Arizona State's Kenny Dillingham apologizes for calling for kicking tryouts after Cincinnati loss

Arizona State lost Saturday to Cincinnati, 24-14. Afterwards, Sun Devils’ coach Kenny Dillingham not so subtly pointed a finger at his kicker – never mind the fact that if two missed field goals had been makes, Arizona State would have still lost.

“Our kicking game is atrocious,” Dillingham said. “If you can kick and you’re at Arizona State, email me. Right? We’re going to have kicking tryouts on Monday… I’m dead serious.”

Ouch.

It’s worth noting that kicker Ian Hershey made both of his extra points on Saturday and is 18-of-19 on those for the year and 7-of-10 on field goals – which, for college kickers, ain’t all that bad. For whatever reason, Dillingham felt that Arizona State’s kicking game deserved some of the blame for the loss.

Kenny Dillingham said that ASU will be hosting kicking tryouts on Monday:

"Our kicking game is atrocious. If you can kick and you're at Arizona State, email me. We're going to have kicking tryouts on Monday … I'm dead serious."@DevilsDigest pic.twitter.com/tUsrZDP4Wi

— Justin LaCertosa (@LaCertosaSports) October 19, 2024

However, Dillingham seemed to immediately regret his choice of words in the postgame presser and posted an apology to social media on Saturday night.

I would like to apologize in my post game press conference I talked about our kicking game like I do offense / defense. However the kicking game is always directed at one player. I should not have done that and I apologize. This team’s losses will always 100% fall on myself.…

— Coach Dillingham (@KennyDillingham) October 19, 2024

Kicking woes and this latest defeat aside, Arizona State is outperforming expectations in Year Two under Dillingham. In their first season in the Big 12, the Sun Devils are 5-2.