Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham recently joined ESPN’s Pete Thamel and Rece Davis to discuss the Sun Devils’ hopes for the 2025 college football season, quarterback Sam Leavitt, and replacing his star running back, Cam Skattebo.
Skattebo, selected in the fourth round and 105th overall in the 2025 NFL Draft, signed his rookie contract on Wednesday with the New York Giants as they wrapped up their minicamp, as Arizona State prepares for life without him going into 2025.
‘It’s Going To Be Impossible’: Kenny Dillingham Breaks Silence on Replacing Star RB Cam Skattebo
Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham recently joined ESPN’s Pete Thamel and Rece Davis to discuss the Sun Devils’ hopes for the 2025 college football season. He also discussed replacing his star RB, Cam Skattebo.
“Yeah, it’s going to be impossible for one player to replace him (Skattebo), you know he was a special talent in my opinion, there’s going to have to be a variety of guys who pick up his yardage, we’ve got 2000 yards of offense leaving,” Dillingham revealed.
Across his two seasons with the Sun Devils after transferring from Sacramento State, Skattebo was one of Dillingham’s most productive players. He rushed for 2,494 yards and 30 touchdowns, including a monstrous 2024 where he rushed for 1,711 yards.
Skattebo firmly established himself as one of the top running backs under Kenny Dillingham, becoming Arizona State’s single-season rushing leader.
I don’t care if Cam Skattebo is slow.
I don’t care if his game “isn’t sustainable.”
I don’t care if “teams are lower on him than the media.”
He’s an absolute dawg who elevated his team on the biggest stage. 3-down back who can do EVERYTHING. pic.twitter.com/Rz3V0xDOjM
— NFL Draft Files (@NFL_DF) April 19, 2025
“So that’s really the challenge, how do we adapt and twist the offence to pick up what we’re losing in Skattebo, while also having really good backs that we feel comfortable giving the ball to, putting all that pressure on them, it wouldn’t really be fair,” Dillingham said.
Arizona State has already made a big transfer portal move to deal with the departure of Skattebo to the NFL, picking up former Army RB Kanye Udoh, who committed to ASU out of the transfer portal, coming off the best season of his career.
Udoh played in the AAC Championship and Army-Navy game before entering the portal and exploring his options. He had a career year in 2024 with 179 carries, 1,117 yards, 10 touchdowns, and an average of 6.2 yards per carry.
With one of the top QBs in college football returning in Sam Leavitt, Dillingham also has a core of 15 starters across their offense and defense to return for 2025. The ASU head coach is ready to return to the playoffs and turn ASU into a ‘Blue Blood’ program.
RELATED: Kenny Dillingham Reveals Bold ‘Golden Ticket’ Plan To Keep Arizona’s Top Talent Home
ASU’s 2025 season opener will be on August 30, when they face Northern Arizona on their home field.
