Khalil Tate admits he purposely tweeted in attempt to shift Arizona coaching search Khalil Tate admits he purposely tweeted in attempt to sh...
Khalil Tate admits he purposely tweeted in attempt to shift Arizona coaching search
Tate was one of college football's breakout stars in 2017
- @BenKercheval
- • 1 min read
It's amazing how a single tweet can alter history.
When Arizona was looking for a new coach this offseason to replace Rich Rodriguez, one name that came up in the rumor mill (as it seems to every year) was Navy's Ken Niumatalolo. On this surface, pairing Niumatalolo with Wildcats quarterback Khalil Tate, an overnight sensation who was legitimately unstoppable in the middle part of the 2017 season, would have been a lot of fun.
Except Tate was vehemently opposed to hiring Niumatalolo. In a since-deleted tweet sent on Jan. 12, Tate wrote, "I didn't come to Arizona to run the tripple [sic] option."
Two days later, the Wildcats announced they had hired former Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin.
Speaking with Matt Hayes of Bleacher Report, Tate affirmed that he tweeted exactly what he meant: He didn't want Niumatalolo coaching him in a triple-option offense.
"I knew exactly what I was doing when I tweeted that out," Tate said. "I don't do Twitter. When I tweet something, I download the app, tweet, then d elete 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," he continued. "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."
"I knew tweeting that would create a buzz and maybe not get [Niumatalolo] as our coach," Tate added. "I think Ken Niumatalolo is a great coach. It's nothing against him. But I think it was important to say what I had to say and let everyone know that we're not just going to be quiet and let things happen. We're going to be heard."
Tate is a star in the making, but it's still amazing to see one tweet from a player have any kind of influence on a coaching search. Chances are, had Niumatalolo been hired, he would have adapted his offense to cater more towards Tate's skillset. (Navy, by the way, doesn't exclusively run the triple option. There are plenty of spread sets and elements.)
If nothing else, Tate's comments are revealing into the mindset of the team during the coaching search.
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Ben Kercheval CBS Sports Writer followBen Kercheval joined CBS Sports in 2016 and has been covering college football since 2010. Before CBS, Ben worked at Bleacher Report, UPROXX Sports and NBC Sports. As a long-suffering North Texas graduate,... Full Bio
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