Jake Plummer is arguably the most revered quarterback in Arizona history, leading the Sun Devils to the Rose Bowl and the Cardinals to a playoff win over the Cowboys in the 1990s.
Jake the Snake recently chatted with SportsCasting about Kenny Dillingham, Sam Leavitt, Kyler Murray and the Cardinals’ coaching search.
Q: Are you glad Kenny Dillingham rebuffed Michigan to stay at ASU?
Jake Plummer: “Oh, yeah, 100%. I really like what Kenny is doing, and ASU in general, the commitment to their alumni. We’ve got a lot of coaches that are back in the program, and they love the Sun Devils. When you’ve got someone who is Maroon and Gold on the inside, it’s nice to keep them around. And Kenny definitely is that. Hopefully he can be there for a long time.”
Q: What kind of ceiling do they have? Kenny has done such a great job early on. Can he make ASU a perennial national championship contender?
Jake Plummer: “Kenny believes they can, and so if we all roll along with that, it can be contagious. It’s a strong feeling when you’re believing, if we get the right players in. In this landscape, he’s got to be a chemist. Mix the right players together, and before long, they’ll be back in contention.”
Q: Regarding Sam Leavitt and the NIL situation – you created such a legacy at ASU. It’s hard to blame him for taking millions, but this landscape sure makes it hard for guys to stay somewhere for four years and become a legend, doesn’t it?
Jake Plummer: “I never played the game for the money. Even in the league when they paid me, I was like, ‘Whoa, what? OK. I guess that’s cool.’ But I just played the game because I loved it. I wanted to win. I wanted to leave an impression. I wanted to take a program like ASU and do something that people would remember. We did that.
“And then I got that opportunity again with the Cardinals in ‘98, and we beat the Dallas Cowboys for the first playoff victory in 50 years. Those kinds of things don’t happen when you’re looking for greener pastures. I can’t blame him for leaving, but I would have loved to have seen him stay. I wish him well and I hope he has a lot of success at LSU.”
Q: I wanted to ask about the Cardinals’ quarterback situation. You’re a guy who had a lot of success at his next stop (with the Broncos). What do you think about Kyler Murray going to another organization and potentially replicating that?
Jake Plummer: “I hope the kid finds where he needs to be, if that’s what his path is. But as a signal-caller, you’ve got to be the guy. There’s a lot more than just throwing completions and getting first downs. You’ve got to do a lot more than that. For his sake, hopefully he has learned through his time here how to be that guy. If they bring someone in new, hopefully they get a guy that can galvanize this whole Valley, make sure the Cardinals start winning again.”
Q: What are your thoughts on the head coach vacancy? Anyone you’d love to see lead the Cardinals?
Jake Plummer: “There’s a lot of options. Just get someone that can coach. It really won’t matter. It’s organizationally. From the top down, they’ve got to spend money. If it happens from the top down, then they can win. But we’ll see.”
