Arizona State football head coach Kenny Dillingham extended his apology into Monday while speaking to reporters, maintaining his remorse toward kicker Ian Hershey.
The second-year coach acknowledged to the media that he “failed” Hershey after a controversial critique of his performance against Cincinnati, where Hershey missed two crucial fourth-quarter field goals in a 24-14 loss. After calling out his kicker for missing attempts from 48 and 41 yards, Dillingham invited ASU students to email him about trying out for Hershey’s position during Monday’s press conference.
Not only has he apologized on social media, but Dillingham also used Monday as another opportunity to express regret.
“I’ve never in my career done anything that’s had a negative effect on a kid, and I’ve had some really bad seasons,” Dillingham stated, as reported by Doug Haller of The Athletic. “Absolutely failed him.”
His initial apology came via X (formerly Twitter) after his comments gained traction on Saturday.
“I would like to apologize in my post-game press conference. I talked about our kicking game like I do offense/defense. However, the kicking game is always directed at one player. I should not have done that and I apologize. This team’s losses will always 100% fall on myself,” Dillingham posted.
How confident is Dillingham following the Cincinnati loss?
Dillingham added how he did indeed receive several emails regarding students wanting to show their kicking strength.
However, he shared that members of his Arizona State coaching staff were vetting the messages. Dillingham remains content with his 2024 options in the kicking game.
“At the end of the day, we have three guys who are collegiate kickers that are really good,’’ Dillingham said. “And they are. We got to do a better job with them to get them more confident.”
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