“I had coaches from Texas, Ohio State, LSU, you name them, here on a consistent basis and Arizona just didn’t spend that time here. (Ex UA Running Back Coach) Demarco Murray, I’m sure is a nice guy, but he would show up to spring scrimmage and leave after five minutes.” — Ex-Salpointe Head Football Coach Dennis Bene
The hiring of Kevin Sumlin on January 4, 2018 was met with universal praise from national and local media alike.
The Sumlin experience at Texas A&M was somewhat of a mixed bag. In his first season with the Aggies, A&M finished 5th nationally and his quarterback, Johnny Manziel, won the Heisman Trophy. A&M didn’t sniff that kind of success during the remainder of Sumlin’s tenure at College Station. It was a gradual slide toward the 8-win plateau before Sumlin was fired in late 2017.
Fortunately for Sumlin, there was an intriguing opening in Tucson. And, on paper, for Arizona, there was a lot to like. Sure, Sumlin was a .500 coach in the SEC, but when Alabama, Auburn and LSU reside in the same side of the division, a mediocre record can result for even good coaches.
Sumlin was able to recruit at a top 10 level, and just as importantly recruit the state of Arizona with the likes of future high draft picks Christian Kirk and Qualen Cunningham. Even more advantageous was the seemingly perfect local recruiting situation developing at powerhouse Salpointe High School, a mere five-minute drive from the Arizona campus. But this advantage was never utilized, and barely even accessed.
“Honestly, Arizona hasn’t understood in the longest time how to recruit locally,” Bene said. “Right now, just from Salpointe you have the starting running back at Texas, starting safety at Ohio State, a linemen at Washington, Oregon and UCLA and not one was a priority recruit for Arizona. In fact, Arizona wasn’t even the majority of these kids’ first offer.
“I had coaches from Texas, Ohio State, LSU, you name them, here on a consistent basis and Arizona just didn’t spend that time here. Demarco Murray (ex-UA running back coach), I’m sure, is a nice guy, but he would show up to spring scrimmage and leave after five minutes.”
There are two elements to this thought process that tie into one another. These kids didn’t go to in-state rival Arizona State either. Why does that matter? It means they were just too good to stay in the vicinity. If powerhouses are recruiting in Tucson, programs in rebuild like Arizona and ASU don’t stand a chance. And if you don’t stand a chance, why waste time on something that won’t pan out?
Bene doesn’t subscribe to that defeatist recruiting attitude. Take, for instance, the case of current Texas sophomore All-American running back Bijan Robinson.
“Bijan is one of the best players this state has ever produced,” Bene said. “And there is this misnomer that Arizona would never have been able to get him. Maybe Bijan would have left, but he loves Tucson and was always intrigued about playing in front of his family and friends. The staff didn’t put in near the time. You recruit a kid of that caliber until the end.”
Bruno Fina, currently a lineman at UCLA, is one of the biggest head scratchers. Not to mention, his dad played at the UA.
“This is a kid who is huge, a straight A student and John ‘freaking’ Fina’s son,” Bene noted, “and you only offer after UCLA and USC?”
That was the recruiting problem. There was also a game-day problem.
Between the lines, Sumlin couldn’t develop Khalil Tate, the mercurial talent who exploded onto the scene near the end of the Rodriquez era. Tate regressed dramatically under Sumlin’s tutelage.
Under Sumlin, Arizona was the college football equivalent of the Hindenburg.
Sumlin was a done deal long before last year’s 70-7 debacle against ASU. However, that was a welcome last straw for a program that hadn’t just hit rock bottom, but appeared to be staking claim there.
So where do you go from here? And what do you do to get where this beleaguered program wants to be?
Jedd Fisch.
