Arizona’s Sumlin discusses rebuilding strategies, program strengths
Jul 25, 2018, 5:32 PM
Arizona Wildcats first-year head coach Kevin Sumlin isn’t going to change much in his latest stop as a college football head coach.
“I think it’s the same as we’ve done at the last two stops,” the former Texas A&M and Houston head coach said at Pac-12 Media Day Wednesday. “I think we’ve shown the ability to recruit and develop student-athletes athletically and academically. That doesn’t really change. We’ve played at different levels, even at the University of Houston, and playing and Big 12 teams and winning those games and being in the other league.”
It’s an adjustment for Sumlin as a recruiter. No longer being in-state with Texas’ strong recruiting base, there will still be a little bit of change in that sense. But as far as Sumlin’s overall long-term picture goes, that’s actually not where anything changes.
“Our recruiting philosophy is not going to change,” he said. “Hopefully, we can retain because of our location the great players in this state. But obviously, we’re going to have to branch out and be in California and be back in Texas and all points in between.”
With a new position comes a new recruiting pitch and Sumlin believes the school itself is the program’s biggest strength.
“Oh, Tucson,” Sumlin said when asked what the biggest advantage was for the school. “We’ve got a great university. Just a fabulous campus. I think as people get to know more and more about what our campus looks like, what our brand of football is like, what our administration is about with President Robbins and Dave Heeke is our athletic director, there is a vision there, a vision that they communicated clearly to me that they want to win and compete for championships in all sports, including football.”
Sumlin credited the recent renovations to the school’s stadium and more as a representation of a commitment towards winning.
The 53-year-old head coach comes to a team that has a potential Heisman Trophy candidate in junior quarterback Khalil Tate.
Did that swing his decision to coach the Wildcats? Not exactly.
“It didn’t hurt, let’s put it that way,” Sumlin said. “It really wasn’t — I’ll just tell you this. It was more — it was less about players than it was about the administration. I thought the division, like I said earlier, the division of Dr. Robbins and Dave Heeke, was outstanding in its championship vision and their ability to articulate that with what they were looking for in a football program.
“As a coach, it matched the philosophy that I had, and it was a great opportunity.”
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