Kevin Sumlin is returning to college football.
The former Arizona coach is joining the Maryland program as co-offensive coordinator, according to multiple reports. Sumlin also is expected to coach tight ends for UM under Mike Locksley.
Sumlin, 58, served as Arizona’s head coach from 2018-20. He came to Tucson with great expectations after a prosperous run at Texas A&M, but his UA teams got progressively worse.
Despite the presence of dynamic quarterback Khalil Tate, the Wildcats went 5-7 in Sumlin’s first season — down from 7-6 the previous year under Rich Rodriguez.
Arizona started the following season 4-1 before losing its final seven games. The Wildcats went 0-5 during the COVID-shortened 2020 season, which ended with a humiliating 70-7 loss to rival Arizona State. Sumlin was fired the next day and ultimately replaced by Jedd Fisch. The UA’s losing streak grew to a school-record 20 games — 12 on Sumlin’s watch — before the Wildcats finally snapped it in November 2021.
Sumlin resurfaced as the head coach and general manager of the USFL’s Houston Gamblers in 2022. The Gamblers went 3-7 in Sumlin’s lone season.
Sumlin rose through the coaching ranks as an offensive assistant, last serving in a coordinator capacity at Oklahoma in 2007. He spent the next four seasons as the head coach at Houston, going 35-17, before his six-year run at Texas A&M, where was 51-26.
Maryland was in the coordinator market following the departure of Dan Enos for Arkansas. The Terrapins return starting quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa, the younger brother of Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa.
