So I'm still at the stadium and waiting for my turn to chat with Kevin Sumlin, but the press conference and our chance to speak with players have now happened. I'll provide some quick updates below and I'll post the videos I have uploaded so far, but be on the lookout for more as things unfold on a busy day for the Wildcats.
VIDEOS
Kevin Sumlin introduced by Dave Heeke
Sumlin talks status of his staff, future of the program
Robert C. Robbins talks about Sumlin
NOTES
* The terms of Kevin Sumlin's contract, which still need to be approved by the ABOR, were released prior to the start of the press conference. His deal will be for five years with a $14.5 million base salary. Sumlin will get $2 million for the first two years of his contract with the final three years seeing a pay increase to $3.5 million. There are "mutual payout obligations" if the contract is terminated early without cause and that includes a mitigation requirement, according to the school.
* There were, in my estimation, close to two dozen former players and coaches in attendance during today's press conference including Bobby Wade, Chuck Cecil, Ricky Hunley and Rod Lewis, who made the trip in from Texas, among many others to watch Sumlin's press conference. It is clear and was made clear that former players will be welcomed with open arms around the Wildcats under Sumlin. He said at one point, "this is your program" directing his comments at the former players in attendance.
* Booster Jeff Stevens was also in attendance at the press conference today.
* Robbins opened things up by mentioning the process a bit and said he went around to various classrooms during the search asking students for input and the resounding choice was Kevin Sumlin. He said the decision to go with Sumlin came was for a variety of reasons, but pointed out recruiting as well as saying he took into account press conference and sideline demeanor when looking for a new head coach (a not-so-subtle jab at Rich Rodriguez). He also said that he believes Sumlin is the right coach for the job when it comes to recruiting the main areas the program wants to target mentioning California, Arizona and Texas in addition to Las Vegas. He opened by saying "welcome to a great day for Arizona football."
* Heeke said, as you would expect an AD to, that Sumlin was the only coach he offered the job to and he said he wanted to make that clear. The Arizona AD said he only met with Sumlin twice in person throughout the search and that it eventually came down to a few candidates. He said "we really connected" when talking about Sumlin and things progressed from there.
* Sumlin said as of now he will have more on his staff in the next couple days, but the only thing he offered up is that Marcel Yates will be retained but he did not go into further detail about what the Arizona defensive coordinator's exact role will be on his staff. Brian Knorr, Scott Boone, Vince Amey and Chris Singletary were other coaches I saw in attendance. Sumlin alluded to the fact that some of the coaches he plans on brining in are currently on other coaching staffs and he didn't want to mess anything up there so he didn't want to go into any more detail.
* As far as recruiting goes Sumlin said he knows the state well and had connections in Phoenix. He mentioned that the program has five or six spots left to fill for the 2018 class and he will have conversations with the current 16 signees about their future in the program. His priority right now is recruiting and it is something he is trying to move quickly on.
* The team was able to meet with Sumlin at 7:15 this morning and it was the first time the players were able to get that opportunity. The new UA coach said he thought the team was a bit tired and still needed to wake up in the meeting, but talking to the players it sounds like things were pretty straightforward and simple in terms of how it went. It was more about giving the players some guidance for the coming days and what he expects, and I will say that the weight room was packed when I walked by prior to the start of the press conference.
* In terms of the players, there were a handful made available to the media after the press conference but most were not able to hear the entire press conference since they were coming from a lift session. Here is a rundown of who we talked to and what they had to say.
Tony Fields II: He said today's meeting went straight forward, but he's looking forward to working under Sumlin. He is most happy that the team will be able to have some continuity and that having Marcel Yates back will allow the team to build on what they started in 2017. He said he personally stayed in contact with Yates and talked to him as much as he could throughout the search process, and he is hopeful the entire defensive staff will be retained but especially Scott Boone and Jahmile Addae. He mentioned that a lot of the things Sumlin said resonated with him and his goals with the program.
Tony Ellison: The redshirt junior receiver said he was a bit surprised to see Rodriguez fired, but he's looking at this as a new opportunity to learn in a new system and help the team however he can. He said much of what the team knew over the course of the last couple weeks was only found out through social media and that was a theme we heard with other players. The players still sound a bit disappointed that they were kept so much out of the loop.
Shawn Poindexter: The senior receiver mentioned that he's excited to play in Sumlin's offense and he believes the team has the pieces in place to make a run in the Pac-12 in the upcoming season. He said the team was certainly a bit down to hear of Rodriguez's firing but as a group the team is excited about the possibilities with Khalil Tate and the offense under Sumlin.
Justin Belknap: The defensive end was another one who is relieved to have Yates remain on staff, but he too was not exactly thrilled that the team had to resort to social media as its means for learning information about its own team. He is hopeful that the team holds onto Addae. He too feels strongly about what the program has in place with the current team and he is hopeful it can continue on an upward trajectory.
* On Tate, it was clear that Sumlin wanted to make a point about his program being more about the team over any one individual. He did mention that he believes there will be a lot of coaches lining up to coach the Arizona quarterback, but he generally tempered expectations for it being a one-man show at Arizona. It will be interesting to see how that plays out, but through subtleties it was clear he wanted to send a message that Arizona football needs to be more than just about Khalil Tate.
I'll have more throughout the day and after I get a chance to meet with Sumlin here in a few minutes
VIDEOS
Kevin Sumlin introduced by Dave Heeke
Sumlin talks status of his staff, future of the program
Robert C. Robbins talks about Sumlin
NOTES
* The terms of Kevin Sumlin's contract, which still need to be approved by the ABOR, were released prior to the start of the press conference. His deal will be for five years with a $14.5 million base salary. Sumlin will get $2 million for the first two years of his contract with the final three years seeing a pay increase to $3.5 million. There are "mutual payout obligations" if the contract is terminated early without cause and that includes a mitigation requirement, according to the school.
* There were, in my estimation, close to two dozen former players and coaches in attendance during today's press conference including Bobby Wade, Chuck Cecil, Ricky Hunley and Rod Lewis, who made the trip in from Texas, among many others to watch Sumlin's press conference. It is clear and was made clear that former players will be welcomed with open arms around the Wildcats under Sumlin. He said at one point, "this is your program" directing his comments at the former players in attendance.
* Booster Jeff Stevens was also in attendance at the press conference today.
* Robbins opened things up by mentioning the process a bit and said he went around to various classrooms during the search asking students for input and the resounding choice was Kevin Sumlin. He said the decision to go with Sumlin came was for a variety of reasons, but pointed out recruiting as well as saying he took into account press conference and sideline demeanor when looking for a new head coach (a not-so-subtle jab at Rich Rodriguez). He also said that he believes Sumlin is the right coach for the job when it comes to recruiting the main areas the program wants to target mentioning California, Arizona and Texas in addition to Las Vegas. He opened by saying "welcome to a great day for Arizona football."
* Heeke said, as you would expect an AD to, that Sumlin was the only coach he offered the job to and he said he wanted to make that clear. The Arizona AD said he only met with Sumlin twice in person throughout the search and that it eventually came down to a few candidates. He said "we really connected" when talking about Sumlin and things progressed from there.
* Sumlin said as of now he will have more on his staff in the next couple days, but the only thing he offered up is that Marcel Yates will be retained but he did not go into further detail about what the Arizona defensive coordinator's exact role will be on his staff. Brian Knorr, Scott Boone, Vince Amey and Chris Singletary were other coaches I saw in attendance. Sumlin alluded to the fact that some of the coaches he plans on brining in are currently on other coaching staffs and he didn't want to mess anything up there so he didn't want to go into any more detail.
* As far as recruiting goes Sumlin said he knows the state well and had connections in Phoenix. He mentioned that the program has five or six spots left to fill for the 2018 class and he will have conversations with the current 16 signees about their future in the program. His priority right now is recruiting and it is something he is trying to move quickly on.
* The team was able to meet with Sumlin at 7:15 this morning and it was the first time the players were able to get that opportunity. The new UA coach said he thought the team was a bit tired and still needed to wake up in the meeting, but talking to the players it sounds like things were pretty straightforward and simple in terms of how it went. It was more about giving the players some guidance for the coming days and what he expects, and I will say that the weight room was packed when I walked by prior to the start of the press conference.
* In terms of the players, there were a handful made available to the media after the press conference but most were not able to hear the entire press conference since they were coming from a lift session. Here is a rundown of who we talked to and what they had to say.
Tony Fields II: He said today's meeting went straight forward, but he's looking forward to working under Sumlin. He is most happy that the team will be able to have some continuity and that having Marcel Yates back will allow the team to build on what they started in 2017. He said he personally stayed in contact with Yates and talked to him as much as he could throughout the search process, and he is hopeful the entire defensive staff will be retained but especially Scott Boone and Jahmile Addae. He mentioned that a lot of the things Sumlin said resonated with him and his goals with the program.
Tony Ellison: The redshirt junior receiver said he was a bit surprised to see Rodriguez fired, but he's looking at this as a new opportunity to learn in a new system and help the team however he can. He said much of what the team knew over the course of the last couple weeks was only found out through social media and that was a theme we heard with other players. The players still sound a bit disappointed that they were kept so much out of the loop.
Shawn Poindexter: The senior receiver mentioned that he's excited to play in Sumlin's offense and he believes the team has the pieces in place to make a run in the Pac-12 in the upcoming season. He said the team was certainly a bit down to hear of Rodriguez's firing but as a group the team is excited about the possibilities with Khalil Tate and the offense under Sumlin.
Justin Belknap: The defensive end was another one who is relieved to have Yates remain on staff, but he too was not exactly thrilled that the team had to resort to social media as its means for learning information about its own team. He is hopeful that the team holds onto Addae. He too feels strongly about what the program has in place with the current team and he is hopeful it can continue on an upward trajectory.
* On Tate, it was clear that Sumlin wanted to make a point about his program being more about the team over any one individual. He did mention that he believes there will be a lot of coaches lining up to coach the Arizona quarterback, but he generally tempered expectations for it being a one-man show at Arizona. It will be interesting to see how that plays out, but through subtleties it was clear he wanted to send a message that Arizona football needs to be more than just about Khalil Tate.
I'll have more throughout the day and after I get a chance to meet with Sumlin here in a few minutes
