ARIZONA FOOTBALL

Kevin Sumlin to Arizona: Past, present and (maybe) future Wildcats react

Jan 14, 2018, 4:08 PM | Updated: 7:55 pm

Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin stands on the sideline during an NCAA college football game a...

Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin stands on the sideline during an NCAA college football game against Arkansas on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

(AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

While the Arizona Wildcats have yet to make the reported hiring of Kevin Sumlin as their head football coach official, the initial reactions over the news by UA players on Sunday were mostly positive.

A group of defensive players that vouched for the promotion of interim coach and defensive coordinator Marcel Yates appears pleased that Sumlin, the former Texas A&M head coach, will take the job. That’s because Sumlin is reportedly expected to retain Yates, who he worked with during his tenure leading the Aggies.

Linebacker Tony Fields II, plus defensive backs Scottie Young Jr. and Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles were impressed by the hire.

While former Arizona quarterback B.J. Denker’s future is up in the air after the firing of coach Rich Rodriguez, who was let go in the midst of a harassment scandal, the offensive analyst was also pleased by the reported hiring of Sumlin.

Denker worked as a graduate assistant under Sumlin at Texas A&M from 2015-16.

Former Arizona linebackers Lance Briggs and Ricky Hunley expressed their excitement as well.

And perhaps doing something to prove that Sumlin’s hire will be a boon for the Wildcats on the recruiting front, three-star junior college defensive end recruit Dorian Gerald said Arizona’s hire was a “great” one.

Gerald, a 6-foot-3, 250-pound recruit out of College of the Canyons, was being recruited by Texas A&M.

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