Kevin Sumlin ranked among CFB's 15 worst coaching hires of the past decade

Former Arizona head coach Kevin Sumlin was named by Will Backus of CBS Sports in his article published on Saturday, "From Herm Edwards to Chad Morris, ranking college football's 15 worst coaching hires of the past decade."

Arizona lost its last 12 games under Sumlin. The Wildcats lost all five games in 2020 in their final season under Sumlin. The 2020 season is the only one Arizona finished without a win in 117 years playing football and included a 70-7 loss to Arizona State in the final game of the Sumlin era.

Mediocre offense and poor defenses hindered Arizona during the Sumlin era. Arizona averaged 32.6 points per game in Sumlin's first season in 2018, which was 98th out of 130 teams nationally. The Wildcats allowed 35.8 PPG in 2019 which was 118th and 39.8 PPG in 2020 which was 121st.

Arizona averaged 31.3 PPG in 2018, which was 43rd nationally, 26.9 PPG in 2019, which was 77th and 17.4 PPG in 2020, finishing 119th. The Wildcats were 24th nationally in 2018, averaging 457.7 total yards per game, 30th posting 440.1 YPG in 2019 and plummeted to 86th and 369.7 YPG in 2020.

"12. Kevin Sumlin, Arizona (2018-20)
Record: 9-20
At the time, Sumlin seemed like a low-risk hire for Arizona. He had a solid -- if completely average -- six years at Texas A&M, posting a winning record in each season. He was fired simply because he was never able to take the Aggies to that next level as 8-4 became the standard. Given the Wildcats' standing around this time, hiring Sumlin was a fairly positive move that generally received praise, so it was fairly shocking that he drove the program into the ground. Over three years, Sumlin amassed a 9-20 record, with five of those wins coming in his first season at the helm."

Will Backus, CBS Sports

Arizona finished 92nd in 2018, allowing 432.0 yards per game, 120th with opponents gaining 471.4 YPG in 2019 and 116th, permitting 473.0 YPG in 2020. The inability for Arizona to stop opponents ultimately led to Arizona losing and Sumlin being fired.

Before being hired at Arizona, Sumlin was 35–17 overall and 24–8 in Conference USA from 2008 through 2011. Texas A&M hired Sumlin, where he led the Aggies to a 51–26 overall record and a 25–23 mark in the SEC. The Aggies slowly regressed from 11-2 under Sumlin in 2012 to 7-5 in 2017 before getting fired.

Texas A&M never had a better record during the Sumlin era. The 11-2 record in 2012 was the best for Texas A&M in the Sumlin era and their 7-5 2017 season was the worst. Arizona similarly did not improve during Sumlin's tenure. The Wildcats were 5-7 in 2018, 4-8, with a seven-game losing streak to end the 2019 season and 0-5 in 2020.

Sumlin was hired by Arizona in part due to his history recruiting in Texas. Arizona signed the 59th ranked class nationally in the 2019 247Sports composite rankings in the first full recruiting cycle under Sumlin in 2019 and the 60th best class in 2020.

The Arizona losing streak reached 20 games before Jedd Fisch led Arizona to a 10-3 win over California that November. Fisch completely turned Arizona around in his three seasons succeeding Sumlin at Arizona. Arizona finished 1-11 in Fisch's first season in 2021, 5-7 in 2022 and 10-3 in 2023, turning around the mess left by Sumlin.