Arizona State and Texas A&M fire coaches; Florida nabs former staffer
Two schools fired coaches even though their teams are heading to bowl games, and Florida and its athletic director reached into their pasts to find a new coach.
Texas A&M and Arizona State started their searches Sunday, firing two coaches with winning records over six years. Arizona State fired Todd Graham, who went 46-31. and A&M let go of Kevin Sumlin, who was 51-26 with the Aggies. Both the Aggies and Sun Devils finished 7-5 this season.
Arizona State athletic director Ray Anderson made a similar statement: “At the end of the day we’re still average, middle of the pack and going to a low bowl game,” Arizona State athletic director Ray Anderson said. “Frankly, that’s not what we aspire to be. I don’t think anyone on staff was satisfied with that.”
Aggies AD Scot Woodward had a similar statement. “Our expectations at A&M are very high,” he said. “We believe that we should compete for SEC championships on an annual basis and, at times, national championships. I believe that we need a new coach to take us there.”
There was already speculation that Sumlin would be a candidate at Arizona State.
Florida wrapped up its search for a coach Sunday by hiring Dan Mullen away from Mississippi State. Mullen was the Gators’ offensive coordinator under Urban Meyer before taking over in Starkville nine years ago.
There he became the one of the most successful coaches in the history of the program and he worked with Stricklin, who was AD at Mississippi State before moving to Florida last year.
Now they will both try to raise the Gators back to the championship levels the program has been trying to get back since Mullen helped Meyer win national titles in 2006 and ’08 with Tim Tebow.
“I have such great memories of the championships we won during our time here and have a love for Florida,” Mullen said in a statement Sunday. “We are happy to be coming back to such a supportive administration, staff, student body and fan base, which is the premier football program in the country.”
Florida’s move on Mullen had to come as good news to Nebraska fans hoping their school will be able to hire UCF coach Scott Frost, a former Cornhuskers quarterback whose teams is undefeated and ranked No. 12.
At a news conference to discuss the firing of Mike Riley on Saturday, Nebraska athletic director Bill Moos mentioned Frost by name as someone he would consider for the job. Nebraska and anyone else interested in Frost will have to be patient though. UCF plays No. 16 Memphis in the American Athletic Conference championship game Saturday with a major bowl bid on the line.