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Kenny Dillingham has become one of the most respected head coaches in college football during his time at Arizona State, and he certainly gained a few points on Monday as he discussed current players on his roster entering the transfer portal amid the team preparing for the upcoming playoffs. 

As the transfer portal officially opened on Monday, players flocked into the database, looking for more playing time or better financial opportunities. In the case of teams participating in the college football playoff, this becomes a lot trickier, considering that the portal will close before the postseason concludes. 

So, decisions have to be made now, not later, for some players looking for a new home. This makes the circumstances surrounding the 2024 postseason unique, given that some athletes would like to stick around and help their current school compete for a title. 

For Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham, he was nothing but supportive on Monday when a number of his players decided that it would be best to find a place that would allow for more potential playing time. 

This was also the case for Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz last season, as his team prepared to play Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. 

During his press conference on Monday, the Sun Devils coach made it clear that he understands the circumstances surrounding the transfer portal, knowing that players aren’t afforded the opportunity to sit around and wait to find their next home. 

“Our guys have the opportunity to stay on our football team, and they’re like, ‘We’ll go in (the portal) at the end,’ and I go, ‘No, that’s not fair to you to go in after our run is over,” Dillingham said Monday. “I want you to have the best opportunity to find a spot. You can go in day one right now, we’ll help you find a spot, and stay on our football team if you want to stay on our football team and let’s go on this ride together the rest of the way.'”

Kenny Dillingham Shows Support On Social Media For Arizona State Players

Throughout the day, there were a number of players who announced on social media that they intended to enter the transfer portal. A lot of coaches would look at the situation and decide that those who were moving on should go ahead and just focus on finding a new place to compete. 

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But that wasn’t the case for Dillingham, who showed his support by lobbying for players who announced their intentions when the portal opened. 

As you can tell, Kenny Dillingham has taken a much different approach to players within his program deciding that it’s best to move on from Arizona State. And make no mistake about it, this works both ways. While some players on his roster are deciding to move on, the Sun Devils staff is looking around the portal to find guys that can help their team moving forward. 

Sure, it helps that the Sun Devils will still have some depth at positions throughout playoff preparations, as they will get a first-round bye in the upcoming College Football Playoff. 

But when you have a player who has done things the right way, and is willing to stick around to help, even if that means he won’t play, it’s easy to understand why athletes like playing for Kenny Dillingham. 

In a college athletics world that continues to get messier by the day, it’s good to see something like this from a program that is two wins away from playing for a national championship.