You can sense that things are starting to head toward the dog days of camp now more than a week into it. We're starting to run out of things to talk about or ask Rich Rodriguez and the mood is just a bit different as the players continue to have to compete against themselves. Some good news is a change is coming later this week as the team will shift practice to mornings beginning Friday and in a surprise twist beginning Wednesday we will be able to talk to newcomers who arrived at the midyear point which means you all will get to hear from players like Nathan Tilford and Tony Fields II soon.
With that lets get into our notes in what turned out to be a pretty good post-practice media session for this point in camp.
* We'll start with practice itself and it was another win for the offense and Rodriguez said there was a comeback by the defense that almost made it flip the other way, but he has been pleased with how things have been competitive and gone back and forth with the offense and defense each winning about the same amount of practices so far.
"It gets kinda to the point now where guys get a little tired and legs are getting weary even though we're going single days," Rodriguez said. "But I like the intensity so far."
The thing that he said stood out Tuesday was that the offense hit on some deep balls and he was pleased with that since it was something they were expanding on and hoping to get better at.
"Shun Brown of course and Cam Denson," Rodriguez said about some of Arizona's deep threats. "You're looking at Shawn Poindexter is out there, and then a couple guys you may not know about Donovan Walker who is a guy I think is going to have a chance to help us a lot. Tyrell Johnson is a fast guy and Tony Ellison. So I think we have some talent at that position.
"Not as much experience as we had with the three guys last year, but there's gonna be enough talent there and there's a couple young guys that can help us too."
* Something I've been interested in asking Rodriguez about but wanted to wait to do it until there were less people around to see if he gave me a better answer was negative recruiting. It feels like it is something that has targeted the Wildcats at different times and especially last season as the program had to go through so many decommitments. I asked Rodriguez if it is as prevalent as it may seem to all of us on the outside and he said it is certainly something that is there and the team has run into it.
* I also wanted to ask Rodriguez about his relationship with new AD Dave Heeke now that it's been several months since his hiring and taking over for Greg Byrne. There have certainly been some rumblings of some new upgrades coming and Rodriguez said they have continued to stay in contact and his list of wants and needs continues to grow for the football program. The thing is this. Rodriguez wants to see as much support for the football program as any of the others on campus and he is hopeful Heeke can bring that.
Asked if any of their conversations don't begin with discussion of an indoor facility and Rodriguez said not really
"No, that's a fair question," he half-joked. "That seems to be always the first topic that's brought up. I don't know why, but it seems like it."
* One of the standouts during Saturday's open practice was defensive end/linebacker Lee Anderson III who was getting some run with the first unit and it was surprising considering we had not heard much about him up until then. He is someone Rodriguez said has a chance to contribute in a lot of ways and the coaches like his ability to get after the quarterback. With DeAndre' Miller out during camp that has opened up an opportunity for Anderson and he has taken advantage of it.
He said Tuesday night that he had opportunities to play for other schools but when he came out on a visit to Tucson with the chance to be a preferred walk-on it didn't take long for him to know where he wanted to go. Anderson was a middle linebacker in high school and came to Arizona as a middle linebacker and WILL linebacker, but he said the staff asked him to make the transition last season. Right now he's playing both defensive end and STUD linebacker for the team and he's been running with the first unit quite a bit.
"Just hard work," he said about how he has positioned himself to play with the first unit in camp. "I'll stay after at least 20 minutes working on my hands then after dinner I'll go watch film until 11 or 12 o'clock at night. Sometimes my roommate (offensive lineman Jon Jacobs) gets mad at me because I'm his ride here."
Anderson said that Miller has a been a big help to his own progress offering up to help him in any way he can and the sophomore said that has been a big part of his overall development with Miller's tips.
* I also got a chance to talk with Arizona defensive line coach Vince Amey about his new-look group as there are several new pieces to the interior of the line. He has been pleased with the progress of the unit so far. There are two players who I felt stood out during Saturday's practice and they are two guys Amey is glad to have right now.
Dereck Boles is one of them and there was a time when Amey thought he wouldn't be in Tucson.
"Dereck Boles, where do I start?" he said Tuesday. "It's been a long journey with him. It's been a good journey though. We wanted him pretty bad. We needed someone with some size and girth in the middle and I kept telling him, 'hey man, everything happens for a reason.' There were times he thought about going to other schools because the process – the process was a grind. And we stuck with him.
"He stuck with us and he seen the light when it came down to it, and I'm happy as hell he's here. He's been a good player for us. He's worked his butt off. He still has to get in shape, but just having him and his experience in the middle – and his leadership – has been good for our boys."
In addition to Boles, freshman Kurtis Brown is someone who looks the part and has been receiving some good reviews from the coaching staff for the work he's putting in. It has put him in a position to potentially not redshirt this year and the staff has been surprised at how quickly he has been able to hit the ground and showcase his talent. Amey said he has a "solid five-man rotation" right now but Brown is the sixth and that could mean getting on the field earlier rather than later if he keeps it up.
"Kurtis Brown has had a hell of a camp," he said. "You know he still has to learn a few things and stay on his feet stuff like that but coming in he's a technician, he understands the defense. Things are moving a lot faster than in high school so he has to catch up with that and the tempo and the grind of Division I football. He's been a pleasant surprise.
"... When he first came in the trainers were a little weary of his knee but everything checked out and he banged out the conditioning and he's been banging everything out. He's doing everything I've asked of him. Now you know the grind of camp gets to him a little bit and it's kind of to be expected with some of the freshmen but overall I'm pleasantly surprised with his play."
Another note, that Amey confirmed for us is that Larry Tharpe Jr. has been working out more at defensive end as of late although he could slide back inside. Arizona is continuing to try to find ways to get all its best players on the field and that move made the most sense to get guys like Boles and Brown in their natural spots.
On the recruiting side of things Amey just picked up a big commitment from Josh Walker and he is pleased with how things are going as he really has been able to get his footing as a recruiter for Arizona a couple years in as a full-time coach.
"You have to figure out your own process and how you go about who you're going to recruit and what areas are better for you," Amey said about his development as a recruiter. "I find that I find the bigger guys East, Midwest ... there's a lot more talent that way. But I recruit the West and there's a lot of skill positions out there. You know I have a couple skill guys lined up that we hope to get here soon that I'm pretty excited about at the corner position that I hope comes through.
"There's a couple big guys in the Bay Area that I'm still high on and they're high on us too. ... It's just the overall process, but I love it though. I love the process."
With that lets get into our notes in what turned out to be a pretty good post-practice media session for this point in camp.
* We'll start with practice itself and it was another win for the offense and Rodriguez said there was a comeback by the defense that almost made it flip the other way, but he has been pleased with how things have been competitive and gone back and forth with the offense and defense each winning about the same amount of practices so far.
"It gets kinda to the point now where guys get a little tired and legs are getting weary even though we're going single days," Rodriguez said. "But I like the intensity so far."
The thing that he said stood out Tuesday was that the offense hit on some deep balls and he was pleased with that since it was something they were expanding on and hoping to get better at.
"Shun Brown of course and Cam Denson," Rodriguez said about some of Arizona's deep threats. "You're looking at Shawn Poindexter is out there, and then a couple guys you may not know about Donovan Walker who is a guy I think is going to have a chance to help us a lot. Tyrell Johnson is a fast guy and Tony Ellison. So I think we have some talent at that position.
"Not as much experience as we had with the three guys last year, but there's gonna be enough talent there and there's a couple young guys that can help us too."
* Something I've been interested in asking Rodriguez about but wanted to wait to do it until there were less people around to see if he gave me a better answer was negative recruiting. It feels like it is something that has targeted the Wildcats at different times and especially last season as the program had to go through so many decommitments. I asked Rodriguez if it is as prevalent as it may seem to all of us on the outside and he said it is certainly something that is there and the team has run into it.
* I also wanted to ask Rodriguez about his relationship with new AD Dave Heeke now that it's been several months since his hiring and taking over for Greg Byrne. There have certainly been some rumblings of some new upgrades coming and Rodriguez said they have continued to stay in contact and his list of wants and needs continues to grow for the football program. The thing is this. Rodriguez wants to see as much support for the football program as any of the others on campus and he is hopeful Heeke can bring that.
Asked if any of their conversations don't begin with discussion of an indoor facility and Rodriguez said not really
"No, that's a fair question," he half-joked. "That seems to be always the first topic that's brought up. I don't know why, but it seems like it."
* One of the standouts during Saturday's open practice was defensive end/linebacker Lee Anderson III who was getting some run with the first unit and it was surprising considering we had not heard much about him up until then. He is someone Rodriguez said has a chance to contribute in a lot of ways and the coaches like his ability to get after the quarterback. With DeAndre' Miller out during camp that has opened up an opportunity for Anderson and he has taken advantage of it.
He said Tuesday night that he had opportunities to play for other schools but when he came out on a visit to Tucson with the chance to be a preferred walk-on it didn't take long for him to know where he wanted to go. Anderson was a middle linebacker in high school and came to Arizona as a middle linebacker and WILL linebacker, but he said the staff asked him to make the transition last season. Right now he's playing both defensive end and STUD linebacker for the team and he's been running with the first unit quite a bit.
"Just hard work," he said about how he has positioned himself to play with the first unit in camp. "I'll stay after at least 20 minutes working on my hands then after dinner I'll go watch film until 11 or 12 o'clock at night. Sometimes my roommate (offensive lineman Jon Jacobs) gets mad at me because I'm his ride here."
Anderson said that Miller has a been a big help to his own progress offering up to help him in any way he can and the sophomore said that has been a big part of his overall development with Miller's tips.
* I also got a chance to talk with Arizona defensive line coach Vince Amey about his new-look group as there are several new pieces to the interior of the line. He has been pleased with the progress of the unit so far. There are two players who I felt stood out during Saturday's practice and they are two guys Amey is glad to have right now.
Dereck Boles is one of them and there was a time when Amey thought he wouldn't be in Tucson.
"Dereck Boles, where do I start?" he said Tuesday. "It's been a long journey with him. It's been a good journey though. We wanted him pretty bad. We needed someone with some size and girth in the middle and I kept telling him, 'hey man, everything happens for a reason.' There were times he thought about going to other schools because the process – the process was a grind. And we stuck with him.
"He stuck with us and he seen the light when it came down to it, and I'm happy as hell he's here. He's been a good player for us. He's worked his butt off. He still has to get in shape, but just having him and his experience in the middle – and his leadership – has been good for our boys."
In addition to Boles, freshman Kurtis Brown is someone who looks the part and has been receiving some good reviews from the coaching staff for the work he's putting in. It has put him in a position to potentially not redshirt this year and the staff has been surprised at how quickly he has been able to hit the ground and showcase his talent. Amey said he has a "solid five-man rotation" right now but Brown is the sixth and that could mean getting on the field earlier rather than later if he keeps it up.
"Kurtis Brown has had a hell of a camp," he said. "You know he still has to learn a few things and stay on his feet stuff like that but coming in he's a technician, he understands the defense. Things are moving a lot faster than in high school so he has to catch up with that and the tempo and the grind of Division I football. He's been a pleasant surprise.
"... When he first came in the trainers were a little weary of his knee but everything checked out and he banged out the conditioning and he's been banging everything out. He's doing everything I've asked of him. Now you know the grind of camp gets to him a little bit and it's kind of to be expected with some of the freshmen but overall I'm pleasantly surprised with his play."
Another note, that Amey confirmed for us is that Larry Tharpe Jr. has been working out more at defensive end as of late although he could slide back inside. Arizona is continuing to try to find ways to get all its best players on the field and that move made the most sense to get guys like Boles and Brown in their natural spots.
On the recruiting side of things Amey just picked up a big commitment from Josh Walker and he is pleased with how things are going as he really has been able to get his footing as a recruiter for Arizona a couple years in as a full-time coach.
"You have to figure out your own process and how you go about who you're going to recruit and what areas are better for you," Amey said about his development as a recruiter. "I find that I find the bigger guys East, Midwest ... there's a lot more talent that way. But I recruit the West and there's a lot of skill positions out there. You know I have a couple skill guys lined up that we hope to get here soon that I'm pretty excited about at the corner position that I hope comes through.
"There's a couple big guys in the Bay Area that I'm still high on and they're high on us too. ... It's just the overall process, but I love it though. I love the process."
