Kevin Sumlin to be new Arizona football coach

After losing a reported favorite earlier in the day Sunday, Arizona has quickly landed on Kevin Sumlin as their new football coach.

Things moved pretty quickly with Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo and the University of Arizona, from a report he was the favorite to replace Rich Rodriguez to his withdrawal from consideration over roughly 48 hours. Kevin Sumlin seemed to be a top candidate all the way along since Rodriguez was fired, and according to Bruce Feldman of Sports Illustrated the former Texas A&M head coach is expected to become the new head coach at Arizona.

Sumlin had a 51-26 record over six seasons at Texas A&M, but five straight seasons at or below .500 in SEC play ultimately doomed him to fired. Including his three seasons at Houston, Sumlin is 86-43 over 10  total seasons as a head coach.

NFL.com analyst Gil Brandt was the first to come out with the news Sumlin is headed to Arizona.

Sumlin was an immediate candidate to replace Todd Graham at Arizona State in late November. But Herm Edwards was ultimately hired there, to be a CEO/motivational speaker type apparently above all else. Even with the early January firing of Rodriguez being less than ideal timing for Arizona, they are now set to hire someone based on their actual merits as a football coach.

Wildcats quarterback Khalil Tate took to Twitter to suggest he would not he happy if Niumatalolo brought Navy’s triple-option offense with him to Arizona. But the early 2018 Heisman Trophy candidate should be happy with the hiring of Sumlin.

Related Story: 5 candidates to replace Rich Rodriguez at Arizona

Sumlin never took Texas A&M over the hump, in the SEC or nationally, especially once Johnny Manziel was gone and consistency at quarterback became an issue. But Arizona should be happy with 8-10 wins every season, an occasional jump to a notable bowl game and wins over Arizona State to end regular seasons more often than not.