Arizona expected to name Kevin Sumlin as its new head coach

All told it took less than two weeks from the time Rich Rodriguez was fired to find the next Arizona head coach.

The next man to lead the Wildcats into the new era of the program will be the man who first came to mind when the position opened up as Kevin Sumlin is set to be named the University of Arizona's newest head coach, according to multiple reports.

The program went through various candidates eventually coming to a decision through a process that played out over the course of 12 days landing on the candidate a large portion of the fan base had been in favor of.

Sumlin, who was fired as the head coach at Texas A&M back in November after six seasons as the Aggies' head coach, brings an overall 86-43 record to Tucson with a 51-26 record during his time in College Station where he coached in one of the toughest divisions in college football, the SEC West.

Sumlin is expected to get a five-year deal to take over for Rodriguez as the head coach at Arizona and – according to Sports Illustrated's Bruce Feldman – defensive coordinator Marcel Yates will be retained and Noel Mazzone will follow the new UA head coach as offensive coordinator. Mazzone was reportedly recently offered a spot on Texas' staff in an analyst role but he had yet to accept. He spent the last two seasons at TAMU as Sumlin's offensive coordinator and was at Arizona State prior to that.

TAMU running backs coach Clarence McKinney is also expected to join the staff under Sumlin in some capacity. Former Arizona quarterback and current football analyst at UA, BJ Denker, worked with Sumlin as a graduate assistant in College Station after his career with the Wildcats came to an end.

The Wildcats' coaching search took many turns since the program parted ways with Rodriguez back on Jan. 2 when athletic director Dave Heeke and the administration came to the decision to move on from the sixth-year head coach with a decision "based on several factors, including the direction and climate" of the program.

Heeke and DHR International, the search firm hired by Arizona to help aid in the search for its next coach, had several candidates for the job with Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo, Cal offensive coordinator and former Eastern Washington head coach Beau Baldwin, UCLA offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch and even Yates, who has served as the team's interim head coach, all reportedly being considered for the job throughout the process.

Ultimately the arrows pointed back to the 53-year-old Sumlin who has nearly 30 years of college coaching experience. Prior to his position as head coach with the Aggies the Brewton, Alabama native was the head coach at Houston from 2008-2011. Before he became a head coach, Sumlin had stops at Oklahoma, a prior stint at TAMU, Purude, Minnesota, Wyoming and he started his career as a graduate assistant at Washington State.

Sumlin will be the first African-American head coach at Arizona giving both Pac-12 programs in the state African-American head coaches as Herm Edwards has taken over at Arizona State for Todd Graham heading into the 2018 season. Sumlin, himself, was one of the coaches in play for the job in Tempe.

The new Arizona coach will inherit a 7-6 Wildcats team that features star quarterback Khalil Tate and a young defense that featured numerous bright spots including Pac-12 Conference Freshman of the Year linebacker Colin Schooler.

Sumlin earned the SEC Coach of the Year in 2012 – his first season at the helm in College Station – and coached six consensus All-Americans during his time with the Aggies including Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Johnny Manziel.

On the recruiting side, four of the six classes Sumlin signed at TAMU ranked inside the top 15 in the Rivals.com team rankings with three of those classes finishing No. 10 or better. He also was able to land two five-star recruits from Arizona during his time at the school with receiver Christian Kirk and quarterback Kyle Allen signing with the Aggies out of Scottsdale-area schools, a region UA struggled with under Rodriguez. Allen eventually transferred while Kirk is expected to be a top pick in this year's NFL Draft.

TAMU also had a No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft during Sumlin's time at the school with defensive end Myles Garrett being selected with the first overall pick by the Cleveland Browns back in last year's draft.

The news was first reported by radio host and a former vice president of player personnel for the Dallas Cowboys, Gil Brandt, Sunday afternoon.

Sumlin received a reported $10.4 million buyout when he was let go by the Aggies, but terms of his contract with Arizona have not yet been released. There has been no official announcement from the school as of this point.

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