https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2019/12/11/arizona-wildcats-football-kevin-sumlin/
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"Just 2.2 miles away from Arizona Stadium sits Salpointe Catholic High School, where Sumlin's son Jackson is a senior and the football team reached the Open Division semifinals. A recent story from Ari Wasserman of The Athletic wondered why Arizona did not push harder for three "blue-chip" recruits 4-star or 5-star rated players at Salpointe Catholic.
Jack Cooper is the sports editor of The Daily Wildcat, the school's student newspaper, as well as a lifelong Tucson native. Cooper said it was "frustrating" to watch all three top prospects from a school so close to campus leave, and feels it's part of a bigger trend for the current coaching staff.
"It seems like Sumlin gets a lot of recruits from Texas and California, and those are obviously two of the biggest college football recruiting places, especially with his ties in Texas," Cooper said. "But you can't forget about your own state and Arizona, and especially with Phoenix becoming one of the [hotbeds]."
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"Everybody is going to have their own expectations of what we can do. My job is to win every game and be competitive in every game and let the chips fall where they may," Sumlin said when asked what were realistic expectations for 2018. "If we're good enough, we're good enough. Try to get better every year, that was a question people asked me at the end at A&M. We never had a losing season in probably the most difficult division in college football in the country. If you've improved the program from where you got it to where it is whenever you walk away from it, then you've been successful."
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"Interest and turnout also waned in anecdotal senses, too. There was around 15-18 fans at Sumlin's final weekly radio show at Playground in downtown Tucson, with one attendee describing the crowd there as "just the usuals" save for this reporter.'
All the positivity around his arrival and expectations for instant success has painted the coach and the program into a particularly tight corner after two underwhelming seasons. And while some, like Cooper, believe Sumlin should be given the chance to "get his guys in" and recruit the players he wants, there will need to be improvement in 2020 to get people back on board.
"If this was Arizona basketball, that's a completely different subject," Cooper said. "But this is Arizona football. People aren't always expecting 10-win, 11-win seasons. Maybe they might expect 4 wins or 5 wins, like we've had the last two years, but if he doesn't get to a bowl game next year, then his seat gets a lot hotter."
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"Just 2.2 miles away from Arizona Stadium sits Salpointe Catholic High School, where Sumlin's son Jackson is a senior and the football team reached the Open Division semifinals. A recent story from Ari Wasserman of The Athletic wondered why Arizona did not push harder for three "blue-chip" recruits 4-star or 5-star rated players at Salpointe Catholic.
Jack Cooper is the sports editor of The Daily Wildcat, the school's student newspaper, as well as a lifelong Tucson native. Cooper said it was "frustrating" to watch all three top prospects from a school so close to campus leave, and feels it's part of a bigger trend for the current coaching staff.
"It seems like Sumlin gets a lot of recruits from Texas and California, and those are obviously two of the biggest college football recruiting places, especially with his ties in Texas," Cooper said. "But you can't forget about your own state and Arizona, and especially with Phoenix becoming one of the [hotbeds]."
--
"Everybody is going to have their own expectations of what we can do. My job is to win every game and be competitive in every game and let the chips fall where they may," Sumlin said when asked what were realistic expectations for 2018. "If we're good enough, we're good enough. Try to get better every year, that was a question people asked me at the end at A&M. We never had a losing season in probably the most difficult division in college football in the country. If you've improved the program from where you got it to where it is whenever you walk away from it, then you've been successful."
--
"Interest and turnout also waned in anecdotal senses, too. There was around 15-18 fans at Sumlin's final weekly radio show at Playground in downtown Tucson, with one attendee describing the crowd there as "just the usuals" save for this reporter.'
All the positivity around his arrival and expectations for instant success has painted the coach and the program into a particularly tight corner after two underwhelming seasons. And while some, like Cooper, believe Sumlin should be given the chance to "get his guys in" and recruit the players he wants, there will need to be improvement in 2020 to get people back on board.
"If this was Arizona basketball, that's a completely different subject," Cooper said. "But this is Arizona football. People aren't always expecting 10-win, 11-win seasons. Maybe they might expect 4 wins or 5 wins, like we've had the last two years, but if he doesn't get to a bowl game next year, then his seat gets a lot hotter."
