Arizona State football coach Kenny Dillingham put rumors of his departure to rest when he was a hot name for top openings, but that was before the Michigan job opened up.

Buzz has been growing since Sherrone Moore was fired for cause on Wednesday that Dillingham could be the right match to put the Wolverines back on track as one of the sport’s blue bloods.

As of 6:30 p.m. MST on Friday, Dillingham was the favorite to be named Michigan’s next head coach (-200), according to Bet Online.

Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer (+250) and Washington’s Jedd Fisch (+300) rounded out the top three. Fisch previously served as a quarterbacks/wide receivers assistant and passing game coordinator for Michigan in 2015-16, the first two seasons of Jim Harbaugh’s tenure.

“Where (Michigan is) right now is just an unfortunate, weird situation, and if you wanna flip the script on it, you need new juice. You need new energy. Kenny Dillingham is that to me to a T,” On3 analyst J.D. PicKell suggested on Thursday. “Youth, excitement, fun, passion, like he’s going to attack this job … with all the enthusiasm in the world.

“Wasn’t that kind of what Jim Harbaugh brought to the table?”

Josh Pate, an on-air personality, said on ESPN’s “Get Up” that Dillingham is tailor-made for what Michigan needs.

“He’s the guy that took Arizona State to the (College Football) Playoff last year. He’s the guy that Cam Skattebo played for,” Pate said. “Kenny Dillingham has the right mix to me of freshness, but also really, really intense.

“Also look what he’s done with the quarterback position and what Michigan’s not been able to do with the quarterback position.”

Dillingham is currently on a five-year deal that automatically extends one year after each season ASU makes a bowl game.

Kenny Dillingham has shot down rumors of his departure multiple times

Dillingham on Dec. 5 told the Travis Take Two Podcast — hosted by his former Florida State quarterback, Jordan Travis — he never spoke to anyone about other jobs during the season.

“My agent (received calls about other jobs). I made it very clear where I wanted to be to those people,” Dillingham said. “The one thing I can say is with a straight face and I can feel great about: during our football season, I talked to zero people about any other job.

“I know that’s not industry standard. I have a lot of respect for our football team. These guys chose to be here, they didn’t just go take the most money and leave. After last year’s season, they wanted to be here. It’s my responsibility to do the same thing to them, that’s just what I believe in.”

He also responded to reports he was a candidate in the LSU and Penn State openings after ASU’s win over West Virginia on Nov. 15, saying he “was never leaving.”

“I never said I was leaving. This is home. But you do have to continue to push. … And if I didn’t do that, I’d be cheating my players, I’d be cheating my staff, I’d be cheating the fan base, I’d be cheating everybody in the city, I’d be cheating the local businesses that feed off of us winning and then they, you know, sell more beer, right? I’d be cheating I’d be cheating everybody.”

Both instances were notably before the Michigan job came open.

Dillingham has also repeatedly highlighted Jeff Sims staying when he knew he’d be a backup to Sam Leavitt as “what’s right with college football,” as well as praising four-star 2026 quarterback signee Jake Fette for “staying committed the longest” despite teams such as LSU trying to flip him.

He also shared — before deleting — the “destination addiction” quote on the day Lane Kiffin left for LSU that Kiffin himself had used about five years earlier.

Pivoting from those core tenets to take the Michigan job would be a massive change of course.