Sorry for the delay in today's practice quick notes as Arizona had football practice and not long after basketball held a press conference, so I'm just now getting back to a stationary spot to gather everything up from the day. Rich Rodriguez was in one of his most joking moods in a long time and he continues to be the happiest I can remember seeing him. The team is certainly loose this week and we'll see what that means as things play out in LA.
Here are today's quick notes from this morning's practice.
* I don't remember a time with Rodriguez joking around this much or simply looking this much at ease in his entire time in Tucson. He was cracking jokes and spoke to the media today for the longest amount of time I can remember over the last five-plus seasons. He brought up how Khalil Tate tends to get up slow after plays and it makes it look like he's hurt and then he brought this reference out.
Again, he's just a happy person right now and happier than I can ever remember him being at UA.
* The players have been very vocal on Twitter about being picked last in the Pac-12 to start the season. It's something JB Brown talked about earlier in the year, and the company line has been the same with players talking about it being a "slap in the face" to what they do on a daily basis and how much work goes into the team being what it is. It is clear they are hearing that from somewhere and after talking with several players and asking them the same question it's clear the coaching staff has made sure to hammer home that point throughout the season.
Here is a little video clip with the responses from Rodriguez and the players I chatted with.
* It's always interesting to see who allows themselves to get caught up in the hype of the week with so many players being from California on the team and knowing players on USC. Tate will speak tomorrow but I expect him to take the high road when it comes to any potential trash talk or his thoughts on the Trojans and this game being more meaningful to him. The UA quarterback obviously went to school with and knows much of the Trojans' roster on a more personal level. Arizona receiver Tony Ellison knows one of USC's best players Cameron Smith very well as the two players were teammates in high school a few years ago. It will be the first time the duo will be able to each start a game against one another and there has been no shortage of trash talk between the two this week as Ellison takes a different approach than his quarterback.
Layth Friekh never received an offer from USC, but it was a school he was interested in going to as a recruit. He had talks with the staff and there was some interest there but it never materialized into anything significant. Even though he isn't from California the game is still a meaningful one to him.
"I mean everybody wanted the SC offer no matter where you're from," the starting UA left tackle said. "I guess they (California-based Arizona players) know more guys on the team and stuff so I guess it means a little more to them than me, but it means a lot to me as well."
It was clear today that Arizona really wants to come away with a win in Los Angeles this weekend and that was certainly the vibe today after practice.
* Rodriguez spent a little more time talking about recruiting today as well as it becomes a hot topic with the Wildcats on the current winning streak. I mentioned in the recap from yesterday's press conference that Rodriguez mentioned he now isn't sure how many recruits the Wildcats will sign in 2018 after previously saying there would be 18 scholarships available. Today he had a lengthier conversation about the recruiting efforts and I tried to dig a little deeper into how much things have changed for the Wildcats now that the program has become more focused on recruiting than it previously was.
Something that doesn't get mentioned in the video below, that will feature the conversation with Rodriguez talking recruiting, is that Arizona plans to sign just one quarterback in this class (sorry @Justin Wollman) and with Jamarye Joiner already committed keeping him on board is the goal. It sounds like UA will sign just one in 2019 as well, so it will be interesting to see what the group looks like in the next couple years.
* A couple odds and ends before I wrap up here. First, as kabbey mentioned, Arizona is going with the blue helmets deviating from the non-chrome red helmets that have been used over the last three games. It means nothing and will have no impact on the game, but it is fun to blame something if there is a potential loss this weekend.
On another note, it sounds like Arizona and Friekh himself are a lot less confident that he will get a fifth season than they were before. The offensive tackle played in one game as a freshman and it was a just a handful of plays later in the season. Because of the redshirt rules he burned his redshirt since it happened after the midway point of the year even though he didn't play in 30 percent of his team's games. Right now the best hope for Arizona is that the rule allowing players to play four games at any point in the season without burning a redshirt gets passed and fast tracked in time for his appeal. Then the hope is the NCAA lets UA retroactively get that redshirt season back for Friekh. It's more of a long shot than it once seemed but Arizona's staff is going to see if it can pull it off once the season is over.
*** Note: If any of the videos aren't working can you guys let me know. I'm having no issues on my end but had a complaint that one I uploaded today has no sound. Appreciate it!
Here are today's quick notes from this morning's practice.
* I don't remember a time with Rodriguez joking around this much or simply looking this much at ease in his entire time in Tucson. He was cracking jokes and spoke to the media today for the longest amount of time I can remember over the last five-plus seasons. He brought up how Khalil Tate tends to get up slow after plays and it makes it look like he's hurt and then he brought this reference out.
Again, he's just a happy person right now and happier than I can ever remember him being at UA.
* The players have been very vocal on Twitter about being picked last in the Pac-12 to start the season. It's something JB Brown talked about earlier in the year, and the company line has been the same with players talking about it being a "slap in the face" to what they do on a daily basis and how much work goes into the team being what it is. It is clear they are hearing that from somewhere and after talking with several players and asking them the same question it's clear the coaching staff has made sure to hammer home that point throughout the season.
Here is a little video clip with the responses from Rodriguez and the players I chatted with.
* It's always interesting to see who allows themselves to get caught up in the hype of the week with so many players being from California on the team and knowing players on USC. Tate will speak tomorrow but I expect him to take the high road when it comes to any potential trash talk or his thoughts on the Trojans and this game being more meaningful to him. The UA quarterback obviously went to school with and knows much of the Trojans' roster on a more personal level. Arizona receiver Tony Ellison knows one of USC's best players Cameron Smith very well as the two players were teammates in high school a few years ago. It will be the first time the duo will be able to each start a game against one another and there has been no shortage of trash talk between the two this week as Ellison takes a different approach than his quarterback.
Layth Friekh never received an offer from USC, but it was a school he was interested in going to as a recruit. He had talks with the staff and there was some interest there but it never materialized into anything significant. Even though he isn't from California the game is still a meaningful one to him.
"I mean everybody wanted the SC offer no matter where you're from," the starting UA left tackle said. "I guess they (California-based Arizona players) know more guys on the team and stuff so I guess it means a little more to them than me, but it means a lot to me as well."
It was clear today that Arizona really wants to come away with a win in Los Angeles this weekend and that was certainly the vibe today after practice.
* Rodriguez spent a little more time talking about recruiting today as well as it becomes a hot topic with the Wildcats on the current winning streak. I mentioned in the recap from yesterday's press conference that Rodriguez mentioned he now isn't sure how many recruits the Wildcats will sign in 2018 after previously saying there would be 18 scholarships available. Today he had a lengthier conversation about the recruiting efforts and I tried to dig a little deeper into how much things have changed for the Wildcats now that the program has become more focused on recruiting than it previously was.
Something that doesn't get mentioned in the video below, that will feature the conversation with Rodriguez talking recruiting, is that Arizona plans to sign just one quarterback in this class (sorry @Justin Wollman) and with Jamarye Joiner already committed keeping him on board is the goal. It sounds like UA will sign just one in 2019 as well, so it will be interesting to see what the group looks like in the next couple years.
* A couple odds and ends before I wrap up here. First, as kabbey mentioned, Arizona is going with the blue helmets deviating from the non-chrome red helmets that have been used over the last three games. It means nothing and will have no impact on the game, but it is fun to blame something if there is a potential loss this weekend.
On another note, it sounds like Arizona and Friekh himself are a lot less confident that he will get a fifth season than they were before. The offensive tackle played in one game as a freshman and it was a just a handful of plays later in the season. Because of the redshirt rules he burned his redshirt since it happened after the midway point of the year even though he didn't play in 30 percent of his team's games. Right now the best hope for Arizona is that the rule allowing players to play four games at any point in the season without burning a redshirt gets passed and fast tracked in time for his appeal. Then the hope is the NCAA lets UA retroactively get that redshirt season back for Friekh. It's more of a long shot than it once seemed but Arizona's staff is going to see if it can pull it off once the season is over.
*** Note: If any of the videos aren't working can you guys let me know. I'm having no issues on my end but had a complaint that one I uploaded today has no sound. Appreciate it!
