Opinion: Arizona Football needs to make staffing changes for 2020

As we are in year two under head coach Kevin Sumlin, it’s apparent Arizona Football may need to make some changes this off-season.

It’s now been 19 games into the Kevin Sumlin era with Arizona Football, and under his leadership the Wildcats are just a paltry 9-10. The road doesn’t get any easier this season either with Stanford, Utah, Oregon and ASU still looming.

With the Wildcats’ chances of making a bowl game looking pretty bleak at this point, that got us thinking just what’s wrong with Arizona Football.

Arizona Wildcats

Well first off, the recruiting has been a bit lackluster. As it stands, the Wildcats recruiting ranks 75th overall (11th in the Pac-12). To compete in a power five conference, that’s got to improve significantly.

Additionally, these past two seasons the offense has been good, but a bit inconsistent at times, typically disappearing versus bigger competition. Sad that the once electric and dynamic football player that is Khalil Tate, has seemingly regressed from that historic sophomore season.

To make matters worse, it’s not just the offense that has been part of the issue. The defense has looked marginally better at best the past couple seasons, and special teams has been abysmal this year as well, struggling to field punts or pin teams deep.

So what’s wrong with Arizona? Well, other than a discrepancy in talent compared to the top teams in the conference, as well as the other issues listed above, I think really it all boils down to Arizona lacking superior coaching, development and discipline.

Can it be fixed? Well, I don’t think it can this season. So I really think the Wildcats need to start posturing for next year and beyond, and that means staffing changes.

To make myself abundantly clear, I don’t think that means getting rid of Sumlin. While I know the head coach will typically shoulder a lot of the blame, it is still pretty early in his tenure, and I think a lot of the issues they have also falls on the other members of staff, and to me that’s more controllable at this point.

The Wildcats and more specifically the University of Arizona can’t afford to make a head coaching move, so we’re going to have Sumlin for at least another year or two depending on if Arizona makes any staffing changes, but nonetheless, I think it’s time to make them.

The defense I think needs an overhaul, and while they have played a bit better this season, I think they are still too talented to be giving up 30-40 points per game. Also this is year four under Marcel Yates, and there shouldn’t be any reason Arizona ranks in the 100s.

I do think Arizona could use a change on offense as well, since Noel Mazzone has severely under-utilized and misused Tate, but Grant Gunnell is “his quarterback” and with him most assuredly being the starter next season it’s hard to see Arizona bring in a new coordinator to instill a brand new offense.

However, I think Mazzone needs to make some adjustments to his offense, because as last night showed and against Washington, his offense can be rather stagnant and predictable, and also can be schemed against very easily versus better talent (something Arizona will consistently run in to in a talented Pac-12).

Lastly, special teams is abysmal and downright embarrassing. There is no reason the Cats can’t field a punter who can’t kick the ball over 40 yards, or have a net punting that ranks 121 out of 130 teams. 

I know it sounds cliche, but football games are often won in all three phases of the game, and in year two, those three phases are shaky at best for Arizona.

If you’re going to truly, fundamentally change the culture of the this team and stay relevant in college football, you need to take risks and through 19 games, the Wildcats look like they’re on autopilot and are heading for a crash. I’m just hoping the team and more importantly the program can snap out of it.

At Zona Zealots, we’re hoping the Cats can turn it around, but it’s been disheartening to be a fan these past two seasons, that’s for sure. As always, Bear Down, Arizona!