Five ways Kevin Sumlin will positively impact recruiting as coach of the Arizona Wildcats

The Wildcats' five-star hire

The recruiting community views Kevin Sumlin as a five-star hire for the Arizona Wildcats.

That doesn’t necessarily mean Sumlin and his staff will be able to bring a string of five-star prospects to Tucson. Nor does it mean his impact will be felt in any obvious way on Wednesday’s National Signing Day; because of the early signing period, most of Arizona’s 2018 class is set.

But recruiting analysts — noting Sumlin’s track record and established relationships in key geographical areas — believe he will experience great success in attracting talent to the UA. He is widely considered an upgrade in that regard over predecessor Rich Rodriguez, whose shortcomings in recruiting contributed to his downfall.

“I thought it was a great hire — probably the best they could do from a recruiting perspective,” said Adam Gorney, national recruiting analyst for Rivals and Yahoo! Sports. “Everybody I’ve talked to is very excited about it.”

Sumlin's success at Texas A&M could be replicated at Arizona

Recruiting rankings are an inexact exercise, relying on projections and myriad unpredictable factors. But they do provide some context for what Sumlin was able to accomplish at his previous stop.

Texas A&M never ranked lower than 18th nationally in recruiting from 2012-17, according to 247Sports. The Aggies’ 2014 class — headlined by five-star pass rusher Myles Garrett, who became the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft three years later — ranked fifth.

Over that same span, Arizona never ranked higher than 31st. In five of the six years, the Wildcats landed between 42nd and 48th.

“I thought it was a home-run hire on every single front — recruiting, likability, creative scheme, staff, keeping Marcel Yates,” Greg Biggins, national recruiting analyst for 247Sports, said of Sumlin. “Every single box, he checked off for me.

“With these jobs, it’s not always who the best coach is but who fits the best. I just think Sumlin fits at Arizona.”

Here are five ways in which Sumlin fits what Arizona needs from a recruiting standpoint:

1. Been there, done that.

Sumlin has recruited top players from Arizona and Texas. He’s also familiar with the West Coast footprint — California, Nevada, Utah — dating to his days at Washington State and Wyoming.

“He’s very familiar with that landscape,” ESPN recruiting director Tom Luginbill said. “Then you transition to his time at Oklahoma; Oklahoma recruited the West Coast extensively. Now you look at Texas A&M and his tenure there as the head coach. You could argue the best offensive weapon they had outside of Johnny Manziel was Christian Kirk.”

Kirk, a possible first-round pick in the upcoming draft, played at Scottsdale Saguaro High School. Kyle Allen, a five-star quarterback in the Aggies’ 2014 class, played at Scottsdale Desert Mountain.

“If you look at Arizona — and you can apply this to Arizona State as well — when those two programs are at their best and competing for conference championships, the bulk of their roster is out of the state of the California, and the best players from the state of Arizona don’t leave,” Luginbill said. “That hasn’t been the case for either of those two schools as of late.”

In 2012 and ’13, the top three prospects (per 247’s rankings) from Arizona chose out-of-state schools. In 2014, the top four left — with two going to Sumlin at A&M. This year, three of the top four are headed to out-of-state schools. The other, Phoenix receiver Solomon Enis, is uncommitted but is expected to sign with Penn State, where his father played.

Only once since 2012 — when Rodriguez took over at Arizona and Todd Graham at ASU — has the top-ranked player in Arizona selected an Arizona school. N’Keal Harry picked Arizona State in 2016; he's now entering his junior season with the Sun Devils.

2. California, here they come

California has been a prime source of talent for Arizona and ASU. Sumlin did not sign a ton of Californians at A&M. But he made sure to hire (and retain) assistants who have ties throughout the state.

One of them is cornerbacks coach Demetrice Martin, who spent the past six years coaching the secondary at UCLA. He also put in three years at Washington and two at USC.

“Everybody knows him in Southern California,” Gorney said. “He was the best recruiter on UCLA’s staff when he was there.”

Last year, the Bruins signed two five-star recruits from California: Jaelan Phillips and Darnay Holmes. Martin was the lead recruiter for Holmes and tag-teamed with another assistant to land Phillips.

In 2013, Martin was the lead recruiter, or one of them, for eight four-star players from California who signed with UCLA. Arizona had a total of 12 four-star signees, per 247’s rankings, in the entire Rodriguez era.

“Demetrice was a huge hire,” Biggins said. “He’s probably the most well-liked DB coach in Southern California. He knows everybody, and everybody knows him.”

Sumlin also hired Iona Uiagalelei, from Mount San Antonio College, to coach Arizona’s defensive line. Uiagalelei has connections in Southern California and within the Polynesian community. He’s also the uncle of DJ Uiagalelei, who plays at Southern California powerhouse St. John Bosco and is projected to be one of the top quarterbacks in the country in the class of 2020.

DJ Uiagalelei has offers from a plethora of schools, including USC and Alabama. Could the presence of his uncle on Arizona’s staff thrust the Wildcats into that mix?

“They’ll be in his top five the whole way through, and you never know,” Biggins said. “They definitely have a shot because of family.”

3. Knowledge of the game

Over the past week or so, Sumlin and his staff have offered scholarships to a bevy of recruits for next year’s class, including several four-star prospects and some five-stars. Does Arizona have a shot with any of them?

It’s nearly impossible to predict what 17- and 18-year-olds will do. At the very least, when they enthusiastically post news of Arizona’s offers on social media, it’s free publicity for the school.

“You have to at least try,” Biggins said. “It’s all about marketing right now.”

Sumlin is used to going head to head with heavyweights such as Alabama and LSU in the SEC. Texas A&M had to pursue the highest-level recruits to have a chance to compete in the conference.

“You have to take your shots,” Gorney said. “If you’re aggressive, you might be able to luck into some kids who feel the love from him and his staff.”

The best recruiters, Biggins said, throw out a wide net of offers but spend the bulk of their time on the players who are sincerely interested. Since being hired in mid-January, Sumlin has spent considerable time getting to know the players who signed with Arizona in December, visiting as many of them as he could.

The gesture had symbolic value, which Biggins described as follows:

“I didn’t necessarily sign you, but you’re still my guy. We’re all in this as one class. You have value to me. I want you.”

4. Keeping the class intact

Arizona is expected to retain all 16 players who signed in December. Since then, the UA has added transfer Keyshawn Johnson Jr., a former four-star receiver.

Meanwhile, two key commits who weren’t part of that December group have reaffirmed their pledges to Arizona.

Cienega dual-threat quarterback Jamarye Joiner, who had drawn interest from multiple schools, shut down his recruitment two days after Sumlin was hired. Joiner tweeted that he’s “110 percent committed” to Arizona.

Three days later, Las Vegas defensive end Adam Plant Jr. tweeted pictures of himself and a visitor — Sumlin — making the “Wildcat” hand sign. Rivals ranks Plant as the lone four-star prospect in Arizona’s 2018 class.

“Sumlin came in and didn’t lose anybody,” Gorney said. “He could have lost both of them. Joiner was getting recruited heavily. Plant is the best player in their class. Keeping those kids was crucial.”

5. Devils in the details

Arizona State was among the schools Joiner seriously considered. The UA won that battle. The recruiting experts expect Sumlin to have an edge over ASU counterpart Herm Edwards, at least initially.

“They’re bringing in a guy knows how recruiting works,” Biggins said of Sumlin. “Recruiting has changed a ton from five years ago, let alone 20. (Edwards last coached in college in 1989.) It’s going to change again.

“Sumlin gets that. There’s no learning curve for him. He’s ahead of the curve, whereas Herm is going to be learning as he goes.”

Edwards has considerable catching-up to do despite being hired almost six weeks before Sumlin. While both coaches have largely new staffs, Edwards also is putting in place a new structure for evaluating personnel.

That process should be smoother at Arizona, “where you’ve hired a coach that’s been entrenched and established in the college football world,” Luginbill said. “That’s not the case with Herm.”

Gorney, for one, believes Edwards will figure it out. His assistants are on par with Arizona’s, and he can lean on them.

But it will take time. In the interim, Sumlin has the advantage.