Report: Arizona State finalizing deal to hire former FSU OC as head coach

Three former assistants under Mike Norvell are now head coaches at the FBS level.

The 2022 season has wrapped up for the majority of teams around the country that failed to qualify for the postseason. In this day and age of the sport, there's no time to waste for the programs that are searching for a new head coach - especially with the addition of the Early Signing Period and transfer portal windows.

READ MORE: Recruits react to Florida State's epic victory against Florida, becoming State Champions

Following an NCAA investigation and a poor start to the year, Arizona State elected to move on from head coach Herm Edwards in September. The Sun Devils have been vetting multiple candidates since then and have finally circled in on the next man to guide their program. It's a familiar face to Seminole fans.

On Saturday night, Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger reported that Arizona State is finalizing a deal with former Florida State offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham. An alum of ASU, he has spent the year as the OC and primary play-caller at Oregon.

Oregon OC Kenny Dillingham has emerged as the leading candidate to be Arizona State's next head coach, sources tell @SINow. Deal being finalized.

Dillingham, a 32-year-old who is an alum of ASU, was long-expected to be the Sun Devils’ top choice.

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) November 27, 2022

Dillingham accepted a deal with the Ducks last December to join new head coach Dan Lanning in Eugene. He's helped spark an offense that is averaging 511.2 yards per game, good for third in the country. Oregon got off to an 8-1 start but the team has dropped two of its last three games (to ranked teams) and is firmly out of the playoff picture.

Prior to his time in Oregon, Dillingham spent two seasons at Florida State where he worked hand in hand with head coach Mike Norvell on play-calling duties. It was time for the prodigy to make the leap and build an offense of his own after spending seven of the previous eight years working under Norvell prior to leaving for the Ducks. Things worked out well for both parties as Dillingham is now a head coach and the Seminoles promoted offensive line coach Alex Atkins to replace him.

Florida State is averaging 475.7 yards of total offense and 36.2 points per game in 2022 compared to 379.3 yards and 27.6 points last year.

Dillingham is the third former assistant under Norvell to work his way up to being a head coach. His former offensive line coach at Memphis, Ryan Silverfield, is currently the head coach for the Tigers and has compiled a 20-16 record. Former Memphis defensive coordinator Dan Lanning is the head coach at Oregon.

It'll be interesting to see how things work out for Dillingham at Arizona State considering the current NCAA investigation. At only 32-years-old, Dillingham will likely get a long leash as he tries to rebuild the program towards prominence. 

It's not immediately clear if he intends to pursue any current Florida State assistant coaches to join him in Tempe.

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