Could DeMarco Murray be Arizona’s new Running Back Coach?

As Arizona Football looks for its next running back coach, perhaps it’ll be DeMarco Murray roaming the sidelines at Arizona Stadium next year.

While it is natural part of the college football life cycle for coaches to be lured by other coaching positions at different universities, it often leaves a void that can be challenging to fill. Both from a strategic standpoint, but also replacing the chemistry between the student athletes and coaches can be tough.

As head coach Kevin Sumlin looks to replace the recently departed, Clarence McKinney.  Currently, it seems he has his eye one some one who might have appeared on your fantasy football rosters just a few years ago.

Arizona Wildcats

DeMarco Murray, the former NFL star is rumored to be interested in coaching the running backs at the University of Arizona, and was reportedly seen on campus on Wednesday.

For those in need of a quick history lesson, Murray attended the University of Oklahoma from 2006-10 (red shirting in 2006). Coincidentally, during that time, Sumlin served on Oklahoma’s staff from 2003-07.

During Murray’s collegiate career, he rushed for over 3,000 yards and accumulated over 60 touchdowns in four years. These stats, along with the intangibles that he brought to the table stood out to many NFL scouts. This eventually led to the Dallas Cowboys taking him in the third round with the 71st pick overall of the NFL Draft in 2011.

While in the NFL, Murray played for three teams over his seven year career in the NFL, also playing for the Eagles and Titans in addition to the Cowboys.

In the 99 games he played in, he averaged 4.5 yards per carry and 72 yards rushing per game, finding the pay dirt 49 times while rushing for 7,174 total yards in his NFL career. Murray also led the NFL in 2014 in total rushing yards that year, running for 1,845 yards and 13 touchdowns.

While he certainly has the NFL playing pedigree, his coaching pedigree would certainly be in question. However, Murray would bring some allure for recruits in potentially playing at the University of Arizona. His presence alone could possibly lead to higher level recruits, particularly in the backfield.

With this years’ early signing period ending on a high note, the addition of Murray could possibly push the envelope even more in the recruiting market with months until the late signing period.

With the young talent that Arizona has in its backfield, it is easy to see why Murray would want to coach at the University of Arizona. His most notable player being the Pac-12’s 1st team All-American, J.J. Taylor.

Taylor is coming off a remarkable season as an Arizona Wildcat, arguably being the MVP of the Wildcats, as he fought for each and every one of his 1,432 yards.

This is a just a preview of the work he put in last off-season that led to a monstrous, sophomore season.

Not only could he help in making some potentially big additions on the recruiting trail in the near future, but Murray’s knowledge could be invaluable to every Arizona player. Keep an eye out Wildcat fans, as coach Sumlin might be making a shiny new addition to his coaching staff. Bear Down, Arizona!