Several days into the search for a new football coach, it has become clear that Arizona athletic director Dave Heeke and the UA administration have a very specific profile in mind.
In sum: The Wildcats are looking for a leader who feels passionate about the university, will connect with the community and is willing to put in the work to build a sustained, winning culture.
“These are complex jobs,” Heeke said during a video news conference Friday. “This is a complex enterprise, the college football world. But sometimes we make it too complex. This is about a leader of men, a leader of a football program, committed to using football to build better young people.”
The UA fired Kevin Sumlin last Saturday after three losing seasons that ended on a miserable note: a 70-7 loss to rival Arizona State the previous evening. Heeke said he began a “national” search for a coach Sunday and has been engaged in “ongoing conversations with numerous individuals that have interest (and) that we have interest in.”
Heeke has conducted at least two interviews, the Star has learned. He is expected to speak with San Jose State coach Brent Brennan as early as this Sunday. SJSU is set to face Boise State in the Mountain West Conference Championship Game on Saturday afternoon. Brennan’s counterpart in that game, Bryan Harsin, also might be in the mix.
Other potential candidates include Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo, Nevada coach Jay Norvell and Oregon co-defensive coordinator Joe Salave’a.
Heeke doesn’t have a specific timeline for finalizing the hire. He’d like to get it done sooner than later — especially with the roster in flux — but also doesn’t want to rush a decision he knows he can’t afford to get wrong.
“We’re going to move as quickly, as swiftly as we can,” Heeke said. “But we’ve got to be thorough and diligent. Those two things can work together.”
Heeke described the traits he’s seeking in great detail. They all fit a theme.
“First, we need someone who’s committed to the mission and the purpose of the University of Arizona and of Arizona athletics, our department. We need someone who is committed to an athlete’s total success,” Heeke said.
“We need someone who embodies the incredible ‘Bear Down’ spirit that is what this program is all about. We need someone with great integrity, great character — someone who cares deeply about their players, someone who is passionate about this job, about this university, about this athletic program, about this community, about this state — that they look at this as an incredible opportunity.
“We need a program builder — someone who can attract great assistant coaches around them, to help our young men, help our football program move forward. We need someone who really can bring together and build on the bones of U of A football. And that is the great tradition and history of our program.”
Big-picture outlook
When he informed the team about the decision to fire Sumlin on Saturday afternoon, Heeke reiterated that it wasn’t just the loss to ASU that prompted the change. He was looking at the big picture for UA football and the athletic department — including finances.
Heeke acknowledged that Arizona is facing a $45 million deficit for the 2020-21 fiscal year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Every athletic department across the country has lost revenue because of it.
Heeke also understands how it looks to release a coach — at a cost of around $7 million, if his full buyout as of last Saturday was paid — during a difficult time for so many, including the athletic department’s own current and laid-off employees.
“Some might ask, why would we do that? Why would we make the decision to change now? Why would we (burden) ourselves with that contractually obligated buyout? I’d say, quite frankly, we could not afford not to do that,” Heeke said. “We had to move forward.”
Heeke explained that faith in the football program — among fans, ticket buyers, stakeholders, donors and the community at large — is a critical component to the financial viability of an athletic program. That faith had eroded under Sumlin. It needed to be repaired as fast as possible.
Arizona had to pay a steep price in the short term in the hopes of ensuring a more prosperous future.
“Our decision to incur additional expense with this buyout wasn’t easy,” Heeke said. “But it was made with the need to emerge out of this ... challenging year with a strong recovery plan.”
The exact amount of the buyout is unclear. Although he stated when he fired Sumlin that the UA would “honor the terms of Sumlin’s existing contract, including all buyout provisions,” Heeke implied that some wiggle room still exists. Sumlin’s contract calls for a buyout of just under $7.5 million if he were fired before Jan. 16.
“The conversations have begun between both parties regarding where that will land and what the ultimate outcomes will be,” Heeke said.
“It’s a very difficult time,” he added. “But we cannot sit back and not be ready to emerge out of this in the coming years to be successful. Not taking action will stall that and could ultimately doom the future of the program.”
‘Sense of obligation’
Although the loss to ASU wasn’t only factor that led to Sumlin’s firing, it was a final straw of sorts. It was also a call to action.
Former UA defensive lineman Joe Tafoya took to Twitter that night to apologize to former coach Dick Tomey “for allowing this to happen to our legacy.”
“I felt a sense of obligation,” Tafoya said. “I have a responsibility as a former player, a team captain and leader to step up and help. I hadn’t done that.
“At that point, I started hearing from a lot of friends and teammates. It kind of hit home. Can we do something? Should we do something?”
About 300 UA football alumni got together on Zoom this week to discuss the state of the program. Four of them, led by Tafoya, then met virtually with Heeke.
Heeke has taken input from a variety of sources, including former and current players, former UA athletic director Cedric Dempsey and current school president Robert C. Robbins. The alumni, Heeke quickly discovered, possess a quality the new coach must have: passion for the UA.
“There was alignment in where we were headed,” Heeke said, “what we want to do and how we want to build this program going forward.”
Heeke suggested that football borrow a page from basketball and brand itself as a “players’ program.” He also emphasized the importance of the new coach embracing the fan base and the Tucson community.
“They want to know that they’ve shook the hand of the leader of Wildcat football,” Heeke said. “That’s important to our people.
“There’s great power in that ... inclusiveness that separates this place from others. So let’s capture it, let’s grasp that and capitalize on that.”
If it’s essential for the new coach to build a connection to Tucson, does he also have to have direct ties to the program? Not necessarily, Heeke said.
“I think it’s critical that a person understand our values, that they understand our history, they understand our tradition,” he said. “I believe there are people that can develop a plan, incorporate an assistant coaching group, have a philosophy that is similar to those that have been here before, that have seen success.
“There needs to be some recognition of the power that exists here. ... The past doesn’t define everything. But I think being true to some of those principles will help us going forward.”
