Michigan went looking for a head coach after firing Sherrone Moore, and one of their calls went to Arizona head coach Kenny Dillingham mid-dinner. He picked up. He listened. Then he stayed in Tempe, Arizona.

Dillingham revealed at the 2026 Big 12 Media Days in Frisco, Texas, that he was having a meal with family at the Fat Ox restaurant in Scottsdale when Michigan reached out with the framework of a coaching offer.

"That's good intel. I know exactly who was at that dinner at the Fat Ox," Dillingham told USA TODAY at Big 12 conference media days. "Great opportunity. Michigan found the perfect guy for them. They really did, because Kyle Whittingham is somebody that I've looked up to."

That is a genuinely gracious way to handle it. Dillingham did not dismiss Michigan. He just felt that the job went to the right person. He made his own call, and it was to stay put in Tempe.

Dillingham was not passive during Michigan's search either. Per the July 9 USA TODAY report, he actually called Whittingham himself during the process, having known Whittingham as a fellow Big 12 head coach and a veteran mentor in his profession.

"I actually called him early in the process to talk to him about his choices and his family and things that he'd never sacrificed," Dillingham said.

Dillingham's sister lives next door to him, and his parents are three houses down the same street. Leaving that behind for Ann Arbor was never the obvious call, regardless of how big the job was.

His family was willing, though. That is what makes the moment interesting.

"My family's crazy. My family's like, if that is what you want to do, we'll all move," Dillingham said. "That's how my family operates. We're very close. It's like we're doing it together. We're doing things together. We're doing things as a group."

His family being fully on board meant the decision came down to Dillingham himself.

What he came back to every time was Arizona State's trajectory and what he is still trying to build there.

Kenny Dillingham made his long-term vision for Arizona State very clear

At Big 12 Media Days, Dillingham was honest about what keeps him invested in the Sun Devils program.

"I don't want to be here to babysit an average program. That's not the vision," he told USA Today. "I want to build a program."

He also put a very specific number on what he expects from the program year on year.

"If everybody's improving at an 11-percent increase, we've got to be at 12, 13, 14," Dillingham said. "We've got to bridge the gap."

Arizona State went 8-5 in 2025, won the Big 12 title, and had a College Football Playoff appearance in 2024. Dillingham is already into his fourth year and has taken the Sun Devils from NCAA sanctions and rock bottom to a program with national recognition.

But, for him, that work is far from being finished. What Dillingham is looking forward to is building a championship program at Arizona State.

Do you think Dillingham made the right call staying at Arizona over taking the Michigan job? Let us know in the comments.

Read more at the Michigan Football Community.

Written by

Farheen Fathima

Edited by

Arundhoti Palit