TEMPE – Charlie Ragle, Arizona State’s special teams coordinator since 2023, has been under fire from ASU football fans for a laundry list of mistakes his unit has made during his tenure.
On Sunday, Ragle informed Kenny Dillingham that he will be taking a health-related leave of absence, stepping away from the team immediately, the ASU head coach confirmed Monday.
Ragle’s decision reportedly was not related to the special teams issues. However, when asked if Ragle would still have stepped down for health reasons if the special teams unit was performing better, Dillingham sidestepped the issue.
“I don’t know, it just depends,” Dillingham said. “This is a stressful job. I couldn’t tell you the answer to that. … It’s sad to say because he had so much more value than what people see on a Saturday night.”
Ragle’s assistant, Jack Nudo, will assume special teams coordinator responsibilities, but Dillingham said he will still be involved in the unit’s practice periods during the week. Ragle’s health has been an issue in the past, including while he was at Idaho State.
ASU’s poor play on special teams has weighed heavily on Ragle, who was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rhythm that could lead to blood clots around the heart, in 2022 when he was head coach at Idaho State.
“He’s been dealing with some things for quite a few years now,” Dillingham said Monday. “It’s just kind of come to a head where he’s got to get right and get healthy.
“I told him however long that is, whether it’s two weeks, three weeks, one week, a month, a year, whenever you feel ready again, let’s have a conversation and go from there.”
Whether it’s punting, kickoffs or field goals, the Sun Devils have been anything but special on special teams.
Even after an upset win over Texas Tech, coach Kenny Dillingham called the special teams unit’s performance “atrocious” and vowed to be more hands-on in that area of the game during practice.
Sure enough, Dillingham was on the field during Wednesday’s practice, directing traffic on kickoff coverage, punt team, and challenging his defense to make a play against a field goal.
“We haven’t blocked a (field goal) in three years!” Dillingham shouted at his field goal defense.
On Saturday night, the Sun Devils again found themselves needing a special teams highlight – this time, a blocked field goal against Houston to realistically stay alive for a Big 12 Championship berth. As Houston lined up for a 25-yard kick, Dillingham reinforced his focus on the block unit.
ASU didn’t block the kick, but the field goal was missed anyway. The ball sailed wide left of the upright, and the ASU defense, and what was left of the Mountain America Stadium crowd, leaped to its feet, grateful for one more chance to score.
Then, the penalty flag hit the grass.
Arizona State corner Javan Robinson, who attempted to block the kick, rolled into the leg of Houston kicker Ethan Sanchez. Roughing the kicker was called, ASU couldn’t stop the clock and the game was over.
Dillingham took the blame for that one.
“The only thing we can do there is block it,” Dillingham said after the game. “Even if they miss the kick, we’re going to have a Hail Mary from the minus-5. So, it was sell-out block mode. I told him I would take a penalty, so the last one was 100% on me.”
Dillingham and Ragle, who is also ASU’s assistant head coach, have a long relationship that dates to Dillingham’s days as a player at Chaparral High in Scottsdale. Dillingham’s first coaching job came at Chaparral in 2007 after he suffered a torn ACL during his senior season.
The guy who hired him? Charlie Ragle, then Chaparral’s coach.
In his only season at Idaho State, Ragle’s Bengals finished 1-10. As a first-time head coach, he was forced to deal with issues that included two coaches on his staff departing during the summer, one of whom was arrested for a murder charge, and a pile of injuries that doomed the season from the start.
Ragle resigned to join Dillingham for his first season at ASU in 2023. His health issues played a factor in his decision, but his relationship with the Phoenix area and Dillingham were the bigger reason for his move.
“That was certainly a part of it, in the discussion,” Ragle told the Idaho State Journal in 2024, speaking of his health issues. “But this is Power 5 football and in one of the largest cities in America. You’re going to be scrutinized here more, probably. So there’s going to be stress that comes along with that, but it’s a different kind of stress.”
While Nudo will assume the special team duties, Ragle’s departure still leaves a hole in Dillingham’s view.
“The hard part is not replacing the football, football is football,” Dillingham said. “The hard part is replacing the staff dynamics of who are people going to complain to now … There are so many layers to it than what the people see.
“Coach Ragle was an instrumental part in taking a program that was on life support and bringing it to the highest it’s been in decades. Some people don’t take that into account; the things that he did to get us to that point.”
The history between the two coaches made it an easy decision for both of them when Dillingham decided to take the job in Tempe. However, the underperforming special teams have placed Ragle in the line of fire of Sun Devils fans, and the emotions, stress, and anger from all involved bubbled over in the loss to Houston.
The blunders on special teams somehow reached new lows on Saturday. A bad snap by long snapper Cade Davis led to an early missed field goal by Jèsus Gomez, who then missed badle on another attempt later in the game, despite having a clean snap that time around.
Three holding penalties on kickoff and punt returns negated a trio of 29-yard returns.
And punter Kanyon Floyd failed to flip the field with any of his four punts, which averaged 39.2 yards. By comparison, Houston punter Liam Dougherty booted five times for an average of 46.8 yards. ASU’s average punt distance this season is just 38.9 yards, 128th in FBS.
Late in the fourth quarter, Gomez had a kickoff sail out of bounds, placing the Cougars at the 35-yard line. ASU punt returner Zechariah Sample later called for a fair catch at his own 5-yard line before the Sun Devils’ final drive, rather than letting the ball go into the end zone for a touchback.
It all helped add up to a devastating loss for the Sun Devils, who entered with momentum after upsetting Texas Tech. Dillingham, as is often the case, didn’t blame his players.
“When young guys play, they’re going to learn,” Dillingham said. “So it’s like ‘Hey, this is the first time you’ve done it, alright? That’s fine. Let’s not do that again.’ Zech’s a guy for us who’s done such a great job growing up, maturing and gaining trust in this program. I’ve got the utmost trust in him back there making decisions. He’s one of the most improved players on our team, in my opinion.”
Despite the struggles, Ragle was not fired nor asked to step down. The decision was purely Ragle’s to step away from the stress and focus on his health.
Amid Ragle’s departure, the shuffling of the staff and a slew of injuries to key players, now Dillingham’s name has popped up on several coach wishlists around the nation, most recently at LSU, which fired coach Brian Kelly on Sunday.
He understands that college football is an entertainment product above all else, but stressed his focus is on leading his alma mater.
“We live in a reality show where everybody in here is the main character,” Dillingham said. “Last year we were the sleeping person, and it’s a great story. ‘Wow, what a great twist to the show, right?’ This year, put them on a pedestal and we’re going to make somebody fall. Somebody’s got to fail … Everybody expects everybody to win their conference. It’s impossible. It’s a math problem that can’t possibly be done.
“To be honest, I think Ricky Bobby said it best. ‘If you’re not first, you’re last’ in this thing.”
The loss to Houston now sends ASU from at least the passenger seat in the Big 12 race to a third row middle seat.
With both BYU and Cincinnati undefeated in conference play, one-loss Houston and Texas Tech, and two-loss Utah all in front of them, the Sun Devils need a lot to happen in a short amount of time.
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