The New Year came with a sweet surprise for Arizona State head football coach Kenny Dillingham: a new five-year contract including a raise and a slew of incentives. ESPN's Pate Thamel reported that Dillingham's new salary would put him in the "top tier" of Big 12 coaches.

Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham has agreed to a five-year contract extension on the eve of the Sun Devils’ College Football Playoff quarterfinal game, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press.

Kenny Dillingham is no longer one of the lowest paid coaches in the Big 12. After leading Arizona State to the Big 12 championship and a berth in the College F

Arizona State football head coach Kenny Dillingham received his flowers courtesy of another Big 12 head coach, Deion Sanders.

On Wednesday, the No. 4 seed Arizona State Sun Devils and head coach Kenny Dillingham nearly shocked the college football world in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl against the No. 5 seed Texas Longhorns. They went into the game as 13.5-point underdogs and were given almost no chance of advancing to the semifinals of the College Football Playoff.

Dillingham, who orchestrated one of the biggest turnarounds in recent college football history, will reportedly receive a pay increase and substantial bonus increases.

Arizona State, on the eve of its first appearance in the College Football Playoff, rewarded coach Kenny Dillingham with a contract extension. Sun Devils athletic director Graham Rossini announced the

"Now that this is over, I'm really going to challenge my guys to reflect on where this all started because it really is remarkable."

Arizona State's impressive season came to a close in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals as head coach Kenny Dillingham's Sun Devils lost to the Texas Longhorns in a double-overtime