It was an interesting week and weekend for Arizona on all fronts. The football program welcomed new members to its team with the announcing of the 2017 recruiting class while it lost a coach by the end of the weekend. On the basketball side a potential trap was avoided in Corvallis only to give way to a blowout loss in Eugene. It is certainly an interesting time in Tucson and we will get you caught up with the latest in this week’s War Room.
Football
Soon enough Rich Rodriguez and his new crop of players will be back to work with spring ball getting started in a little less than two weeks on Feb. 18. At that time the Wildcats will get their first look at what could potentially be as there will be plenty of new faces and new players to see. It will be an important spring for growth for the ‘Cats and it will be the first step in determining which players end up contributing most once the season rolls around.
* One face you won’t see will be that of receivers coach Tony Dews. The longtime Rodriguez assistant has decided to make the move back to West Virginia to work on Dana Holgorson’s staff as an assistant coach with the Mountaineers. Dews was a grad assistant at WVU under Rodriguez in the early 2000s before becoming a full part of his staff a few years later and then making the move with Rodriguez to Michigan. He spent time at Pittsburgh before making the move to Tucson in late 2011 to join Rodriguez with the Wildcats. WVU lost their running backs coach to Florida late last week and things moved quickly to bring in Dews from UA.
The UA receivers coach, who played tight end in college, has coached on both sides of the ball at different positions but he has not coached running backs. At this point it is not known if that is the role he will have at WVU. His hire is expected to be made official this week.
When it comes to replacements things are being kept quiet, but with spring ball less than two weeks away a hire will need to be promptly. That means staying in house has become more of a reality. Former Wildcat Kylan Butler is a graduate assistant who worked with the receivers over the last two seasons while football analyst Miguel Reveles is another option on the offensive side of the ball as he has worked with the running backs and has been an important piece to the recruiting team during his time at UA.
If UA goes outside the program one name that recently became available is former LSU receivers coach Dameyune Craig who is a high-level recruiter who is already targeting many of the same recruits the Wildcats have already offered including commit Jamarye Joiner. Craig will have plenty of suitors and his experience has all been in the SEC, but it is something to keep an eye on.
* Two players you can expect to see on the field and as full participants this spring will be running backs Nick Wilson and JJ Taylor. Both players ended the year injured for UA with Wilson going through a couple different injuries and Taylor breaking his ankle in a game against Washington. Rodriguez said on National Signing Day that both players will be able to do “everything” once things get started later this month. He didn’t go into more detail than that, but it is a good sign that both will be back on the field and from the sounds of it not limited in what they will be able to do.
Wilson was closer to playing last season as he was working out in full pads at one point in the end of the year, but it never materialized into a full return to action. Because he was injured right at the cut-off point for a redshirt the Wildcats ultimately decided to have Taylor sit out the rest of his freshman season and he will still have four more years to contribute now.
* As Arizona looks for a replacement for Dews it brought in a replacement for the departed Donté Williams over the winter and for this first time Rodriguez spoke of his new linebackers coach, Scott Boone, during the week. The two go way back and the UA head coach feels that having Boone as a part of his staff will mean good things on the field as well as on the recruiting trail for the the Wildcats.
“I’ve known coach Boone for over 20 years,” he said. “I’ve known him for a long time and have competed against him when he was coaching in college. I’ve known him since he coached at a small college, we both coached at a small college. I’ve always had great respect for him. Even though he’s from the East Coast he’s recruited out here in the West Coast quite a bit. Frankly, it gave us an opportunity, position wise, to move coach (Marcel) Yates to the secondary with coach (Jahmile) Addae, which is where he’s been most of his career and more comfortable there. And then get a true linebacker coach that has coached college linebackers for a long time with coach Boone.
“So position wise it’s worked out great and I like the chemistry so far on the staff, and he’s got coordinator experience too which is going to help Marcel and those guys as in that room as we develop our defensive package.”
* When it comes to one position on particular Arizona will be a bit thin this spring. The plan was to have another scholarship quarterback on campus for spring ball, but then Braxton Burmeister decided Oregon would be his new home. It has left UA without many options outside of Khalil Tate and returning starter Brandon Dawkins. Rhett Rodriguez will arrive in the summer, but outside of that the position is thin. In Rodriguez’s mind it will be enough, but health will play a big part in that.
“Yeah, I think so,” he said. “As long as they stay healthy we have enough quarterbacks. If we add a walk on or two or somebody down the line that’ll be good. I think we’ve got plenty of talent there we’ve just gotta keep them healthy.”
* In addition to speaking about Boone for the first time, Rodriguez also took time about the athletic director who hired him, Greg Byrne, and his departure for Alabama. Rodriguez had leaned on Byrne quite a bit to help produce new and better facilities for UA and the former UA athletic director has been a big part of backing the Wildcats’ head coach.
“You know you never want to lose your AD in the middle of the recruiting process that’s not always pleasant,” Rodriguez said. “But it was a great opportunity for him. Greg called ... 10 days ago or something to talk again. He’s done a fabulous job here for our programs and helped a lot for facilities, and we had some plans for some future stuff too. He’s been in the middle of that, so it’s obviously for Greg he seized that opportunity and he’ll do a great job for Alabama.
“I know the school has been very aggressive in interviewing people. I have not been involved as far as the process of interviewing or talking to anybody, but I think they’ll at least give me a heads up on some of the guys we’ve talked to to see if I want to meet them or what have you. We’ll get a great AD. This is a great place. We’ll get a great AD in here and someone that will work hard to try and expand what Greg has helped build here in the last six or seven years.”
* One of the new things Rodriguez has been making a push for, in addition to some other more creative facility-related things, is an indoor facility for the team to practice in. Other programs have them and it is something that the UA head coach feels is more more necessary than it would be a luxury.
“That’s No. 1 on of our priorities,” he said. “The stadium certainly needs some renovations ... so I know that all needs to get upgraded, fixed and modernized, but priority No. 1 for me selfishly and our program is an indoor. I’ve been here long enough to know that it never rains but for the heat and our workouts I think an indoor is a necessity and we have room to do it. But you want to do it right and you want to make sure you do it where not just the football student-athletes but other student athletes can use it. I think we can use it for football and basketball pregame tailgating so there will be a lot of uses for it.
“You want to do it right and you want to build it right, but you’ve gotta have the funds and all that. But there’s no question it’s a necessity for us going forward. Our weather is a huge bonus, but the summer heat is sometimes used against us in recruiting and I think unjustly so in some respects but when it is 108 - even if you workout at seven in the morning it’s still hot if you want to come and throw in the afternoon or if you have a storm in August disrupting practice. We do need an indoor and everybody I’ve talked to understands that and is on board with that it’s just a matter of getting it together sooner rather than later.”
Football
Soon enough Rich Rodriguez and his new crop of players will be back to work with spring ball getting started in a little less than two weeks on Feb. 18. At that time the Wildcats will get their first look at what could potentially be as there will be plenty of new faces and new players to see. It will be an important spring for growth for the ‘Cats and it will be the first step in determining which players end up contributing most once the season rolls around.
* One face you won’t see will be that of receivers coach Tony Dews. The longtime Rodriguez assistant has decided to make the move back to West Virginia to work on Dana Holgorson’s staff as an assistant coach with the Mountaineers. Dews was a grad assistant at WVU under Rodriguez in the early 2000s before becoming a full part of his staff a few years later and then making the move with Rodriguez to Michigan. He spent time at Pittsburgh before making the move to Tucson in late 2011 to join Rodriguez with the Wildcats. WVU lost their running backs coach to Florida late last week and things moved quickly to bring in Dews from UA.
The UA receivers coach, who played tight end in college, has coached on both sides of the ball at different positions but he has not coached running backs. At this point it is not known if that is the role he will have at WVU. His hire is expected to be made official this week.
When it comes to replacements things are being kept quiet, but with spring ball less than two weeks away a hire will need to be promptly. That means staying in house has become more of a reality. Former Wildcat Kylan Butler is a graduate assistant who worked with the receivers over the last two seasons while football analyst Miguel Reveles is another option on the offensive side of the ball as he has worked with the running backs and has been an important piece to the recruiting team during his time at UA.
If UA goes outside the program one name that recently became available is former LSU receivers coach Dameyune Craig who is a high-level recruiter who is already targeting many of the same recruits the Wildcats have already offered including commit Jamarye Joiner. Craig will have plenty of suitors and his experience has all been in the SEC, but it is something to keep an eye on.
* Two players you can expect to see on the field and as full participants this spring will be running backs Nick Wilson and JJ Taylor. Both players ended the year injured for UA with Wilson going through a couple different injuries and Taylor breaking his ankle in a game against Washington. Rodriguez said on National Signing Day that both players will be able to do “everything” once things get started later this month. He didn’t go into more detail than that, but it is a good sign that both will be back on the field and from the sounds of it not limited in what they will be able to do.
Wilson was closer to playing last season as he was working out in full pads at one point in the end of the year, but it never materialized into a full return to action. Because he was injured right at the cut-off point for a redshirt the Wildcats ultimately decided to have Taylor sit out the rest of his freshman season and he will still have four more years to contribute now.
* As Arizona looks for a replacement for Dews it brought in a replacement for the departed Donté Williams over the winter and for this first time Rodriguez spoke of his new linebackers coach, Scott Boone, during the week. The two go way back and the UA head coach feels that having Boone as a part of his staff will mean good things on the field as well as on the recruiting trail for the the Wildcats.
“I’ve known coach Boone for over 20 years,” he said. “I’ve known him for a long time and have competed against him when he was coaching in college. I’ve known him since he coached at a small college, we both coached at a small college. I’ve always had great respect for him. Even though he’s from the East Coast he’s recruited out here in the West Coast quite a bit. Frankly, it gave us an opportunity, position wise, to move coach (Marcel) Yates to the secondary with coach (Jahmile) Addae, which is where he’s been most of his career and more comfortable there. And then get a true linebacker coach that has coached college linebackers for a long time with coach Boone.
“So position wise it’s worked out great and I like the chemistry so far on the staff, and he’s got coordinator experience too which is going to help Marcel and those guys as in that room as we develop our defensive package.”
* When it comes to one position on particular Arizona will be a bit thin this spring. The plan was to have another scholarship quarterback on campus for spring ball, but then Braxton Burmeister decided Oregon would be his new home. It has left UA without many options outside of Khalil Tate and returning starter Brandon Dawkins. Rhett Rodriguez will arrive in the summer, but outside of that the position is thin. In Rodriguez’s mind it will be enough, but health will play a big part in that.
“Yeah, I think so,” he said. “As long as they stay healthy we have enough quarterbacks. If we add a walk on or two or somebody down the line that’ll be good. I think we’ve got plenty of talent there we’ve just gotta keep them healthy.”
* In addition to speaking about Boone for the first time, Rodriguez also took time about the athletic director who hired him, Greg Byrne, and his departure for Alabama. Rodriguez had leaned on Byrne quite a bit to help produce new and better facilities for UA and the former UA athletic director has been a big part of backing the Wildcats’ head coach.
“You know you never want to lose your AD in the middle of the recruiting process that’s not always pleasant,” Rodriguez said. “But it was a great opportunity for him. Greg called ... 10 days ago or something to talk again. He’s done a fabulous job here for our programs and helped a lot for facilities, and we had some plans for some future stuff too. He’s been in the middle of that, so it’s obviously for Greg he seized that opportunity and he’ll do a great job for Alabama.
“I know the school has been very aggressive in interviewing people. I have not been involved as far as the process of interviewing or talking to anybody, but I think they’ll at least give me a heads up on some of the guys we’ve talked to to see if I want to meet them or what have you. We’ll get a great AD. This is a great place. We’ll get a great AD in here and someone that will work hard to try and expand what Greg has helped build here in the last six or seven years.”
* One of the new things Rodriguez has been making a push for, in addition to some other more creative facility-related things, is an indoor facility for the team to practice in. Other programs have them and it is something that the UA head coach feels is more more necessary than it would be a luxury.
“That’s No. 1 on of our priorities,” he said. “The stadium certainly needs some renovations ... so I know that all needs to get upgraded, fixed and modernized, but priority No. 1 for me selfishly and our program is an indoor. I’ve been here long enough to know that it never rains but for the heat and our workouts I think an indoor is a necessity and we have room to do it. But you want to do it right and you want to make sure you do it where not just the football student-athletes but other student athletes can use it. I think we can use it for football and basketball pregame tailgating so there will be a lot of uses for it.
“You want to do it right and you want to build it right, but you’ve gotta have the funds and all that. But there’s no question it’s a necessity for us going forward. Our weather is a huge bonus, but the summer heat is sometimes used against us in recruiting and I think unjustly so in some respects but when it is 108 - even if you workout at seven in the morning it’s still hot if you want to come and throw in the afternoon or if you have a storm in August disrupting practice. We do need an indoor and everybody I’ve talked to understands that and is on board with that it’s just a matter of getting it together sooner rather than later.”
