New Arizona football coach Kevin Sumlin talks recruiting, relationships, Khalil Tate and Johnny Football

One-on-one with Sumlin

By Michael Lev / Arizona Daily Star

Kevin Sumlin doesn’t have a desk yet.

The new coach of the Arizona Wildcats has an office. He has a computer. He has Nike swag. But his desk at the Lowell-Stevens Football Facility consists of two tables shoved together.

Sumlin hasn’t had time to go furniture shopping since he took over the UA program earlier this month. He was announced as coach Jan. 14, arrived in Tucson the following night, met the media the next day and has spent most of his time since on the road recruiting. Sumlin also has been assembling his staff, which will be revealed in the coming days.

Asked what he planned to do after National Signing Day on Feb. 7, Sumlin joked: “Sleep.” But he insisted he wasn’t tired despite working nonstop for almost two weeks. Besides, Sumlin added, no one would care if he were.

He did find the time Friday morning for a half-hour sitdown with the Star. Wearing a blue Arizona zip-up over a red polo, black slacks and matching loafers with no socks, Sumlin discussed recruiting, staffing, Khalil Tate, Johnny Manziel and rivalry games. Here is a portion of that conversation, which has been lightly edited for context and clarity:

You’ve made a concerted effort to try to visit as many kids as possible who already have signed with Arizona. Why was that important to you?

A: “If you don’t have a relationship with guys, it becomes difficult. There’s always some anxiety when there’s a new coach. Some guys we recruited at my last school; some guys we didn’t. Whether it’s the student-athlete or it’s the parents, I think it’s important that they know who their coach is. I’m trying to get to see everybody. Sixteen guys is a little bit difficult in a couple weeks. But as we start to build our coaching staff, certainly our assistant coaches will be able to get that relationship with these guys too.”

How would you describe your overall recruiting philosophy and strategy?

A: “We’ve got relationships in the state. It starts here, in state. We’ve also got great relationships in California and Texas, where we’ve had some success in some schools. As we build our staff, that’s going to be critical, because those relationships already have been established. There’s some trust there. That’s where we’ve had some success recruiting, and I don’t think that’s going to change.”

Are there certain traits that you look for in players?

A: “We’ll go through that over the course of time with our players, what those seven pillars of being a part of this program are about. I’d rather talk to the players first about it than to start talking to everybody else. Those characteristics are things we look for in recruiting, but also we try to build once guys are here to keep them working and keep them growing.

“There’s definitely a philosophy. Sure, it takes talent. But character is huge. And desire. Desire to play. You run across guys all the time that are very talented, but do they want to play football? At this level, that gets exposed fairly quickly.

“Do you really like to play the game? Do you love the game? How important is your education to you? What kind of person do you want to be? Those are questions that we’re asking all the time in the recruiting process and talking with young men (about when they’re) here.”

We know you can’t announce your assistants until everything is finalized with contracts and human resources. What was your strategy in constructing the staff?

A: “Football has become so competitive and so specialized. There was a time where you could have (a setup in which) these guys kind of did football and then these guys are the recruiters. I don’t believe that to be the case anymore to be where you wanna be. You’ve gotta have 10 guys and a head coach that can recruit and have real football knowledge and teaching skills. That’s what this staff was based on.

“It’s harder than you think when you have (to find) nine or 10 guys like that. But, fortunately, I’ve done this long enough to know a bunch of people. We’ve got an attractive situation here.”

How long will it take you to get a grasp for the personnel you have available here?

A: “Well, we’ve gotta get through spring football; I’ve gotta figure out when that’s gonna be. In recruiting now, we’ve got some scholarships left. Do we just run out there and sign a couple guys that we don’t have relationships with? Or do we evaluate the roster? Because every coach’s roster is different. You’ve gotta set it up different ways based on your beliefs. Numbers are one thing. Talent’s another.

“The best thing to do is go through spring football and assess where you are depth-wise. And then maybe those scholarships that are still open can best be utilized next year, when you know where the deficiencies are.”

You mentioned during the basketball broadcast Thursday night that managing expectations would be important for Khalil Tate. Why is that an important element for him?

A: “Being around guys who have been in this light before, guys who have been talked about as Heisman candidates, I think it’s important for them to have realistic conversations with people instead of (only) with people they know and trust. Sometimes those conversations are good; sometimes they’re bad.

“(It’s about) not worrying what the prize is at the end but worrying about the process more and sticking to that process and not getting off track — being able to stay focused on what’s gotten him there. And then trying to improve. We’ve gotta continue to grow and continue to make sure that he plays better. But he’s also gotta continue to stick to his own script and not get sidetracked with all the noise.”

You coached Johnny Manziel, who had a two-year run unlike anything that’s happened in college football. What is your biggest takeaway from that experience?

A: “There was a time at Oklahoma where I was around that every year. The only thing that kept Adrian Peterson from (winning the Heisman Trophy) was getting hurt. But Sam Bradford did it. And so did Jason White. That experience really helped. When you’re around great players, things just start building around them that can affect their performance. Managing that is as important as anything.”

Was it different for Johnny because of the era in which he played, his style or his off-field issues?

A: “They’re all different. His was different because nobody knew who he was. Adrian being recruited (so fervently), everybody knew what he was coming out of high school. So the expectation was there anyway. Sam played a bunch at Oklahoma. This was a different situation.”

How much did instability at quarterback after Johnny hurt your ability to sustain the same level of success you had the first two seasons at Texas A&M?

A: “I think it did. There were all different reasons. Some were decisions by players. Some were decisions by me. They were all different — guys leaving the program or me removing them from the program. That instability probably did hurt.”

Maybe this isn’t the right way to phrase it, but what do you think went wrong at Texas A&M?

A: “I’ve moved on.”

There’s been a lot of talk about creating a better atmosphere at the stadium. Was that one of your talking points in the interview process? Or something that (athletic director) Dave Heeke and President (Robert) Robbins emphasized?

A: “I just think it’s important. As I’ve said before, we’ve gotta do our part. But where I’ve been, the atmosphere becomes important for your team in creating energy and excitement. It only helps. It helps the players. It helps everybody.”

Do you have any feel at all for the rivalry against Arizona State?

A: “(Not) in particular. But I’ve been in some real games. I’m sure over the course of the next few months you’re going to get that feeling. The players will start talking about it. People will start talking about it. And we’ll see where that is.

“I’ve never been a we’ve-gotta-circle-this-game guy. I’m not just talking about the rivalry; I’m talking about anybody. You usually have a game the next week. We’ve opened with games like that, and we’ve finished with games like that. We’ll figure that part out.”

After National Signing Day is over, what are the next steps?

A: “With new coaches it’s a little bit different. We have the opportunity to meet with these guys and do some installation work before spring football. So we might push spring football back, maybe a week or two, just so we can get some more time with our team and have guys build those relationships.

“Right now, even though we can get guys hired this week, they won’t be here; I won’t be here. Because of recruiting. And then on the weekends, when you want to talk to them, guess what? We’ve got recruiting weekends. What you don’t want to do is neglect your current players. Phone conversations are one thing, but after that, then it’s time to get to football and relationships, build those and see where we can go after that.”