UA’s Tate deals with media day

LOS ANGELES — A year ago, Khalil Tate was Arizona’s backup quarterback — a four-star recruit, a local legend but still a relative unknown.

A year later, Tate represented the Wildcats at Pac-12 Media Day. No one could have seen that coming last summer, including Tate himself.

“No,” Tate said Wednesday amid a throng of reporters. “I’m the type of person, I like to take it day by day.”

One day last October, Tate’s life changed. He replaced the injured Brandon Dawkins at Colorado, rushed for an FBS-record 327 yards and became a true overnight sensation.

After winning an unprecedented four straight Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week awards and finishing 2017 with 1,411 rushing yards, Tate popped up on every preseason list of potential Heisman Trophy candidates. He appeared on magazine covers. Pundits gushed about his dual-threat talents.

Fame, Tate is discovering, costs.

“It’s a lot more attention,” the junior conceded. “I’ve never been the type to like attention like that. I’m kind of shy. I kind of have to do it, because I’m the quarterback now. It’s something I’m getting used to.” has its

Fortunately, Tate has an ally who has helped guide other quarterbacks through the minefield.

First-year UA coach Kevin Sumlin has helped tutor three Heisman Trophywinning quarterbacks: Jason White, Sam Bradford and Johnny Manziel.

“Managing the outside noise is something you have to help guys with and help families with,” Sumlin said. “Fortunately, I’ve been around enough of these guys to have been through it and had some success.”

Sumlin came away impressed with the way Tate handled himself Wednesday. He faced a barrage of questions, including several about a mini-controversy that bubbled to the surface Tuesday (more on that later).

“Today is a big step for him,” Sumlin said. “He looked real relaxed and comfortable.”

As he did during spring, Sumlin was quick to remind everyone that Tate remains relatively inexperienced. He’s still only 19 years old, and he has yet to start a full season’s worth of games.

He has a lot to learn — but also plenty of room for growth.

“What’s important is that his body of work is not extensive,” Sumlin said. “He is a very inexperienced guy that can get better.

“For a guy that’s played as few snaps as he’s played to be talked about for postseason awards is really a remarkable situation. We’re here to help with that and manage that.”

Sumlin considers the leadership component to be as critical as any in Tate’s development. Sumlin also considers Media Day to be a valuable exercise in that regard.

Tate was joined by another sophomore linebacker Schooler.

“It was a great experience for them,” Sumlin said. “What people were so impressed with was how mature they were for young guys. They handled themselves with poise. That’s part of growing up. That’s part of leadership.”

Being a leader also means dealing with uncomfortable situations. Tate made headlines Tuesday when he implied to Bleacher Report that he had a say in Arizona’s decision to hire Sumlin — and not hire Navy’s Ken Niumatalolo.

When it was reported that Niumatalolo was the leading candidate for the job, Tate tweeted his disdain for the triple-option offense Navy runs. (Tate subsequently deleted the tweet.)

Tate told Bleacher Report that he wanted to make sure his voice was heard and described himself as the spokesman for the team during the coaching search. Two days after Tate’s tweet, Arizona hired Sumlin. firsttimer, Colin