TEMPE — ASU football coach Kenny Dillingham said his postgame comments on the Sun Devils’ kicking game were “unacceptable” because of the negative impact it had on kicker Ian Hershey.

“Just when I realized it was affecting a kid,” Dillingham said Monday of when he decided an apology on X was necessary. “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, really bad play, and absolutely failed him.”

Hershey is 7 of 12 on field goal attempts this season after missing both tries in the fourth quarter in Saturday’s 24-14 loss to Cincinnati.

Tryouts will still happen, Dillingham clarified. He said if someone proves himself good enough, he’ll be added to the roster. The team will perform a thorough vetting process to make sure participants are eligible to make the team.

“We got a bunch of emails (which) shows the interest in the position,” Dillingham said.

Kenny Dillingham apologized for his postgame comments about ASU’s kicking game. He said there’s a lot of interest for the open tryouts and they’re working to vet through all of it and will add someone who’s good enough. pic.twitter.com/mct4dSK9Ny

— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) October 21, 2024

The head coach said he has confidence in the three kickers already on the roster, including redshirt freshman Carston Kieffer and graduate senior Parker Lewis. Kieffer is 0 of 1 on career field goals while Lewis hasn’t attempted one since 2021.

Dillingham said he met with the current group for 30 minutes Monday morning.

“At the end of the day we have three guys who are collegiate kickers that are really good. They are,” Dillingham emphasized. “And we gotta do a better job as a staff with them to get them more confident … I’m excited for those guys moving forward.”

Dillingham gives injury updates on ASU QB Sam Leavitt, CB Javan Robinson, WR Xavier Guillory

After the ASU offense was much less potent with backup quarterback Jeff Sims in for an injured Sam Leavitt, Dillingham said he’s hopeful the Sun Devils will have Leavitt back coming out of the bye week.

“I would say it’s 50-50 if he’s gonna return, maybe 60-40 that he won’t. We’re just still in that stage where we don’t (know),” Dillingham said. “The next week will be telling.”

He later said the bye week will be used to better adjust the offense around Sims so if Leavitt can’t go yet, the offense is better suited to the backup.

Top outside cornerback Javan Robinson, who suffered a shoulder injury in Saturday’s loss and had his arm in a sling, is still getting tests done as of Monday.

Dillingham confirmed wide receiver Xavier Guillory tweaked his hamstring in practice last week and was later ruled out before the game, hurting the receiver depth more than it already was due to Malik McClain redshirting.

He was hopeful Guillory, who made 20-plus yard plays in the Kansas and Utah games, would be back out of the bye.