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Khalil Tate explains his tweet that may have led to Kevin Sumlin landing Arizona job
By Adam Spencer
Published:
This offseason, Arizona was looking for a new coach after firing Rich Rodriguez, and the Wildcats were reportedly zeroing in on Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo.
That’s when star QB Khalil Tate may have changed everything with a simple 10-word tweet. The tweet read “I didn’t come to Arizona to run the tripple (sic) option.”
Niumatalolo obviously runs a triple-option offense at Navy, and Tate clearly didn’t want that to come to Arizona. Of course, Arizona hired former Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin instead.
Recently, Tate revealed to Bleacher Report that he knew exactly what he was doing when he sent that tweet:
“I knew exactly what I was doing when I tweeted that out,” Tate told Bleacher Report. “I don’t do Twitter. When I tweet something, I download the app, tweet, then delete the app from my phone. So when I tweet, it’s important.
“I had to make sure I was heard, make sure the team was heard, because my teammates didn’t want to run the triple option, either. So the idea was to tweet it out, let it get traction, then delete it. I knew people reading it would say, ‘Why did he delete it?’ But that just magnifies it more.”
Tate’s opinion is obviously very important to the Wildcats, so they were wise to listen to what he wanted in a coach.
Tate added that he has a lot of respect for what Niumatalolo does at Navy, but just felt that the triple-option offense wasn’t right for him.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
