Arizona State's Graham Rossini talks excitement about Dillingham ...

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ASU and Texas head coach respond to the new CFP format and bowl games

ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham and Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian respond to the CFP format during a joint news conference ahead of the Peach Bowl.

ATLANTA — Timing is everything.

Arizona State Athletic Director Graham Rossini thought the eve of his school's historic Peach Bowl showdown against Texas at Mercedes Benz Stadium was the perfect time to drop a formal announcement, that head coach Kenny Dillingham wasn't going anywhere. So he did that shortly before midnight at an invitation-only gathering of ASU donors and boosters in downtown Atlanta.

Dillingham, 34, has been rewarded with a five-year contract extension. While the Board of Regents gives extensions of only a maximum of five years, there is a "pathway" to 10 years.

When football fans tune into the national television broadcast of the College Football Playoff quarterfinal, broadcasters will be talking about a coach locked into a long-term deal. What better time to get a message out.

"It's important that we keep building the momentum across our football program, signaling to the rest of the nation that we got our coach locked up with a long-term extension," Rossini told The Arizona Republic.

"It gives Kenny about up to 10 years. It's important for longevity. He's talked a lot about wanting to be here. We've always shared that sentiment. That goal. Securing his family. Giving him longevity, rewarding performance and giving him what he needs as far as resources to retain good coaches."

Rossini, speaking to The Republic an hour before the game kicked off, said the extension talk didn't start at any particular time. He said he knew Dillingham wanted to be here long-term so the talks had just been ongoing. Rossini also singled out school president Michael Crow and his support of locking up the coach long-term.

Dillingham was a unanimous choice as Big 12 Coach of the Year and was a finalist for several national coaching honors. Dillingham is rounding out his second year and emerged as champion in the Big 12 in ASU's first season competing in the conference — after being predicted to finish last among the 16 schools.

The school was coming off back-to-back 3-9 seasons amid a cloud of an NCAA investigation into recruiting violations courtesy of the previous coaching regime. Dillingham did what he did this year still handcuffed by certain sanctions. The 2025 season will be the first in which there will be no NCAA restrictions.

Terms have not been disclosed, but the deal is expected to push Dillingham closer to the top tier of coaches in the Big 12. In the fall USA Today published its annual head football coaching salary report, which indicated Dillingham's $3.95 million annual salary was 12th out of the 15 conference coaches, whose salaries are public record. As a private institution, BYU does not have to make that public.

Dillingham did have substantial incentives. He collected an extra $200,000 when his team defeated BYU for its ninth win of the season. He chose to divide that among 20 off-the-field staffers. This new deal is expected to give him bonus money to distribute to staff at his discretion, per sources, so it doesn't come out of pocket.

He was awarded another bonus of $395,000 for winning the Big 12 title game. The berth in the 12-team CFP playoff resulted in another bonus of 30% of his yearly salary, about $1.185 million. He will earn an additional 5% of his salary with a CFP quarterfinal win and another 5% with a CFP semifinal win.

Dillingham, a product of Chaparral High and a graduate of ASU, has made no secret of his desire to head the program long-term.

He has also expressed the desire to take care of his staff. Offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo and defensive coordinator Brian Ward agreed to three-year extensions.

Rossini added that he wants to get the message out that the school administration is willing to put all the resources into the football program to ensure that this is not a one-year flash of excellence. Rossini said 20 scholarships will be added, bringing the total to 105 per year.

The school will also be participating in the revenue sharing.

"We're focusing on what the right fit is for us," Rossini said. "We didn't do this just because we were worried about other schools poaching him. We did this because he wants to be a Sun Devil for life and he is putting us in a good conversation about this program and we want to put him in a position to be successful.

"We want recruits to read about the commitment we're making to this football program an I give Dr. Crow a tremendous amount of credit. This is something he was 100% behind from the get-go. So was Coach's agent. It was a healthy, productive process and we're all happy with the outcome. We want everyone to know this is something we don't want to be a one-year thing. We're going to put ourselves (in position for this to) be successful long-term."

(This story has been updated to add new information.)