Kevin Warren Sumlin (born August 3, 1964) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach who is the associate head coach, co-offensive coordinator, and tight ends coach for the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

. Sumlin served as the head football coach at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

from 2008 to 2011,

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

from 2012 to 2017, and at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

from 2018 to 2020.

Early life

Sumlin was born in Brewton, Alabama, on August 3, 1964. He later attended Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, where he played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

. Following his prep career, Sumlin attended Purdue University and was a starting linebacker throughout his entire college career. He was a member of the 1984 Peach Bowl team and finished in the top 10 in total tackles with 375 (191 solo, 184 assisted) and in the top 20 in solo tackles with 191. He led the team in tackles during his freshman season of 1983 with 91 total tackles, (50 solo, 41 assisted). He was a teammate of players such as

Jim Everett James Samuel Everett III (born January 3, 1963) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the Los Angeles Rams. He played college football for ...

, Hall of Famer Rod Woodson, fellow linebacker Fred Strickland, and long-time NFL players Mel Gray and Cris Dishman.

Coaching career

Early years

Sumlin served as an assistant coach at

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, and

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

(all, except for Minnesota, alongside Joe Tiller); served as assistant head coach at Texas A&M for two years under R.C. Slocum; and for five years at

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

under Bob Stoops, serving the last two years as co-

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

. In addition to Stoops and Slocum, he has served as an assistant coach under Mike Price at

and Joe Tiller at

. While at Purdue,

Jim Chaney and he aided Tiller in implementing the then-uncommonly used

spread offense :''"Spread offense" may also refer to the four corners offense in basketball.'' The spread offense is an offensive scheme in gridiron football that typically places the quarterback in the shotgun formation, and "spreads" the offense horizontal ...

, and the Boilermakers, with

Drew Brees Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees is sec ...

as starting quarterback, broke a string of

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

passing records and made a surprise run to the 2001 Rose Bowl, Purdue's first Rose Bowl in three decades. He left for

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

to serve as the offensive coordinator and assistant head coach for two seasons before joining the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

. In his final year with the Oklahoma Sooners, Sumlin's offense was one of the best in the country, averaging 44 points per game.Mark Schlabach
Yellow Jackets, Wolverines, Midshipmen earn high marks
ESPN.com, December 17, 2007.

Head coaching career

In December 2007, Sumlin was hired as the head coach of the

. In December 2009, Sumlin was announced as a finalist for the

Paul "Bear" Bryant Award The American Heart Association (AHA) Paul "Bear" Bryant Awards are an annual awards banquet that is hosted each year in January, in Houston, Texas, by the AHA. There are two awards. One of them—the Paul "Bear" Bryant Coach of the Year Award� ...

. In 2011, Sumlin coached

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

to a 12–0 start before losing the Conference USA Championship Game to the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. On December 10, 2011, Sumlin told his players he was leaving Houston, effective immediately, to accept a job at another school. KRIV in Houston and

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

's Joe Schad both reported that Sumlin was to become the new coach at

. Special-teams coordinator Tony Levine coached Houston in the 2012 TicketCity Bowl.Berman, Mark
Kevin Sumlin is Leaving the University of Houston
KRIV, December 10, 2011. In 2012, Sumlin named quarterback Johnny Manziel his starter. Manziel went on to win the

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

and Sumlin took Texas A&M, in their first year in the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

, to an 11–2 record, including victories over then No. 1

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

in Tuscaloosa, and No. 11

in the AT&T Cotton Bowl. The Aggies finished the 2012 season ranked in the top five of both the Coaches Poll and the AP Poll for the first time since 1956. Texas A&M also led the SEC in total offense, total scoring offense, and total rushing yards, and led the nation in third down conversion percentage. Sumlin and the Aggies became the first SEC team in history to amass over 7,000 yards in total offense. Coach Sumlin was the first head coach to win more than eight games in his first season as head coach. On November 30, 2013, Sumlin agreed to a new six-year contract as head coach at Texas A&M. The contract, valued at $30 million over six years, was guaranteed. If Texas A&M had fired him after the 2015 and 2016 seasons, the buyout amounts ($20 million and $15 million, respectively) would have had to be paid out within 60 days of termination. On November 21, 2017, news outlets reported that Sumlin would be fired following the 2017 season finale against

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

. On November 26, 2017, Sumlin was fired after six seasons. He compiled a 51–26 record during his tenure. Despite never posting a losing record as the coach of A&M, he only won more than nine games once, and only had one winning record in SEC play. Sumlin received a $10.4 million buyout under the terms of his contract, and was replaced by Jimbo Fisher for the 2018 season. On January 14, 2018, Sumlin was hired as the

's head coach. Sumlin suffered perhaps the worst defeat of his coaching career when his University of Arizona team lost to their traditional in-state rival Arizona State on December 11, 2020, by a score of 70–7. The following day, Sumlin was fired. On January 6, 2022, Sumlin was named the head coach and general manager for the Houston Gamblers of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

. Sumlin's Gamblers finished 3–7 in his lone season and did not qualify for the postseason.

Return to college coaching

On February 14, 2023, Sumlin was hired as the

's associate head coach, co-offensive coordinator, and tight ends coach.

Arrest

Sumlin was arrested and charged in

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

with a DUI on October 21, 2023. Police requested Sumlin to provide a breathalyzer, to which he refused. Sumlin pleaded not guilty and waived arraignment. If prosecuted, the charge carries a maximum sentence of six months in prison. Maryland head coach Mike Locksley said on October 24 that Sumlin will not be with the team for the October 28 game at Northwestern and that he should expect to face some sort of discipline for the incident.

Head coaching record

College

USFL

Notes

References

External links

Coaching statistics
at

Sports Reference Sports Reference, LLC is an American sports statistics company that operates databases of several sports. They include Pro Football Reference for American football, Baseball Reference for baseball, Basketball Reference for basketball, Hockey ...

Arizona profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sumlin, Kevin 1964 births Living people African-American coaches of American football American football linebackers Arizona Wildcats football coaches Coaches of American football from Alabama Coaches of American football from Indiana Houston Cougars football coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers football coaches Oklahoma Sooners football coaches People from Brewton, Alabama Players of American football from Alabama Players of American football from Indiana Purdue Boilermakers football coaches Purdue Boilermakers football players Texas A&M Aggies football coaches Washington State Cougars football coaches Wyoming Cowboys football coaches Houston Gamblers (2022) coaches Maryland Terrapins football coaches