Media Days are a crucial milestone for any college football team, as they signify the start of a new season and provide a fresh slate for the programs within a given conference. 

Despite being the reigning Big 12 champions, Arizona State Head Coach Kenny Dillingham aims to use this clean slate to move on from the past, assuring the media and fans alike that this is a new team with the same underdog mentality that was evident last season.

A year ago, during media days, the Big 12 coaches’ poll predicted the Sun Devils to finish last in the conference, a proclamation that loomed large. 

However, following the Sun Devils odds-defying Big 12 championship, the conference did away with the preseason poll, with commissioner Brett Yourmark claiming the poll only hurt the public image of the teams who happened to be underranked, like ASU. 

“I think it disadvantaged Arizona State last year,” Yourmark said. “They were picked 16th, and I think that hurt them.”

Although Yourmark said he felt the poll hurt the Sun Devils, Dillingham said it didn’t affect the team, and his squad maintained the same underdog mentality regardless of the survey.  

“I could care less,” Dillingham said. “I’m not a voter, and I don’t really care where people put us. Vote us first, vote us last, vote us in the middle. If we’re so focused on other people’s expectations of us, then you’re going to limit yourself.” 

Dillingham further reiterated that message to the team, emphasizing throughout spring practice the importance of being “0-0.” 

“The reality is we’re 0-0,” Dillingham said. “There’ve been a lot of teams in college football who have done what we’ve done. Who have won one year and then come back to reality.” 

Standout redshirt junior wide receiver Jordyn Tyson echoed this sentiment, saying that the Sun Devils have more to prove. 

“I don’t think we reached our goals last year,” Tyson said. “We didn’t win the natty, so I think we got something to prove.”  

According to Dillingham, Tyson had an offseason to remember, adding 10 pounds of muscle while improving his mile time. Tyson credited his offseason improvements to Wide Receivers Coach and Super Bowl Champion Hines Ward.

“He’s a guy who’s early, a guy who’s always getting treatment, a guy who doesn’t leave the building, a guy who’s always up watching extra tape,” Dillingham said. “I think he’s really just leaned into what Coach Ward has said.” 

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Sam Leavitt is another player with sky-high expectations heading into next season, including gaining consideration for the Heisman Trophy. 

“I really don’t think it’s that much pressure, at certain times it might get overwhelming, but that’s what I’ve asked for since day one,” Leavitt said. “I’m just excited and blessed to be here.”

Leavitt, like many others, emphasized the team’s overall dissatisfaction with last season’s ending and discussed how the squad will look to move forward.

“A lot of guys have a sour taste in our mouths,” Leavitt said. “We’re not trying to worry about last year.” 

With a new year on the horizon, Arizona State football looks to exceed newly set expectations and continue to prove doubters wrong. 

“We really didn’t do anything special, we did something that’s actually normal, we were just the team to accomplish that normal that year,” Dilligham said. “What would be special would be to continue to build off of that, the real challenge was how do we not become what normal teams in our situation do, which is fall back to where we’ve always been.”