TEMPE – Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham was not always the intense and electric coach who has overhauled ASU’s football program and turned it into one of the top teams in the nation. At first he was a graduate assistant trying to get every order of coffee correct before returning to team meetings.
He was doing the dirty work, the work behind the scenes that’s often overlooked by outsiders. But to the program, these student and graduate assistants are essential pieces of the puzzle that goes into building a strong football environment.
That diligence is evident in coaches such as Oregon’s Dan Lanning. He was a graduate assistant at Arizona State and Alabama before landing a job as a position coach at Memphis. This journey eventually led Lanning to Oregon.
“I tried to work really hard, I spent a lot of nights up in the office,” Lanning said in an interview with Adam Breneman on YouTube. “It was a lot of sleepless nights, but you had to separate yourself somehow.”
In a similar journey, Dillingham began his college coaching career as a graduate assistant at Arizona State, and crossed paths with Lanning at Memphis. Dillingham was then an offensive coordinator at Auburn and Florida State before joining Lanning a second time at Oregon, each stop lasting one year. Dillingham, a Chaparral High School graduate, returned to Arizona when he was named head coach of the Sun Devils in November 2022, and since then he has activated the Valley in a way nobody expected.
Dillingham recently reflected on his duties as a graduate assistant, a decidedly unglamorous life.
“For me it was a grind… you want to be able to do everything. You get somewhere and they give you a tedious task because they don’t trust you,” Dillingham said. “The more trust you build in doing simple things like getting the coffee order right – our guys don’t get coffee for us but, when I was in this thing, guys got coffee for people, guys got orders for guys.”
Looking back, Dillingham found the level of trust could only be built with effort and trying to do even the smallest things in an elite way.
“If you couldn’t remember what was on their Subway sandwich they’re going to be like, ‘Are you dumb?’ We’ve only had it four weeks in a row?” Dillingham said, smiling. “For me it was how do I just do everything at a high level to build trust.”
Yes, even remembering who hated pickles or needed extra mayo proved to be key to Dillingham gaining the trust of coaches with whom he worked. That level of attention to detail eventually helped him become head of a Power Four program that last season won the Big 12 title in ASU’s conference debut.
The graduate assistants on Dillingham’s staff are also held to high standards.
Steve Miller, ASU’s strength and conditioning assistant, is a former graduate assistant on the rise within the Sun Devils’ camp. He was an offensive lineman for the Sun Devils in 2015, with Dillingham on staff, and joined ASU’s program as a full-time member in 2023. Miller has become one of the standout assistants on the Sun Devils coaching staff.
When Miller was searching for the next step in his coaching career after stops at Louisiana Lafayette and the University of Florida, the Gilbert native found coming home to be one of the most important factors in his decision.
“I enjoyed my time across the country, but this place is home and there’s no place like it,” Miller said. “Being back here is definitely something that was important for me.”
Miller’s primary focus is on strength and conditioning, constantly working with ASU players in the weight room. But at practice, he’s likely found bouncing around the southeast end zone of the Kajikawa Practice Fields, helping the offensive line get in its reps.
The former lineman naturally gravitates to help offensive line coach Saga Tuitele while he works with the group. Miller, in his signature beanie look, keeps the energy high while the trench crew puts in the work.
Tuitele recognizes the importance of the assistant coaches and staff.
“They’re professional, they’re really good at their job, and they prepare guys,” he said. “I know deep down those guys are gonna do whatever’s best for the team, so when you have guys like that who are on their way to be rock stars in this profession, the support staff becomes really good.”
Miller’s job is specified as the weight room, but his history as a lineman always shows at practice.
“He’s a natural O-lineman… he develops our guys, he cares a lot about our guys and he’s got a great relationship with them,” Tuitele said.
The biggest hurdle Miller says he has faced in his young career is relating to the even younger players he helps develop.
“Every day I use the same references to TV shows that I’ve watched and things like that and to hear some of these guys say they don’t know what I’m talking about is crazy,” he said. “I had somebody give me a hard time because I was born in 1996. They were like ‘Man you were born in the 1900s.’ I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’”
The long workouts and tough practices seem to only grow longer through the season, but Miller always finds the joy in teaching as a football coach.
“Football is a child’s game, so you have to have fun and have to be able to have fun while staying focused,” he said. “You hope those guys don’t make the same mistakes that you did and if they do you help them through it and walk them through it.”
As far as what Miller wants for his future, he chooses to stay in the moment.
“I just take it one day at a time if I’m being honest with you,” he said. “I am thoroughly grateful to be here and I just live where my feet are and take it one day at a time… but I’m trying to stay here as long as I can. This place is home.”
Defensive student assistant Kombo Chogugudza is now in his second year working with the Sun Devils football team, his first as an assistant. Previously, he was an equipment manager, and this year he is getting his chance to help with the defensive line.
“I work with our D-line coaches and take care of their day-to-day needs or whatever they need… I help set up drills, I help during pass rush drills, and sometimes I play as a running back or quarterback in drills,” Chogugudza said.
Chogugudza has seen first-hand the challenges in the coaching world, finding the grind of practice, meetings and games seemingly never ending. He has experienced some of the wild whirlwind of coaching while also balancing a busy class schedule. But Chogugudza still finds the drive to be a part of the team
“It opens your mind to the life of coaching.” he said. “Seeing the effort, time, and commitment it takes to be a college football coach. It’s definitely a grind and you have to make sacrifices…they do a great job of making sure I can still do all my school work.”
The impact of the assistant staff makes waves throughout the program, and coaches at every level can feel it. Offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo enjoys having a strong group of assistants to keep things together through the season.
“We’ve got an amazing group of young assistants, coaches, student assistants and analysts that allow your football team to move everything,” Arroyo said. “They move the needle everywhere we go… it’s so cool to have guys that enjoy football that much, are that diligent and have a love for the passion of the game.
“It’s key to your whole success as a program. They don’t get mentioned enough. They don’t get enough praise, but they do it all. They are the glue.”
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