Arizona football: 5 candidates to replace Rich Rodriguez
1. Kevin Sumlin – Former Texas A&M head coach
Sumlin was fired at Texas A&M right after the regular season, with a 7-5 record and an overall mark of 51-26 over six seasons there. He surfaced as an immediate candidate at Arizona State, but as we know they hired Herm Edwards to replace Graham.
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Sumlin could simply collect his $10.4 million buyout from Texas A&M, due to him in full by the end of this month with no offset if he takes another job, and sit out of coaching for a year with an eye on entering the coaching carousel after next season. But Arizona has to have some interest, and multiple reports back that up.
Hearing Arizona will consider former Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin to replace Rich Rodriguez. Sumlin's A&M buyout would not be mitigated by landing another job, he may be open to lesser salary to build up his staff at Arizona
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) January 3, 2018
Another name to keep in mind for #Arizona is Kevin Sumlin. I would expect Zona to reach out to him. Also Sumlin a few connections there esp DC Marcel Yates (his old assistant) who has brought in some much-needed size and athleticism there on defense.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) January 3, 2018
Arizona interim head coach Marcel Yates worked under Sumlin as co-defensive coordinator at Texas A&M in 2012 and 2013. That tie could convince Yates to stay on as defensive coordinator after the Wildcats showed some improvement defensively this year before a late-season fade. Any recruiting continuity ties to Yates could also benefit Sumlin’s candidacy at Arizona, beyond his own merits as the best available candidate.