The idea of Kevin Sumlin coaching at Arizona seemed perfect on paper. The real-world results never materialized.
After a humiliating defeat in the most important game of the season — which extended a school-record losing streak — the UA administration concluded that a change had to be made.
The university fired Sumlin on Saturday after two-plus seasons.
Sumlin, 56, posted a 9-20 record as Wildcats coach after arriving in January 2018. His winning percentage of .310 is the second worst for any UA coach who has presided over at least 20 games.
Sumlin inherited a team that went 7-6 in 2017 under Rich Rodriguez. Since then, Arizona has gone 5-7, 4-8 and 0-5 — with the latest loss the worst of all: a 70-7 defeat against rival Arizona State on Friday night. It was the most lopsided setback by the Wildcats in the 94-year history of the Territorial Cup game.
Arizona has lost 12 consecutive games overall, a school record. The Wildcats’ last victory came on Oct. 5, 2019, at Colorado. They were 4-1 at that time.
“When we hired Kevin three years ago, we had very high hopes for our football program,” UA athletic director Dave Heeke said in a statement. “Unfortunately, we simply have not seen the results and upward trajectory in our program that we needed to, and I believe now is the time for a change in leadership. I thank Kevin for his service to the University of Arizona and wish him the very best in the future.
“Our attention now turns to finding the next head coach at the University of Arizona, while we continue to support our student-athletes, who have sacrificed so much since returning to campus this summer. We will cast a wide net to identify and recruit a coach who shares our vision, our values and our passion for winning.”
First-year defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads, formerly the head coach at Iowa State, will serve as the interim coach. Arizona is supposed to be part of the Pac-12’s Dec. 18-19 schedule, but the status of that game has yet to be determined. The Wildcats were in danger of falling below the threshold of 53 available scholarship players before several players got hurt vs. the Sun Devils.
Kevin Sumlin
Sumlin was in the third year of a five-year contract that runs through Jan. 15, 2023. He is owed a buyout of more than $7 million. Half of that amount is due within 30 days of termination. The other half must be paid by the original end date of the deal.
The university said it will “honor the terms of Sumlin’s existing contract, including all buyout provisions, with funding from athletics-generated revenue and sources.”
Lofty expectations
The UA football program appeared to be in a good shape when Sumlin came aboard. The Wildcats had gone to a bowl game for the fifth time in six years under Rodriguez. It had a supremely gifted quarterback in Khalil Tate.
Despite his record here, Rodriguez was let go. The UA cited concerns “with the direction and climate of the football program.” The decision was made by Heeke, who came to Arizona in February 2017, and Robert C. Robbins, who became UA president on June 1 of that year.
Sumlin had been fired by Texas A&M late in the ’17 season, but he had an otherwise excellent resume. He had helped groom star quarterbacks Case Keenum at Houston and Johnny Manziel at A&M. Sumlin had suffered just one losing season in 10 years as a head coach. He had a winning percentage of .667.
The marriage of Sumlin and Tate seemed ideal. Manziel had thrived in Sumlin’s system, becoming the first redshirt freshman to win the Heisman Trophy. Tate oozed with talent and had rushed for more than 1,400 yards during the 2017 season.
But Manziel wasn’t coached by Noel Mazzone, whom Sumlin brought from A&M to be Arizona’s quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. Tate and Mazzone never seemed to be on the same page of the playbook.
In the very first game under Sumlin and Mazzone, Tate rushed just eight times for 14 yards. Arizona, an 11-point favorite, lost at home to BYU 28-23.
The following week, Tate turned an ankle and Arizona got blown out at Houston. So began a pattern of one-sided defeats on the road.
The Wildcats lost by 27 points at Houston, by 32 at Utah and by 41 at Washington State in 2018. Last year, they lost by 27 at USC and by 28 at Oregon.
Arizona finished the ’18 season with a one-point loss to ASU. The Wildcats had a 40-21 lead entering the fourth quarter. They appeared to take their foot off the gas early in the period. Sumlin also made questionable decisions to try for two-point conversions earlier in the contest.
Arizona head coach Kevin Sumlin walks through his Wildcats as they stretch out in preparation for the second day of practice for the upcoming season, Tucson, Ariz., July 26, 2019.
The loss knocked Arizona out of bowl contention. Questions about Tate’s fit in Mazzone’s offense lingered. But they ran it back the next year, and the program seemed to be trending upward.
After an opening loss at Hawaii — where Tate came within a yard of scoring the tying or possibly winning touchdown on the final play — the Wildcats won four in a row. Tate had the best passing game of his career in their last win.
The following week, Arizona held a 17-13 halftime lead over Washington. But Tate and the offense buckled under relentless pressure from the Huskies. The Wildcats lost 51-27. They haven’t won since.
Only one game during the streak has been decided by fewer than 10 points — this year’s opener against USC. The Trojans won 34-30, scoring the go-ahead touchdown with 25 seconds remaining.
Friday’s nightmare
Even as the losing streak grew to record proportions, nothing that transpired under Sumlin could approach the nightmare of Friday night.
Arizona allowed a touchdown on the opening kickoff. The Wildcats were down 14-0 less than a minute into the game. They turned the ball over seven times. They surrendered the most points either side ever has in the Territorial Cup series.
Arizona had suffered numerous personnel losses in the offseason and during the season itself. That hasn’t been an unusual occurrence across college football during the pandemic. But the departures — mostly at linebacker and in the defensive backfield — exacerbated already-existing depth issues.
Arizona running back Gary Brightwell, left, loses his grip on a pitch as Arizona State defensive back Evan Fields closes in in the first minute of the first quarter of their Pac-12 game at Arizona Stadium on Dec. 11, 2020. The Sun Devils would recover and score on the next play.
The Wildcats had held it together fairly well through the first four games, and the hiring of Rhoads — part of a remaking of the defensive staff in the offseason — looked like perhaps the best move Sumlin had made.
Then it all fell apart against the Sun Devils.
Sumlin was asked afterward whether he was concerned about losing his job.
“No,” he replied. “It’s what we sign up for. It’s a tough deal. But as a coach, you can’t approach life, your team, anything like that. We’ve just gotta keep working at it. That’s what I’m gonna do.”
The postgame news conference on Zoom turned out to be Sumlin’s last as Arizona’s head coach.
Uncertain future
Heeke now will set out to hire his second football coach in three years. Rhoads is a possibility for the job, although Heeke might be hesitant to pursue anyone who’s been fired in the past. Two coaches from the Mountain West Conference — San Jose State’s Brent Brennan and Nevada’s Jay Norvell — are among the names already being bandied about.
The timing of the firing is suboptimal with the early signing period starting Wednesday. Then again, with the late-starting season bumping up against it, there was no ideal timeframe.
At least three of Arizona’s 21 commitments for the class of 2021 already have said they will sign with the Wildcats even after Sumlin’s firing.
It remains to be seen how many others will follow suit. Verbal commitments aren’t binding, and recruits can wait until February to sign if they so desire.
The current roster also is in a state of flux. Any of the 13 players who participated in the senior-night ceremony — capped off by each posing for a photo with Sumlin near midfield — could choose to keep playing football. Players who opted out this year also could come back.
Senior tight end Bryce Wolma didn’t walk on senior night and plans to take advantage of his extra year of eligibility. He was asked a question that has proved difficult to answer for years: What needs to change in the Arizona football program?
“I don’t know. That’s a tough question,” Wolma said. “I think guys are giving effort. I think guys want to win, obviously. I think it’s a combination of a lot of things.
“There comes a time — as players, coaches, everybody — we’ve just got to look ourselves in the mirror and ask who you are and what you want to do and what can you personally do to change it?”
