Finalized last winter, the new deal also spans five years but features a rollover clause: For every season in which ASU wins at least six games, an extra year is added to Dillingham’s contract.
“We were realistic about what we could do and designed it around the thing that mattered most to Kenny,” Rossini said.
“He valued longevity, so it’s a competitive base with performance upside. Our approach with him was that not one size (i.e., maximum dollars) fits all.”
The performance triggers allow the contract to remain in place for 10 years — meaning Dillingham would be the longest-tenured coach in ASU history not named Frank Kush when it expires after the 2034 season.
And just to be clear: The money isn’t bad, either.
Dillingham is expected to earn $5.8 million this year, which puts him below Colorado’s Deion Sanders, Utah’s Kyle Whittingham and Kansas’ Lance Leipold within the Big 12’s salary hierarchy, according to the USA Today salary database. (Gundy would have been on the top tier, as well.)
It’s a hefty sum compared to the $3.9 million Dillingham collected when he took over the depleted program in the winter of 2023.
But given the return on ASU’s investment, we’d argue that Dillingham is underpaid in the same fashion any transformative head coach in major college football is underpaid.
Dillingham’s compensation doesn’t begin to match the benefits generated by ASU’s success last season.
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Although ticket revenue from 2024 won’t be publicly available until early next year, when Arizona State submits its FY2025 financial report to the NCAA, the cash generated is expected to dwarf the ticket revenue from the 2023 season ($11.6 million).
What’s more, the Sun Devils reportedly have 7,500 new season ticket holders this year and sold out their opener for the first time in nearly three decades.
A recent report by Cronkite News, part of ASU’s journalism school, examined how local businesses have benefitted from increased interest in the football program and soaring game-day attendance.
To those dollar signs, add eyeballs: 26.9 million viewers watched the Big 12 championship game victory over Iowa State and the College Football Playoff loss to Texas. Nothing else on campus generates as much visibility for ASU’s brand.
Winning football cascades through the university community like nothing else, with tens of millions of dollars flowing (directly and indirectly) from the success of the head coach.
Arizona State was fortunate that the contract framework favored by Dillingham (duration over dollars) also worked for the school.
Even if the Sun Devils don’t make an immediate return to the playoff, the five-year commitment to Dillingham with performance triggers and a 10-year window stands as a screaming deal.
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