In an effort to continue building a highly competitive program in college football’s modern era, Sun Devil athletics confirms a new three-year commitment to retain defensive coordinator Brian Ward to run ASU’s nationally recognized defense.
JUST IN: Brian Ward will get a raise as part of a contract extension to remain ASU’s DC through 2026.
Ward: “I’ve just seen how much this place really does love football and how active the high school community is in football, and how important it is.”https://t.co/ogWfBMOOMq
— Chris Karpman (@ChrisKarpman) November 2, 2023
“All levels of the organization – including the university president, athletics director, football general manager, and head coach – understand the necessity for stability at key coaching positions in this era. With so much evolution in conference realignment, NIL, the transfer portal, etc., it is more important than ever to instill and continuously develop winning culture,” notes Jean Boyd, Deputy Athletic Director and Sun Devil Football’s General Manager. “The primary guardians of culture in our football program are the coaches, and maintaining a high level of continuity has never been more critical. We will continue to be aggressive in our coaching staff retention efforts.”
Brian Ward was gonna be in HIGH demand after the turnaround he engineered in Tempe during his first year with ASU. Kenny Dillingham‘s proactiveness was an excellent move paying dividends.
— DevilsDigest.com (@DevilsDigest) November 2, 2023
Additionally, Sun Devil Athletics has announced its intention to seek Arizona Board of Regents approval to extend Coach Dillingham’s contract an additional one year through November 2028. This action is in recognition of the program having taken a self-imposed post-season bowl ban for the 2023 season.
“Starting with our initial contract discussions with Coach Dillingham and his agents last November, and then reconfirmed in June, President Crow and I personally assured Kenny that if a post-season bowl ban were necessitated by the current NCAA investigation, he would be compensated with an extra year added to his current contract. This move delivers on that promise made,” says Ray Anderson, Vice President of University Athletics.
The Sun Devils travel to Utah for a noon MT/11 a.m. Arizona Time kickoff on Saturday, Nov. 4 on Pac-12 Networks.
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