TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Arizona State signed football coach Kenny Dillingham to a five-year contract extension that will raise his average annual salary to $7.5 million, a person familiar with the contract told The Associated Press on Saturday.
The deal also will increase Arizona State's salary pool for assistant coaches to $11 million, one of the highest in the Big 12, the person told the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract had not been announced.
Arizona State athletics did not officially announce Dillingham's extension, but posted on X that Dillingham isn't going anywhere in a donation pitch. The deal takes Dillingham out of the running for the top job at Michigan, which fired Sherrone Moore last week.
Dillingham signed a five-year contract extension after leading the Sun Devils to the College Football Playoff last season, bumping his salary to $5.8 million the first year of the contract.
The 35-year-Dillingham had become a hot commodity in the coaching market after several high-level jobs opened this year, but said after a win against West Virginia on Nov. 15 that he wasn't going anywhere.
Dillingham's name resurfaced after Moore's firing and he used the link to bolster support for the program and his assistant coaches.
“This profession is volatile and security is a critical piece that is needed to build a program in the climate of chaos,” Dillingham told reporters this week.
Demand for Dillingham rose after he turned around Arizona State's program in a hurry.
The Sun Devils burst onto the national scene in Dillingham's second season a year ago, winning the Big 12 championship — their first conference title since 1996 — while earning a spot in the CFP for the first time.
Injuries hit Arizona State hard this season — notably quarterback Sam Leavitt and All-American Jordyn Tyson — but Dillingham still had his team in contention for a return trip to the Big 12 title game until late in the season.
The Sun Devils finished the regular season 8-4 and will play Duke in the Dec. 31 Sun Bowl.
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FILE - Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham encourages his players prior to an NCAA college football game against West Virginia Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
RABAT, Morocco (AP) — African soccer is getting a major shake-up with the conversion of the biennial Africa Cup of Nations to a four-year cycle and creation of a new African Nations League competition.
Patrice Motsepe, the president of the Confederation of African Football, announced the changes Saturday during his press conference ahead of the 2025 Africa Cup hosted by Morocco.
Motsepe said the 2027 Africa Cup to be hosted by Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania will go ahead as planned and that the following edition — originally scheduled for 2029 — will be moved forward to take place in 2028. The next Africa Cup after that will be in 2032.
This would allow the first African Nations League to take place in 2029. Motsepe said it would involve each of the continent’s 54 members, divided into four geographical zones, with games in September and October before the finals are held in November.
“There’s going to be a competition every year where the best African players who play in Europe and worldwide will be with us on the continent,” Motsepe said.
He was unable to say when the 2028 Africa Cup could take place. Scheduling of Africa's premier national competition has been a consistent issue. This year's tournament was pushed back from a planned summer start so it wouldn't clash with FIFA’s new Club World Cup competition.
“What’s going to happen now is you’ll have the equivalent of an AFCON every year,” Motsepe said. “You’ll have the best African players in the world participating and playing in African football at the highest level in the continent every year.”
Motsepe, who was flanked by FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafström for the announcement, said CAF was “in discussions with all our stakeholders and taking into account the global fixtures.”
Grafström called it a “historic decision” and said FIFA would coordinate with CAF.
“First of all, it’s now up to CAF to decide where the (Africa Cup) competition will be played in 2028, and of course, to give the dates to us," Grafström said. “I want to stay in touch in order to coordinate as much as possible the dates, like we did for this edition as well. It took a bit of time, but in the end the compromise was found, which was accepted by everyone.”
Switching the Africa Cup to a four-year cycle takes it in line with UEFA's European Championship, the next of which will also be in 2028.
“The AFCON now will take place once every four years,” Motsepe said. “Because historically the AFCON was the prime focus where we could get resources to fund African football. In terms of this new dispensation, we will be getting resources every year.”
Having no Africa Cup in 2029 also means it won't clash with the next Club World Cup competition.
More Africa Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-cup-of-nations
People take photos outside Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, which will host the opening and final game of the Africa Cup of Nations soccer competition, in Rabat, Morocco, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
