Former Arizona head coach Kevin Sumlin to coach UFL's Houston Gamblers

Former Arizona Wildcats head coach Kevin Sumlin is returning to the UFL to lead the Houston Gamblers. 

The UFL announced Sumlin as the head coach of the Gamblers earlier this week. 

Sumlin was the head coach and general manager of the Gamblers in their inaugural season of the revived USFL, which later merged with the XFL to become the UFL. Sumlin was 3-7 in his lone season with the Gamblers. 

The 61-year-old Sumlin was most recently a co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach at Maryland for two seasons under Mike Locksley. In 2023, Sumlin was arrested for DUI. Following the 2024 season, Sumlin was fired by Maryland. 

Sumlin first became a head coach with the Houston Cougars in 2008. Sumlin led Houston to a 35-18 record from 2008-11, before becoming a head at Texas A&M. 

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Following his six-year tenure at Texas A&M, where he coached Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Johnny Manziel, Sumlin was fired by the Aggies in 2017 with a 51-26 record.

Sumlin was hired by Arizona, where he posted a 9-20 record over three years. Sumlin inherited star quarterback Khalil Tate, who emerged as one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in college football in 2017, but the Wildcats failed to make a bowl game in Tate's last two years at Arizona. 

Sumlin's UA stint was stamped by a 70-7 loss to rival Arizona State to end the truncated and pandemic-influenced season in 2020. Sumlin was fired the next day. His buyout from Texas A&M and Arizona totaled $17.5 million. 

Sumlin had the shortest tenure of a fired UA coach since John Mackovic from 2001-03. 

The UFL season runs from March to June.