By Mark Pszonak
The winter of 2022 was a busy and exciting time for new head coaching hires in the college football world. Two of these were Deion Sanders at Colorado and Kenny Dillingham at Arizona State. Two seasons into their current tenures, it is time to take a look at how both have done and what their trajectories are.
Deion Sanders
Hired on December 3, 2022, Coach Sanders arrived in Boulder with more fanfare than almost any head coaching hire during this century. And that was part of the reason that Colorado made the hire. The program was stagnant, irrelevant and had gone a combined 24-42 during the previous six seasons. Coach Sanders was brought in to win, but also to bring some juice to a program that had seemingly lost its way.
And he has accomplished that. After a fast start during his first season, the Buffs finished a disappointing 4-8. The production on the field was not what anyone in Boulder was hoping for, but Colorado was back on the national radar. But how long would that last if the losses continued? Luckily for Colorado, they wouldn’t have to find out because the Buffs finished 9-4 in 2024 and made only their third bowl game since 2007. While Coach Sanders’ combined 13-12 record isn’t eye-opening, he has turned the page of the program to a positive direction.
Kenny Dillingam
Hired on November 27, 2022, Coach Dillingham returned to Arizona State with much less fanfare than Coach Sanders did in Colorado. After starting his collegiate coaching career at the age of 21 with the Sun Devils, after graduating from Tempe, he then coached at Memphis, Auburn, Florida State and Oregon before returning to Arizona State at the age of 32. While he was considered by many to be an exciting up-and-coming coach, expectations were rather limited due to this being his first head coaching job.
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And those expectations remained limited after the Sun Devils produced a 3-9 record during his first season back in Tempe. However, everything then quickly changed when Arizona State became one of the biggest surprises of the 2024 season by finishing 11-3 and earning a spot in the first 12-team Playoffs. As with Coach Sanders, Coach Dillingham’s overall 14-12 record may not impress, but he managed to make the program relevant very quickly.
Conclusion
If you were to hire a head coach tomorrow, would you rather have Coach Sanders or Coach Dillingham running the show? There are some interesting similarities between the two, especially since they were hired a week apart in 2022 and struggled in 2023 before quickly proving their abilities in 2024. Also, 2025 is a huge season for both. For Coach Sanders, how will he perform without his son, Shedeur Sanders, at quarterback and his Heisman Trophy winning utility knife, Travis Hunter. Both are almost impossible to replace, so what will the team look like this fall? For Coach Dillingham, he needs to show everyone that 2024 wasn’t a one-hit-wonder. One of the toughest things to do in college sports is to establish a winning culture and to keep it in place. Unlike Coach Sanders, Coach Dillingham does have the luxury of a returning quarterback, Sam Leavitt, but he will also have to deal with expectations that come with that.
Both coaches are avid users of the transfer portal. Coach Sanders has gained more publicity for this, but Coach Dillingham also isn’t bashful. So, if either coach was starting at a new school tomorrow, that would be his plan of attack to try and quickly strengthen the roster. Aside from that, overall coaching experience goes in favor of Coach Dillingham, which is interesting considering he is only 34 years old. While it wasn’t as a head coach, his time at top programs like Florida State, Oregon and Auburn as an offensive coordinator have already proven to be invaluable. Coach Sanders brings other intangibles to the table, but overall Coach Dillingham’s additional time at top programs would make him my choice between the two. Either way, this imaginary program should be very happy to have a choice like this.
