As of 6:30 p.m. MST on Friday, Dillingham was the favorite to be named Michigan\u2019s next head coach (-200), according to Bet Online<\/a>.<\/p>\n Alabama\u2019s Kalen DeBoer (+250) and Washington\u2019s 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\u2019s tenure.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere (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,\u201d On3 analyst J.D. PicKell suggested<\/a> on Thursday. \u201cYouth, excitement, fun, passion, like he\u2019s going to attack this job \u2026 with all the enthusiasm in the world.<\/p>\n \u201cWasn\u2019t that kind of what Jim Harbaugh brought to the table?\u201d<\/p>\n Josh Pate, an on-air personality, said on ESPN\u2019s \u201cGet Up\u201d<\/a> that Dillingham is tailor-made for what Michigan needs.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s the guy that took Arizona State to the (College Football) Playoff last year. He\u2019s the guy that Cam Skattebo played for,\u201d Pate said. \u201cKenny Dillingham has the right mix to me of freshness, but also really, really intense.<\/p>\n \u201cAlso look what he\u2019s done with the quarterback position and what Michigan\u2019s not been able to do with the quarterback position.\u201d<\/p>\n Dillingham is currently on a five-year deal that automatically extends one year after each season ASU makes a bowl game.<\/p>\n Kenny Dillingham has shot down rumors of his departure multiple times<\/p>\n Dillingham on Dec. 5 told the Travis Take Two Podcast<\/a> \u2014 hosted by his former Florida State quarterback, Jordan Travis \u2014 he never spoke to anyone about other jobs during the season.<\/p>\n \u201cMy agent (received calls about other jobs). I made it very clear where I wanted to be to those people,\u201d Dillingham said. \u201cThe 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI know that\u2019s not industry standard. I have a lot of respect for our football team. These guys chose to be here, they didn\u2019t just go take the most money and leave. After last year\u2019s season, they wanted to be here. It\u2019s my responsibility to do the same thing to them, that\u2019s just what I believe in.\u201d<\/p>\n He also responded to reports he was a candidate in the LSU and Penn State openings after ASU\u2019s win over West Virginia on Nov. 15, saying he \u201cwas never leaving<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI never said I was leaving. This is home. But you do have to continue to push. \u2026 And if I didn\u2019t do that, I\u2019d be cheating my players, I\u2019d be cheating my staff, I\u2019d be cheating the fan base, I\u2019d be cheating everybody in the city, I\u2019d be cheating the local businesses that feed off of us winning and then they, you know, sell more beer, right? I\u2019d be cheating I\u2019d be cheating everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n Both instances were notably before the Michigan job came open.<\/p>\n Dillingham has also repeatedly highlighted Jeff Sims staying when he knew he\u2019d be a backup to Sam Leavitt as \u201cwhat\u2019s right with college football,\u201d as well as praising four-star 2026 quarterback signee Jake Fette for \u201cstaying committed the longest\u201d despite teams such as LSU trying to flip him.<\/p>\n He also shared \u2014 before deleting \u2014 the \u201cdestination addiction\u201d quote<\/a> on the day Lane Kiffin left for LSU that Kiffin himself had used about five years earlier.<\/p>\n Pivoting from those core tenets to take the Michigan job would be a massive change of course.<\/p>\n
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