The Territorial Cup ended without controversy or pointed fingers, without a play for the ages or a cross to bear. Arizona’s 23-7 victory Friday night over ASU was a meat grinder with as many field goals as touchdowns and only a morsel of drama in the fourth quarter.
In that respect, it offered the perfect segue for the offseason to come.
For both combatants, this should be a winter without discontent.
They will receive bowl invitations next weekend — Arizona should land in the Holiday or Sun, ASU in the Sun or LA — and then navigate the same potholes that affect teams across this post-modern landscape dominated by the transfer portal, NIL opportunities and staff changes.
Will ASU lose quarterback Sam Leavitt? Will blue bloods come calling for Arizona defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales? How will the Sun Devils replace receiver Jordyn Tyson? Can the Wildcats retain their playmakers? That’s all to be determined.
But both programs should avoid the sinkhole issues that change trajectories, scare recruits and cost many millions of dollars. In Tempe as in Tucson, the offseason forecast calls for peace and tranquility.
Remember what that feels like?
The last winter in which neither rival hired a coach, fired a coach or was forced to justify not firing a coach was all the way back in the late 2010s — before the pandemic and ASU’s recruiting scandal and Arizona’s corner office tumult.
For anyone requiring a memory jog, the 2019 season ended with eight wins for Herm Edwards and the Sun Devils, four wins for Kevin Sumlin and the Wildcats and stability on both campuses.
Then Covid struck, the Pac-12 started late, ASU hung 70 on the Wildcats, Sumlin was dismissed and the Jedd Fisch era began in Tucson.
Six months later, ASU’s recruiting scandal erupted. Edwards remained in place for the fall and, remarkably, was retained through the offseason despite the darkening skies and looming hammer of NCAA sanctions.
Edwards didn’t survive the 2022 season, however. He was cut loose in September, replaced by interim coach Shaun Aguano and then, eventually, by Kenny Dillingham in the permanent seat.
The following fall brought ASU’s self-imposed postseason ban, announced days before Dillingham’s first game, and a shift in off-the-field drama to Tucson. The Wildcats rolled to 10 wins, Fisch departed for Washington and his successor, Brent Brennan, scrambled to keep the roster intact.
Then came Arizona’s lost season and enough community outrage that athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois felt compelled to publicly confirm Brennan’s return for Year 2.
The scoreboard says it all: The Wildcats have employed three coaches this decade; so, too, have the Sun Devils (including Aguano).
But we suspect it will be several years before either school is forced back into the hiring market.
Brennan led Arizona to the season its constituents expected last year, when he took over for Fisch and retained a slew of key players. It went haywire, undone by a second-rate staff and terrible chemistry. His lessons learned, Brennan raised the bar for accountability and rebuilt the culture.
Yes, his alma mater, UCLA, needs a coach. But Brennan has deep personal connections to Arizona and, arguably, an easier path into the College Football Playoff from Tucson than Westwood. We suspect UCLA will place the call, Brennan will answer out of courtesy and that will be that. He has a Big 12 title to win next year.
After all, Dillingham created the model last year, when the Sun Devils came from nowhere, won the Big 12 and pushed Texas to the brink in the CFP quarterfinals. Devoid of blue bloods entrenched atop the standings — and with its greatest coach, Utah’s Kyle Whittingham, potentially retiring this winter — the Big 12 oozes opportunity like no other conference.
That favorable competitive landscape, combined with having ASU in his DNA, explains why Dillingham, too, will be back next season. Despite speculation that he would be enticed by SEC vacancies, he was never a flight risk. Not this year and likely not for several years.
His revised contract was crafted with longevity in mind — each time the Sun Devils win at least six games, an extra year is added — and he understands the pressure isn’t nearly as high at ASU as it would be at LSU or Auburn or Florida.
Dillingham might not be a lifer in Tempe. He might not be Frank Kush Jr. or even Bruce Snyder 2.0. But as long as the Sun Devils offer the resources needed to win the Big 12, the 35-year-old can take his sweet time. The SEC spin cycle can wait.
The same is true for Brennan, 52, and for so many coaches leading power conference programs.
With dollars dictating the flow of talent and a 12-team playoff offering unprecedented access — it could expand to 16 or 24 teams in the near future — the compulsion to climb isn’t as strong.
Curt Cignetti opted to remain at Indiana rather than jump to Penn State.
Eli Drinkwitz doubled down with Missouri when Florida or Auburn might have been options.
Mike Elko signed the extension offered by Texas A&M.
The pressure to win is greater than ever as school officials fear getting left behind if a super league emerges. But access to talent and the playoff has expanded, as well, flattening the competitive playing field and browning the other guy’s grass.
The carousel could spin this winter like never before, sending salaries into the stratosphere and demolishing rosters from coast to coast. But two schools that have churned through six coaches in five years are scheduled for the sideline, enjoying the peace and ramping up for 2026.
Only 40 weeks until kickoff.
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