Rich Rodriguez’s six seasons at Arizona are in the books after Tuesday’s firing.
Somebody will be the 29th head coach of Arizona’s football program. Who will athletic director Dave Heeke hire? And will that person have a better fate than Arizona’s last four head coaches — Dick Tomey, John Mackovic, Mike Stoops and Rodriguez, all of whom were forced out of the program?
The following are a list of possibilities:
UNEMPLOYED
Kevin Sumlin, former Texas A&M coach
Chuck Cecil, Arizona Hall of Famer (held coaching analyst position this season for Rodriguez).
Butch Jones, former Tennessee and Central Michigan coach (hired by Heeke at Central Michigan)
Jedd Fisch, former UCLA offensive coordinator
Les Miles, former LSU head coach
I'm pretty sure I won't be asked, but my personal wish list for Arizona head coach, regardless of whether they would actually want it.
1. Dino Babers
2. Kevin Sumlin
3. Troy Walters— Anthony Gimino (@AGWildcatReport) January 3, 2018
CURRENT COACHES
Marcel Yates, Arizona defensive coordinator
Jeff Tedford, Fresno State coach (Assistant at Oregon when Heeke was a staffer there).
Lane Kiffin, Florida Atlantic coach
Troy Walters, Scott Frost’s offensive coordinator at UCF and now at Nebraska
Mike Norvell, Memphis head coach (former ASU offensive coordinator)
Dino Babers, Syracuse head coach (former Arizona offensive coordinator under Tomey)
BROADCASTER
Mark Helfrich, Former Oregon coach now at ESPN
A few Arizona players, mostly on defense want Yates retained as head coach:
Scottie Young, safety
Keep the defensive staff @Dave_Heeke
— sheldon (@_scottieoo) January 3, 2018
Tony Fields, linebacker
Marcel Yates=Head Coach!!!! @Dave_Heeke
— Tony Fields II (@T_Fields1) January 3, 2018
KEEP THE DEFENSIVE STAFF!!! @Dave_Heeke
— Tony Fields II (@T_Fields1) January 3, 2018
Azizi Hearn, Class of 2017 cornerback recruit
Yates for head coach make this move permanent @Dave_Heeke
— Zz (@TheRealRaptorr) January 3, 2018
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon.
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