ASU's Dillingham Apologizes for Ripping 'Atrocious' Kicking Game After 2 Missed FGs

Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham apologized on Monday for his disparaging comments after Saturday's loss to Cincinnati where he called the team's kicking game "atrocious" following kicker Ian Hershey's two missed field goals.

"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, some really bad pay,'' Dillingham told reporters Monday, per The Athletic's Doug Haller. "Absolutely failed him."

Dillingham had also apologized on social media soon after making his comments, writing that the team's losses "will always 100% fall on myself."

Dillingham didn't hold back following Arizona State's 24-14 loss, declaring that he intended to hold a kicking tryout following Hershey's struggles.

"Our kicking game's atrocious, so if you can kick and you're at Arizona State, email me," Dillingham said. "We're gonna have kicking tryouts on Monday, so bring it on. Kicking tryouts Monday, let's go. ... I'm dead serious. We're gonna put it out on our social, we're gonna have a kicking tryout on Monday. We gotta find someone who can make a field goal."

A redshirt sophomore, Hershey is 7-of-12 on field goals this season. However, all of his misses have come from distances of 30 yards or more.

Arizona State has two more kickers on its roster, grad student Parker Lewis and redshirt freshman Carston Kieffer. Dillingham said he will improve his approach to building confidence in his special teams unit.

"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."