Transfer news: Starting Arizona OL Robert Congel enters NCAA portal
Following the lead of quarterback Grant Gunnell and wide receiver Boobie Curry, Arizona offensive lineman Robert Congel has entered his name into the NCAA's transfer portal with the intention of finishing his career with another program. The Colorado native played in 15 games for the Wildcats with 13 starts in his UA career after transferring from Texas A&M.
Congel was given a walk-on opportunity with the Aggies from then-head coach Kevin Sumlin and offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone, and he made the most of it by getting on the field as a freshman in five games. After both Sumlin and Mazzone made the move to Arizona, Congel soon followed but was forced to sit out his first season with the Wildcats because of NCAA transfer rules.
He eventually played in eight games in his first season on the field for the Wildcats in 2019 with eight starts between guard and center. Though he was brought on to play center for the Wildcats, Congel found a home and settled in as the team's starting right guard this season and played more snaps than any other offensive player.
"When I moved over to guard I was a little bit nervous because I had been playing center for so long at that point," Congel said previously about making the move to a new position when Josh McCauley emerged as the Wildcats' starting center a couple seasons ago. " ... Moving over to guard you've gotta play in a little bit more space. I started to feel really comfortable with it the second day."
His prior relationship with Mazzone and Sumlin helped lead him to Arizona when he made the decision after the 2017 season with the Aggies. The plans was to have him step in right away after awarding him a scholarship, but even when he wasn't able to do that Congel came into the situation with a positive outlook because of the two coaches he admired and played for at TAMU.
"They're just such amazing coaches, man," he previously said of Sumlin and Mazzone. "I definitely knew that you're not going to find coaches like them in college often. I decided to at least check Arizona out because they were here. Then, once I got down here, the whole community was so welcoming – all the players, the whole team.
"It was an easy decision."
Sumlin was fired Saturday after going just 9-20 as Arizona's head coach following the team's 70-7 loss to rival Arizona State. Mazzone remains on staff and under contract with the Wildcats, but his status is in limbo with the program currently going through a search for its next head coach.
Entering the transfer portal does not guarantee that Congel will be leaving the program permanently, but it will allow other schools to contact him as he surveys his potential options.
"I've had to fight throughout college and high school," Congel previously said about his path to playing Power Five football. "I went to IMG and I had to fight for a job there when I was a zero-star guy. I'm not new to competition, so it was just another fight I had to fight."
The news of his move to enter the transfer portal came shortly after a decision by Gunnell to do the same after two seasons with the Wildcats. Curry has not yet officially entered his name into the transfer portal, but is reportedly expected to do so.
Will the trend of players leaving Arizona after Sumlin's firing continue to pick up steam? We are discussing that on the GOAZCATS.com premium message boards.
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