The Arizona Wildcats’ quarterback situation became muddled as the 2019 season progressed. Khalil Tate began and ended the campaign as the starter. In between, he platooned with Grant Gunnell.
The rotation yielded diminishing returns. Arizona lost its final seven games. The Wildcats scored 27 total points in their final three.
Tate has used up his eligibility, so Arizona’s quarterback room will have a different look in 2020. UA coach Kevin Sumlin already has a grasp on how it might shape up, at least initially.
“Grant has the upper hand because he’s played,” Sumlin said during a news conference Friday in which he discussed the UA’s new signing class and introduced new defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads.
“I think it starts there. Everybody else is really in a competition to see where they are.”
Gunnell, the record-setting QB from Houston, started three games and appeared in eight as a freshman. He passed for 1,239 yards with nine touchdowns and one interception. He completed 65.2% of his throws.
The competition behind Gunnell — who won’t be handed the job but will enter spring practice with the lead — consists of two veterans and one newcomer.
Rhett Rodriguez will be a senior in 2020, although he could convert this past season into a redshirt year after appearing in only one game. Rodriguez has nine career appearances, including one start. He has passed for 526 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions.
Kevin Doyle is entering his third year in the program but has yet to appear in a game. Offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone recruited Doyle, who signed in February 2018 and immediately became the highest-rated recruit in Arizona’s recruiting class, per 247Sports’ composite rankings. Doyle was slowed by a shoulder injury this past summer and spent most of the season running the scout team.
The new addition is incoming freshman Will Plummer, who will enroll in January and participate in spring practice. Like Doyle, Plummer is a three-star recruit with an impressive physical skill set.
“I like the fact that when his brother was playing quarterback” — Jack Plummer preceded Will as the starter at Gilbert High School and now plays for Purdue — “he was playing all kinds of positions,” Sumlin said. “He was playing tight end, he was playing linebacker a couple games that I saw.
“He is a physical guy that can run and just loves to play. I think that speaks to his unselfishness. I think it speaks to his toughness.”
How the spring practice reps are distributed among the quarterbacks remains to be seen. Sumlin seems to have a pecking order in his mind.
“Competition’s a coach’s best friend,” he said. “But there’s no doubt with Grant, how much he’s played … he’s gonna start off and be No. 1.”
State of affairs
UA coach Kevin Sumlin says there will be quarterback competition this spring, but that Grant Gunnell is ahead.
Plummer is one of three UA signees from the state of Arizona. The status of one of the others, Florence defensive end Regen Terry, was up in the air entering the Dec. 18-20 early signing period after he visited USC last weekend.
The Wildcats ended up winning that battle, a significant development for a program fighting to make an impression on in-state recruits who mostly have been signing with out-of-state schools.
“He’s the Jordan Morgan of this year so far,” said Sumlin, referring to the Marana High School offensive lineman who also had a USC offer but signed with Arizona a year ago. “He is a national recruit that we evaluated early, had on campus early, and then here comes everybody at the end. We hung on again with a guy that’s right up the road. It’s extremely important.
“In this case, I think relationships mattered. I know they did. He’s happy, (his) mom is happy and we’re happy because we need D-linemen.”
The Wildcats continue to pursue Gilbert Higley four-star defensive end Jason Harris. The son of former UA linebacker Sean Harris and the younger brother of current edge rusher Jalen Harris is planning to announce his college choice at the Under Armour All-America Game on Jan. 2.
Jason Harris is also considering offers from Colorado and Indiana. He visited UCLA last weekend. Rhoads was a member of the Bruins’ staff at that time. The new defensive coordinator could aid in the recruitment of Harris, although the identity of the defensive line coach could be the deciding factor.
Sumlin and his staff have been criticized for failing to land in-state prospects, especially a trio of Tucson recruits — Salpointe Catholic’s Bijan Robinson, Lathan Ransom and Bruno Fina — who signed elsewhere. The UA began the 2019 recruiting cycle by visiting just about every football-playing high school in the state.
“So it’s not that we’re not working at it,” Sumlin said. “It’s not that we don’t have a lot of guys here that we’re visiting. It’s a process.
“Our new guy might help us too, since he snatched a couple out of here.”
Paul Rhoads promised a return to basics after he was introduced Friday as the UA’s new defensive coordinator.
UCLA signed four recruits from Arizona. Rhoads was one of two Bruins assistants in charge of recruiting the state.
“I came down here to finish up recruiting Kenny Churchwell two years ago,” said Rhoads, who helped UCLA secure the three-star defensive back from Phoenix Mountain Pointe. “I told our director of player personnel, ‘If you don’t have anybody assigned, I’ll take Arizona.’
“I’ve developed a good relationship with the coaches in the state, and (I’m) looking forward to continuing to do that.”
Halfway there
Arizona signed 13 players this week, including Oregon graduate transfer Brenden Schooler on Saturday. The Wildcats can add at least 25 in the 2020 class, and that appears to be the goal.
“We’re about half right now,” Sumlin said.
Three players who verbally committed to the UA did not sign this week: offensive lineman Cedric Melton, cornerback Alphonse Oywak and linebacker Jabar Triplett. It’s possible all three will become Wildcats in February. Although the majority of prospects have signed during the early period since its advent, it’s not uncommon for players to wait to participate in signing-day ceremonies with their high school teammates.
Arizona also had staff uncertainty that at least partially has been cleared up with the hiring of Rhoads. Triplett, a three-star prospect from Louisiana, tweeted his support of the move Friday.
With Triplett delaying his signing, Arizona has yet to ink a linebacker in the 2020 class. The Wildcats also don’t have any safeties. They probably could use two of each.
Those positions won’t necessarily be the primary focus over the next several weeks, however.
Asked which spots are Arizona’s biggest priorities, Sumlin said: “The front, from both sides. We’ve got to get more depth. We’ve got to get more size. That’s been the story since Day 1. I think we made some steps last year.”
Arizona signed eight linemen in 2019, four on each side of the ball. The ’20 class currently features four linemen, two on each side of the ball.
Adding players between now and February is easier said than done, but Sumlin and his staff plan to pursue every avenue. That includes graduate transfers and other players in the NCAA transfer portal.
“We’re still recruiting,” Sumlin said. “I think it’s changed a little bit this year. There are more guys out there that are available than maybe last year. So January will be important, how we finish up and how we continue to recruit, because there’s still a number of guys that we are recruiting who have not signed, and I don’t think we’re alone in that situation.”
