Kenny Dillingham is a man of many words. Many words and many mantras.
Right when he started his coaching career in Tempe, the first phrase he tried to instill in his team was simple:
“Nobody cares.”
It reads apathetic upon first read, but it means so much more.
In today’s world, we’re so focused on what everyone else thinks of us. If people are talking about us. Did we make a good impression on the people we interact with?
All the while, you’re likely just a blip on someone’s radar.
It’s never about living in the moment anymore, or focusing on the task at hand. It’s a “do more” society, because rarely is anything we do ever good enough for anyone anymore.
Which is why Dillingham is all about building his program through mantras. “Nobody cares” was just the start of it, and over time, it’s become ASU’s identity.
Defensive lineman Justin Wodtly has been the flag bearer of the program, going as far as tattooing an ASU pitchfork on his leg. Wodtly, like several of his teammates, has fully bought into Dillingham’s vision, and it shouldn’t be a surprise, considering the Sun Devils captured the Big 12 title for the first time in 2024.
“It goes into the little things that Coach Dilly preaches about,” he said at the start of spring camp. “Just being a good person, showing up every day with a smile on your face. It’s not hard.”
It’s almost as if Wodtly’s smile hasn’t left his face since he arrived in Tempe. He spent the first four seasons of his career at Cincinnati, but it’s clear that something clicked at ASU.
It’s players like him who make this program go, acting as tone setters, the guys who raise the standard and help others level up every single day.
Inspirational quotes are a big part of Dillingham’s lifestyle, but he’s not about empty slogans. He wants those mantras to mean something. Something real. Not just words on a poster in the weight room.
“A culture is great on a wall,” Dillingham said. “It’s great, but if you can’t feel it, then it’s not real. For me, it’s more of I want to see the culture. I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to hear us repeat it.”
One of the mottos he does have on the wall?
“Be a multiplier instead of a divider.”
The idea is simple: make everyone around you better than they were yesterday. Multiply that energy. Let it spread. Let it marinate in the locker room and build something bigger than yourself.
Because being a divider? That’s just as it sounds. If you act down and drag others with you, the team loses its identity. The machine stops working.
Given the program’s success, it seems like these mantras are more than talk.
Not only did Arizona State win the Big 12, but they’re the favorites to win it again.
And if they do?
Nobody will care how corny the mantras sounded.
Nobody will care if it made you roll your eyes.
Because while everyone else is busy worrying about opinions, Dillingham’s crew is building something real.
Nobody cares. Work anyway. Win anyway.
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