Updated Aug. 16, 2026, 6:18 p.m. MT
PAYSON — When it comes to Camp Tontozona, Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham isn’t being afforded any luxuries just because he is the man leading the program. The coach slept on the top of three bunks and didn’t want to get up in the middle of the night because it was pitch-dark and he didn’t want to wake anybody else or risk injury in doing so.
He and the other coaches were stuffed into the cabins just like the players.
The Sun Devils just wrapped up their four-day retreat outside of Payson. It’s Dillingham’s fourth year camping with his team, but he also made the trek in 2014 when he was a graduate assistant under Todd Graham. His biggest memory of that trip? Not the woods or the associated wildlife. The printer. Yes, the printer.
“I stayed behind a screen, and the printer was there,” he said. “My bed was behind the screen. I just remember all night somebody was printing something. Whether it was defense or special teams. And then, if the defense stayed up late, they’d be printing ’til midnight, and I wouldn’t sleep. The special teams guys were up at 5 printing because they’re early printing guys. And I’m like, ‘This machine never stops.'”
The Campt T tradition of Arizona State football dates back to 1959 with then-coach Frank Kush, who was looking for a way for his team to bond. Being where the temperatures are 20 degrees cooler didn’t hurt.
Vince Amey serves as assistant defensive line coach. He also played for the Sun Devils from 1994 to 1997, so this marked his eighth Camp T, between his playing and coaching days. The cabins and accommodations are as primitive today as they were back then.
“It hasn’t changed one bit,” he said. “Maybe they changed out the mattress covers. But that’s about it.”
ASU has about 40 players who are experiencing it for the first time. The veterans made sure to exaggerate the situation just to get a rise out of the newbies.
“They told them they’re going to have to pitch their own tent and live in it,” Amey said. “They put as much out there as they could. Everybody was in on it. Some guys believed more than others.”
Dillingham admits there are many misconceptions. And some players are just more gullible than others.
“There are a lot of good myths,” he said. “Like if you’re late, you have to run up to the top of the mountain. Stuff like that. I think that’s what they did back in the day. I don’t think I’d be the head coach here if we started doing that now. You have to climb to the top, you have to pitch a tent at the top of the mountain and make fire. Some guys believe that. Shock.
“We saw a bear last year. It wasn’t a bear. It was a cow, roaming right here, and it walked right on the field. Used the restroom and left. So there are all sorts of crazy things that happen up here. Some of these guys have never been in this situation.”
There is no television, and the internet is spotty at best. There are no video games. The players actually communicate with each other. Nightly campfires are another tradition. And yes, animals are roaming around. Really.
“We went up to the campfire, and there were elk eating the hay we were supposed to sit on,” Dillingham said. “Where else can you go, and you know, there are gigantic elk? I don’t know whatever animal that was out there.”
Offensive tackle Champ Westbrooks said two years ago his position group was having a meeting by a campfire and encountered what all thought was a bull.
This trip featured the usual camp hijinks. Rodney Bimage had a tarantula in a paper cup and ran around, terrorizing teammates and coaches. Players chased each other with water guns and pelted each other with objects in the dark.
Sophomore linebacker Tristan Bacon is almost as experienced as the coaches. He’s a local product of Kellis High School and said this is his seventh such trip because he made the trip with his high school teams.
Among the spectators taking in the festivities was Tristan’s father, Barry, a retired Phoenix firefighter and running back at ASU in 1992 and 1993. So he made the trip too, three decades before his son.
He says the only change is the artificial turf field, which was installed in 2019.
“The field has changed,” Barry Bacon said. “The camaraderie is the same. There used to be a trailer right there that the freshmen had to stay in, and they got rid of that. Other than that, man, it’s the same field. You come here as a team to get together, get better, get the reps, and get ready for the season. It’s exciting.”
While the living accommodations might be a bit primitive, much is gained by the experience.
“You’re all trapped together, and you’re in misery,” Dillingham said. “You have to find a way to enjoy it. We were talking, and someone said, `Is there ever a place you stayed with worse living arrangements than here.’ There is not an answer other than no. This stuff is 40 years old. It hasn’t changed since Vince Amey was in here. I think they added a bunk. Instead of a double, it’s a triple now. It is as old-school, as far as living arrangements, as bad as it gets. But from a culture standpoint, look where we’re at.”