Kenny Dillingham makes bizarre claim about Starkville lodging ahead of Arizona State at Mississippi State
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Kenny Dillingham was born in Phoenix, went to Arizona State and now coaches his alma mater’s football team. He’s an Arizona guy through and through, and Arizona is far away from Starkville, Miss.
He was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Auburn in 2019, and that’s as close to SEC country as the 35-year-old Dillingham has come during his coaching career. So, as his nationally ranked Sun Devils get ready to head to Starkville to play Mississippi State on Saturday night in a nationally televised clash on ESPN2, you might excuse Dillingham for a comment that about Starkville’s hotel lodging that might not have computed.
The 1-0 teams will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET at Davis Wade Stadium, but before they get to the stadium, Arizona State will be staying at a hotel in the leadup to the game. No big deal, right?
Wrong.
Dillingham said his team has to stay outside of Starkville to avoid staying at a casino, which caught some attention since Starkville has plenty of hotel lodging that isn’t a casino.
Here was Dillingham’s questionable comment regarding where his team will be staying this week:
A reporter asked Dillingham how his staff’s approach to road games has evolved over the years and what the casual fan doesn’t think about in regards to getting ready for a road game.
“So, interesting is now that we (stay) in a lot of smaller towns, we play further away from stadiums or road games. So, we stay about an hour and 20 (minutes), hour (and) 15 minutes away from the stadium this week. Cause that’s the nearest hotel that’s not a casino,” said Dillingham.
Dillingham didn’t back off that statement.
“No, that’s the truth. That’s some teams stay at the casino. That wasn’t even a joke,” he said. “But it’s just the nearest hotel.”
Dillingham is staying where he wants his team to stay, but there are certainly question marks arising from his comments, since many opposing teams stay in Starkville to play Mississippi State in football as well as all other sports. But apparently Arizona State will be taking the long way to Davis Wade Stadium for Saturday night’s game.
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.
