TEMPE — Arizona State football’s annual trip to Payson’s Camp Tontozona could mean more to Kenny Dillingham than any other ASU coach since Frank Kush, who started the tradition in 1959.
It has periodically left the Sun Devil calendar since the turn of the century, from Dennis Erickson’s disinterest to a pandemic-caused three-year hiatus, but this will make Dillingham’s tenure 3-for-3 in visits since he took over.
“My favorite photo — other than my wedding photo and my photo at my son’s birth — is that photo on the field of the entire team … right before we sang the fight song with all the trees in the background,” Dillingham said Monday. “If you could sum up college football in a photo, it’s that image.”
SunDevils4LIFE! #SunDevil4LIFE #ActivateTheValley pic.twitter.com/DebOz3rSw9
— Coach Dillingham (@KennyDillingham) August 10, 2024
That 2024 trip saw a symbolic raising of the standard Dillingham has often cited, when the initial plan was for players to go halfway up the infamous Mount Kush before deciding to make the full hike as an entire group.
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Linebacker Keyshaun Elliott likely will have a different course of action when the hike is made this year, citing a costly mistake he previously made.
“I went behind a couple of the linemen, so it was like I’m sitting there looking straight up. I got two 300-pound guys — like if they take the wrong step, they’re coming back on me and I’m going down with them,” Elliott recounted before fall camp began. “The hike, it’s challenging. It’s no joke, but it’s fun. You get to laugh at the guys that have never done things like that.”
The top of the mountain is now home to one of the new traditions since Dillingham took over: time capsules where players listed off goals in letters to their future selves. The group coming back to open the capsule includes 17 returning starters.
“This would be the second year that they’ve gotten to read their letters. It’ll be interesting to see what some of the guys wrote going into last season for the team, for themselves … and did they achieve those goals?” the coach said last week. “My goal is that they didn’t. … Because at the end of the day, your goals should be so high, they should be laughable.”
Another new tradition is Clayton Smith’s snake hunting, though he’s not optimistic any teammates will be brave enough to join him.
“I’m going to go to that creek as soon as practice is over. I got my little hook and we’re going to find something,” Smith said Monday. “I can’t wait, I already got it packed. … My goal is to, you know what I’m saying, catch me one and then scare some people with it.”
ASU DE Clayton Smith was named to The Athletic’s Freaks List for his physical tools, but this week in Camp T he’ll be up to something else people might find freaky 🐍 pic.twitter.com/7a2g0GIWfi
— State of the Sun Devils (@AZSportsDevils) August 5, 2025
Smith said the team chemistry aspect of Camp T can have carryover into the season, even when it’s a group as familiar as this one, which returns 79% of its 2024 production, per ESPN.
“It’s just the icing on the cake for the season to get us ready, get our mind right and really show that these guys care,” he said. “When everybody’s doing the same thing, the same work, same rest time and everybody’s tired, it brings you closer together, and I think it’s just gonna transition into the season.”
The team left for the site east of Payson after Tuesday morning’s practice, and football activities are planned for Wednesday-Saturday.
What Camp T advice do ASU vets have for 1st-time campers?
– Smith: Beware the cabins.
“Good luck,” he said before shuddering at the mention of the cabins. “I mean, it gets cool. The cabins, they’re what you do. (There are pranks in the cabin) every now and then for the newbies, got to break them in.”
He said he hopes some of those pranks involve snakes.
– Elliott: Just get through the first night.
“I wasn’t really looking forward to it last year ’cause I heard all this, like the sleeping situations and the bunk beds and all that. But I think once you get up there and you get night one over with, you enjoy it. You enjoy your time there. And now looking back at it, I really did like Camp T. I’m excited (and looking) forward to it.”
– Center Ben Coleman: Stick with the vets.
“I think the preparation that we have from the older guys, from me and Prince Dorbah, Clayton Smith, all those different guys, (Jordyn Tyson), we should be super prepared,” Coleman told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo in July. “So I think if anybody wants to room with anybody, I think you should pick some of the guys that’s been with (Dillingham) since Year 1.”
What’s available to fans for Camp T?
Fans are welcome on Saturday for a scrimmage beginning at 9 a.m., weather permitting.
Attendees should be prepared to park along US 260, where shuttles will be available to make the trip closer to the field.
ASU offers a turnaround bus trip departing from Mountain America Stadium at 6 a.m. In addition to bus transportation, it includes breakfast, shaded views at the scrimmage and snacks.
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