How ASU football coach Kenny Dillingham is on track for big bonus

The Arizona State football team may not have had a good season on the field, but it had a good one in the classroom. Now, head coach Kenny Dillingham is being rewarded for that.

Dillingham will receive a bonus of $197,500 on or about Nov. 15, 2024, as long as he remains ASU’s head coach on Aug. 9, according to a university spokesperson.

The bonus represents 5% of his annual salary.

Based on information gathered by USA Today, it is believed to be one of the larger bonuses for a Division I coach. Mississippi football coach Lane Kiffin and Florida State football coach Mike Norvell are each due a $150,000 bonus for APR. A handful of other football and men’s basketball coaches set for $100,000 bonuses.

That comes in addition to Dillingham’s current pay rate of $3.95 million.

Arizona State’s athletic department as a whole recorded a multiyear Academic Progress Rate (APR) average of 994 over a four-year period from 2019-2023, making it tops in the Pac-12 for a third straight school year.

ASU’s average for all sports has improved from its first multiyear score of 937 in 2003 to its current mark of 994. The national multiyear APR score for all NCAA Division I programs is 984. The football program was at 973, a best for the program and a significant accomplishment given the number of athletes factoring into it.

Former athletic director Ray Anderson was similarly compensated for academic and athletic success. He resigned in November with three years left on his contract and will not be receiving an APR bonus based on the terms of his departure.

Each academic year, every Division I sports team's APR is calculated. Scholarship student-athletes can earn one point for staying on course for a degree in their chosen major and one point for being retained (or graduating) at the end of each academic term.

This is the third consecutive year of publicly reported APRs after a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.