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Deion Sanders praises Kenny Dillingham after 2OT loss to Texas in Peach Bowl
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Deion Sanders doesn’t give praise easily, especially to one of his competitors. But the flamboyant Colorado head coach felt hearty praise was deserved for Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham, who led the Sun Devils to the Big 12 title and a Playoff spot. He also, incredibly, almost led them past Texas on Wednesday at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta.
Dillingham’s team blew out Iowa State in the Big 12 title game about a month ago, and with it the Sun Devils had a first-round Playoff bye. Dillingham also got a 5-year contract extension, reported ESPN on Tuesday, and so the upstart 34-year-old head coach who went to Arizona State and is from Arizona had his alma mater in prime position for a Cinderella Playoff run.
Keep in mind, this was Dillingham’s first head coaching job, and in his first season last year things didn’t go so well – the Sun Devils finished with a 3-9 record. But it all turned around in 2024, and after the dust had settled on Wednesday’s double-overtime heartbreaker against the Longhorns, Coach Prime had some prime words for his Big 12 coaching counterpart.
“You represented all of us from the Big 12 well my brother,” Sanders tweeted after the game. “We are proud of u and your team. God bless u all. You’re awesome COTY.”
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
