Deion Sanders, Kenny Dillingham ‘better hire’ debate has clear answer before Saturday’s game

The Arizona State Sun Devils and Colorado Buffaloes hired their head coaches about a week apart in late 2022, and the two programs have been measured against each other ever since. With the teams set to meet in Tempe on Saturday, a post from PHNX Sun Devils brought the old argument back this week.

“Do you remember when people were saying Coach Prime was a better hire than Kenny Dillingham? Those people are really quiet these days,” PHNX wrote on X.

In December 2022, Fox Sports’ Bryan Fischer gave Colorado’s hire of Deion Sanders an A grade and Arizona State’s hire of Dillingham a B, flagging Dillingham’s inexperience as a 32-year-old first-time head coach who had called plays for one season. Ten months later, Colorado was a national TV attraction and Arizona State was sitting on a 1-4 start.

Do you remember when people were saying Coach Prime was a better hire than Kenny Dillingham?

Those people are really quiet these days. https://t.co/HnmCQ0Tfhe

— PHNX Sun Devils (@PHNX_SunDevils) November 5, 2026

How do Kenny Dillingham and Deion Sanders actually compare?

Dillingham is 26-21 at Arizona State after going 3-9, 11-3, 8-5 and 4-4 so far this year. Sanders is 19-26 at Colorado after going 4-8, 9-4, 3-9 and 3-5. Since both programs joined the Big 12 in 2024, Dillingham is 15-8 in league games and Sanders is 9-14.

The 2024 season holds the biggest gap. Arizona State went 11-3 and won its first conference title since 2007 on the way to the College Football Playoff, while Colorado’s best year under Sanders ended at 9-4. Sanders still has the bigger contract, with a five-year deal worth a reported $54 million against the five-year extension paying Dillingham $7.5 million a year.

Those results back the post comfortably, though Colorado did get something else from the hire that the early grades were pricing in, which was attention. Dillingham made that case himself before the teams met last November, when Arizona State won 42-17 in Boulder.

“People are talking about Colorado, recruits want to go to Colorado. They’ve won, like I said, a high percentage of games with him than before him. He’s battled a bunch, and it just shows the type of person he is. He’s a fighter and a winner, and that’s shown up at Colorado since he’s been there,” Dillingham said, according to On SI’s Jack Carlough.

Who is questioning Kenny Dillingham now?

Arizona State’s own season keeps this from being a clean victory lap. The Sun Devils are 4-4 and 2-3 in the Big 12, with losses by 28 to the Texas A&M Aggies, 36 to the Baylor Bears and 28 to the Texas Tech Red Raiders, and they need two wins in their last four games to reach a bowl. Freshman Jake Fette is making his second career start on Saturday after Arizona State moved on from Cutter Boley.

Some of the doubt has moved to Tempe, and the coach pushing back on it this week was Sanders.

“Coach Dillingham, you all know he’s my guy. Came in the same class, (he was) coach of the year in 2024. I read some stuff and I see some stuff every once in a while that they’re questioning his ability. Like, did he forget to coach since ’24? He’s a phenomenal mind. We almost had an opportunity to work together once upon a time, but I’m glad God played it out like he did,” Sanders said, according to On SI’s Dan Allison.

Colorado comes in at 3-5 after a 27-24 overtime win over the Kansas State Wildcats ended a five-game losing streak. The two coaches are 1-1 against each other, with Colorado’s 27-24 win in Tempe in 2023 and last year’s game in Boulder, and the third meeting kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

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