Khalil Tate Doesn’t Seem to Want Arizona to Hire Ken Niumatalolo
Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo has emerged as a candidate to take over for Rich Rodriguez at Arizona and the Wildcats’ star player isn’t thrilled at the prospect.
Niumatalolo has been offered the job, according to multiple reports, and FootballScoop reports that he is negotiating a contract.
Niumatalolo has had nine winning seasons in 10 years at Navy while using the triple option offense. Arizona quarterback Khalil Tate, who thrived last season under Rodriguez’s spread scheme, does not seem enthused by the idea of running Niumatalolo’s offense.
After Tate deleted that tweet, he quoted another tweet about Niumatalolo’s candidacy and added a pithy “Okay.”
He also tweeted his support for hiring defensive coordinator and interim head coach Marcel Yates.
Even before the Niumatalolo rumors, Tate’s commitment to Arizona wasn’t entirely firm. After his mother was quoted as saying Tate would not transfer, Tate tweeted several times to clarify that he hadn’t said that.
Tate, a rising junior, didn’t take over as Arizona’s starting quarterback until the fifth game of the season and proceeded to put up obscene offensive numbers. He threw for 1,591 yards with 14 touchdowns and nine interceptions but also added 1,411 rushing yards on just 153 carries. He became the first Arizona player to rush for at least 200 yards in three separate games. In his first start, a 45–42 win over Colorado, Tate completed 12 of 13 passes for 154 yards and touchdown while also rushing for 327 yards and four scores on just 14 carries.
