While the Oregon Ducks continue to roll on the field, especially on the offensive side of the ball, it may have one slight downside for Oregon fans.
With every impressive night for what’s shown to be an explosive offense under offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham, the young play-callers name gets more popular in the Arizona State Sun Devil’s coaching search.
The Sun Devils fired head coach Herm Edwards earlier this year, and while they likely won’t name a new HC before the end of the season, a list of candidates is certainly being put together. It appears that Oregon’s hot-shot offensive coordinator is squarely in the mix.
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“Oregon offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham had a good night vs Stanford,” wrote Brad Cesmat, with Sports360AZ. “Lot of dots are connecting Dillingham to the job. If Oregon keeps winning, I would think he’d be in the favorite position.”
While it may seem like a bit of a stretch to envision Dillingham leaving Eugene after just one season with the Ducks, his ties to the state of Arizona are impossible to ignore, and his resume is bearing out on the field for the Ducks.
So far this year, Oregon has the No. 13 offense in the nation, averaging 499.0 yards per game. They also rank No. 15 in scoring offense (40.6 points per game), and No. 10 in rushing offense (228.2 yards per game). On top of that, QB Bo Nix is off to a career-best start to the season, generating buzz as a dark-horse Heisman Trophy contender.
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All of that is a far cry from what we saw in the last few years under Mario Cristobal.
On top of that, Dillingham has close ties to ASU. The 32-year-old was born in Phoenix, and he attended Arizona State and worked with the Sun Devils as an offensive analyst from 2014-15.
It’s way too early for Oregon fans to start panicking at the thought of losing their OC after one impressive season, but definitely something worth paying attention to. If the Ducks continue to impress on the field, this buzz is only going to continue to grow.
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