Who should the Arizona Wildcats hire? Depends on which camp you belong to

By Michael Lev / Arizona Daily Star

The next Arizona Wildcats football coach had not been revealed as of Tuesday night, when the team met for the first time since Rich Rodriguez was fired a week earlier.

First-year athletic director Dave Heeke has kept the search under wraps. The specific profile and characteristics he’s seeking in a coach are known to only a small circle.

But the desires of UA fans, players and their parents are readily available via social media and message boards, and have been affirmed through Star reporting.

The following four camps have emerged over the past week:

Possibilities: Kevin Sumlin, Mark Helfrich

Scuttlebutt: Sumlin remains the people’s choice and is said to be interested in the job. Although he got fired from Texas A&M after four straight five-loss seasons, Sumlin is highly respected in the industry and would bring credibility and buzz to the UA program.

Sumlin, 53, has a career winning percentage of .667 at Houston and Texas A&M, including a .662 mark with the Aggies. He coached Johnny Manziel to the 2012 Heisman Trophy and would inherit a supremely talented dual-threat quarterback in Khalil Tate.

Sumlin made $5 million at A&M, so it’s possible money could be an issue. Arizona is on the hook for Rodriguez’s buyout – in excess of $6 million – and also must pay for Arizona Stadium refurbishments and a new indoor practice facility.

However, Sumlin’s A&M contract reportedly contains no offset language for his $10 million-plus buyout, meaning he will receive the full amount even if he takes another job. As such, he might not demand quite as much in annual salary.

Helfrich, 44, was out of coaching in 2017 after Oregon fired him following the ’16 season. That year marked the first time since 2004 that the Ducks failed to reach a bowl game.

Before that 4-8 campaign, Helfrich had led Oregon to a 33-8 record, including an appearance in the 2014-15 national-championship game. His star player and pupil was quarterback Marcus Mariota, who won the ’14 Heisman Trophy.

The questions with Helfrich are three-fold: (1) Which is the more accurate reflection of his ability – his first three seasons as Oregon head coach or the last one? (2) Is he capable of building a winning Pac-12 program without a foundation laid by Chip Kelly? (3) Does Helfrich have the persona to be a head coach, or is he more suited to a coordinator role?

Possibilities: Beau Baldwin, Jedd Fisch

Scuttlebutt: Baldwin, 45, just finished his first season as the offensive coordinator at Cal. He came to Berkeley from Eastern Washington, where he was the head coach for nine years.

Baldwin compiled an 85-32 record with the Eagles, winning the FCS national championship in 2010. The Golden Bears’ offense finished in the back half of the Pac-12 in most major statistical categories. But Cal had a first-time starting quarterback in Ross Bowers and played most of the season without its top running back (Tre Watson) and receiver (Demetris Robertson).

A colleague of Baldwin’s praised his football acumen, leadership skills and ability to run a program. But as impressive as his résumé looks, would Baldwin fill seats at Arizona Stadium?

Fisch, 41, is younger than Baldwin and doesn’t have head-coaching experience — though he served as UCLA’s interim coach for the Cactus Bowl after the Bruins fired Jim Mora. Last year was Fisch’s first as UCLA’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He is currently in job limbo as new coach Chip Kelly fills out his staff.

NFL-bound quarterback Josh Rosen had his best season under Fisch, setting career highs in yards (3,717) and touchdowns (26) despite missing two-plus games because of injuries. Fisch has extensive NFL coaching experience, having served as an assistant for several teams. He also has coached at some big-time Power Five programs, including Michigan, Miami and Florida.

A person close to Fisch said he’s ready to become a head coach. But even if Heeke believed it, hiring Fisch still would be a gamble.

Possibilities: Neal Brown, Bryan Harsin

Scuttlebutt: Brown, the coach at Troy the past three seasons, reportedly interviewed for the UA job. At 37, he is among the youngest head coaches in college football.

Brown’s claim to fame is a 24-21 upset of LSU this past season. The visiting Trojans were three-touchdown underdogs.

They finished the season 11-2, boosting Brown’s career record to 25-13. Try has gone 21-5 over the past two seasons.

Brown has offensive coordinator experience at Kentucky and Texas Tech — but Lubbock is the farthest west he has worked. Brown also had a buyout of almost $2.9 million as of Dec. 1, according to USA Today’s annual survey of NCAA coaches’ contracts.

Harsin, 41, is familiar to UA fans; he guided Boise State past Arizona in the Fiesta Bowl following the 2014 season.

Harsin has led the Broncos to four bowl games in as many seasons, winning three of them. He hasn’t won fewer than nine games and has an overall record of 42-12.

Harsin has proved he can do more with less. Also, like Sumlin, Harsin has worked with Arizona defensive coordinator and interim coach Marcel Yates, whom UA players have pushed to remain on staff.

Harsin’s name has not appeared much in connection with the UA job, and it’s not known whether the BSU grad and longtime assistant there wants to leave his alma mater.

Possibilities: Dave Fipp, Joe Salave’a

Scuttlebutt: Fipp played on special teams and started at safety for Arizona in the mid-1990s. He began his UA career as a walk-on and played for Dick Tomey, who has the ear of Heeke.

Fipp, 43, is in his fifth year as the special-teams coach for the Philadelphia Eagles, who face Atlanta in the NFL divisional playoffs Saturday. His boss, Doug Pederson, and Eagles players have touted Fipp as a future head coach. Whether he’s ready to make that leap now remains to be seen.

Timing could be an issue. If the Eagles reached the Super Bowl, their season wouldn’t end until Feb. 4. It’s hard to imagine the UA job remaining open that long with National Signing Day on Feb. 7.

Salave’a earned all-conference honors as a standout defensive tackle for Arizona, where he was Fipp’s teammate from 1994-97. Salave’a coached at his alma mater in 2011 but was not retained by Rodriguez. He served as the D-line coach at Washington State for four seasons before joining the staff at Oregon a year ago.

Salave’a, 42, has proved he can recruit and coach up defensive linemen and has been particularly adept at landing talented Polynesian pass rushers. Former Cougars pupil Hercules Mata’afa is entering the NFL draft after an All-America campaign in which he set a school record with 22.5 tackles for losses.

Salave’a doesn’t have coordinator or head-coaching experience.

Salave’a and Fipp would have Tomey’s blessing, and they know what it takes to put a winning program together in Tucson. The question — which only Heeke can answer — is whether these ex-Wildcats are the right fit for the current Cats.