The music Arizona State plays at its football practices tends to be indicative of the vibe the Sun Devils attempt to set for the day.

When ASU started its spring camp, Queen’s “We Are the Champions” blared in an endless loop, as ASU’s staff hoped the idea that the Sun Devils were Big 12 champions would become monotonous.

Several months and a full season later, ASU didn’t replicate the success it had in 2024 of making it back to the Big 12 Championship or the College Football Playoff, finishing the season 8-4 and earning a matchup against ACC champion Duke in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl on New Year’s Eve.

But on Saturday morning in Tempe, the vibe at practice felt like the Sun Devils were champions once again, as the lyrics of Daft Punk’s “One More Time” echoed through Mountain America Stadium following reports from multiple media outlets that head coach Kenny Dillingham signed a new contract with the school, ending speculation he could leave to become Michigan’s next head coach.

While the online vibe from fans of both Michigan and ASU has been tense and skeptical at times, Dillingham never stressed that things wouldn’t work out at his alma mater when it came to agreeing to a new deal.

“Everything takes time,” Dillingham said. “This is a $4.5 billion enterprise. You know, that’s so big, right? So some things take a little time to get done, but at the end of the day, it got done. At the end of the day, I think we’re all happy, and we’re all excited about the future.”

Yet Dillingham said he isn’t satisfied and has called upon some of the most prominent people in the Valley to change that.

“We need to find one of these really rich people in this city to step up and stroke a check, and I’ll do everything I can to make you the most famous person in the city,” Dillingham said. “That’s really what we need. You’re telling me there’s not one person who could stroke a $20 million check right now. There is somebody out here who can.”

Some on social media have criticized Dillingham’s straightforward approach to advocating for funds for his football team, but the financial logic behind his comments is difficult to dispute.

According to the USA Wealth Report 2025, released in May by investment consulting firm Henley & Partners, Scottsdale claimed the top spot among U.S. cities where millionaires are choosing to live, overtaking Austin, Texas.

The report stated 14,800 millionaires and five billionaires resided in Scottsdale as of December 2024. That’s a 125 percent growth from 2014 to 2024, which is the second-highest globally, only behind Shenzhen, China.

Dillingham knows the support from the “average fan” is there.

“The average fan has stepped up,” Dillingham said. “The average fan is sold out. The average fan is all over the internet. The average fan is in.”

Working with president Dr. Michael Crow, Dillingham said the university has stepped up and trusts that Crow will help bring the school to the next level.

“He’s arguably the best fundraiser,” Dillingham said. “I mean, you could truly say it in all of the country in college, and what he’s done to this institution over the last 20 years is remarkable. That’s a guy who’s committed to trying to fundraise for this program and trying to elevate this program, and that’s something that I could get behind.”

Now, it’s the people living in Phoenix who Dillingham said he hopes to see come together to support what the Sun Devils are trying to accomplish, including those who may not even have an affiliation with the university.

“The university has stepped up, but I’ll say this: there’s a lot more in this valley,” Dillingham said. There’s a lot more meat on the bone here, and when I say a lot more, I mean a full Tomahawk more of meat on the bone here that there are people out here that can step up and absolutely change the game here and take just one more step.”

Saying it’s unrealistic for ASU to receive a significant financial contribution to its football program in 2025 may not be reasonable, given some of the things that have happened recently in college football.

Michigan State received a $401 million commitment from two donors, Greg and Dawn Williams, at the beginning of December. Days later, ESPN reported that Virginia Tech received an anonymous $20 million donation to its athletics program.

If ASU is adequately resourced, Dillingham said the Sun Devils can accomplish anything, just as any program in the country could.

“All it takes is a couple of people to say, ‘Wow, what’s going on?’” Dillingham said. “That’s it. We’ve yet to get that. That’s the one thing we’re short on right now. We’re yet to get that person to really just dive in, or those three people to really just dive in, jump in, and they’re out there, and it’s going to come, and when that comes, like I said, you can be as good as you want to be as good as you could ever imagine… Or you could be as bad as you ever want to imagine, and that’s the crazy part of this era.”