Santino Marchiol Dismissed from Arizona, Per Head Coach Kevin Sumlin

Arizona linebacker Santino Marchiol has been dismissed from the football team after a video appeared to show him using racial slurs to describe black players.

"He was informed this morning that he's no longer on the team," head coach Kevin Sumlin said Monday, per Michael Lev of the Arizona Daily Star. 

The video surfaced last week and appeared to show the former Texas A&M player at the team's practice referring to two different black players as "monkeys," via Ben Baby of the Dallas Morning News. While the voice had been unconfirmed to be Marchiol, Lev noted that the decision to remove him from the team confirms the allegations.

"As someone who helped lead the effort to advance diversity in the legal profession ... I understand and respect the University's decision," Marchiol's attorney Thomas Mars told Adam Rittenberg of ESPN. "On the other hand, as someone who's grown close to Santino and who knows the quality of his character, the depth of his faith, and the sincerity of his convictions, I'm heartbroken. What can be heard on the highlights video doesn't reflect the values or beliefs of the young man that I've come to know."

The Colorado native was a 4-star recruit in the 2017 class, per 247Sports, as part of a Texas A&M class that ranked No. 13 in the country. 

Marchiol was prepared to remain with the Aggies even after Sumlin was fired but decided in June to transfer and follow the coach to Arizona. He also alleged several NCAA violations from new coach Jimbo Fisher and his staff regarding recruiting and practice schedules, per Dan Wolken of USA Today.

After sitting out last season with an ankle injury, he had been seeking the opportunity to play right away following the transfer.

However, it appears he will not get a chance to play for Arizona at all following the release of the video.