As much as Sumlin was overrated and he was. Art Briles needs to be recognized for what he built here. I get it he will forever have the scarlet letter but he is one of greatest coaches this state has ever produced. He saved us when we were talking about shutting down football. Baylor was horrible before Art.
When you the rock starts going downhill it gets faster
Arizona is a hard place to win at. Limited talent base, another nearby school getting the same thing and everyone is trying to get onto California. Your going to get decent but not game changing talent from Texas. It’s one of those places if you do win big you leave for a stable job in a football area or you cash in quickly.
The Athletic did a good feature on how Arizona (the state) has exploded into somewhat of a recruiting hotbed with lots of former athletes making the state their home and those athletes producing D1 caliber football playing offspring.
Notable in that story was how little of the high end talent Sumlin has even made a token effort at pursuing.
I have 2 grandchildren in Phoenix and they have played youth soccer against numerous children of former Pro players.
The recruiting presence of The U. Of Arizona is nearly zero.
The possible starting QB for Washington St. this Fall is Gunner Cruz who won State Titles at Casteel High, which is where my Grand children have attended. Arizona State recruited him but not U of A.
The killer is apparently his son plays on a really good team (a catholic school whose name I cant recall) and even then he couldnt be bothered to go after that team’s top players.
There are a lot of bright individuals who refuse to put in the work because they are satisfied with the pay they have. Sumlin is definitely one of those guys.