Tuesday night was cornerbacks coach Demetrice Martin's turn to chat with the media ahead of the season. The second-year UA coach is in an interesting position now that he has depth and actually has some decisions to make because of it. At the top he is set with Jace Whittaker and Lorenzo Burns being the two veterans of his group, but behind them he has some choices and that is quite different from what he had a year ago when he was forced to play freshmen such as McKenzie Barnes and Christian Young more than expected.
He has also been able to get some more traction on the recruiting side with some potentially important additions over the last year and he spoke about that and more after Tuesday's practice.
Here are some of the highlights of what he talked about when he chatted with the media Tuesday night.
* I'll start with that added depth Martin has with his group this season. It is the problem any coach wants to have and right now he can rest a little easier knowing there are some options that will only make things easier on his two starters. Lorenzo Burns missed a game and still played the third-most snaps on the entire defense last season. The Wildcats want to have some more chances to give him a break so having that extra depth should help all the way around this year.
"It's always good to have a little bit more depth. We get guys running around out there and flying around, we get a little better practice mileage when you get a little better depth because they know when they get tired the next guy can tap right in. Hopefully you don't fall off that much. ... We got some young guys in that are pushing the level of competition up. Everybody's leveling up, so even the older guys are getting better because of the young guys coming in with competition. So, now with the young guys it's just about getting them experience at good times so they can experience some success."
Martin said he doesn't have a ballpark figure for how much he wants the starters to be on the field because the circumstances of who Arizona is playing and how the games shape up will determine how he approaches that part of his job and figuring out who needs to be on the field.
* Whittaker wasn't able to play outside of about one series last year while Burns was used as much as possible. The chance to get both on the field with their experience means the Wildcats have two legitimate standout cornerbacks on the field this year and the expectations internally are high for that tandem.
"I'm expecting a high level of production from those guys. Being leaders on and off the field, vocally, especially with their communication. They give the defense a sense of calmness because they're confident on the corners so they can exude that confidence to the inside of the defense."
* For Burns there was another level to reach after last season. He didn't have the type of interception numbers that he had the previous season and there are different things that caused that, but something that stood out was his inability to complete the play on possessions when he had a chance to pick a pass off. Many of those chances turned into pass interference calls. That is something Martin has been working with the redshirt junior on so far in practice.
"What we worked on is his ball location at the moment of truth. So, we're trying to make sure he doesn't panic and get those unnecessary PIs because he's fast as all outdoors and he can run with anybody. It's just the panic part at the moment of truth is what I call it and he's getting better at it. So, we'll see when the lights actually come on. ... The year that he had a lot of interceptions they were a lot more zone-based defense here. So, when you're a zone-based defense corner your eyes are on the quarterback watching the ball. We play a lot of man now, so our eyes ain't on the quarterback and it's different."
* Martin gave his quick rundown of Hawaii for the media and what the Warriors will bring to the table when the Wildcats make the trek out there in 10 days.
"They throw the ball a lot. They throw the ball a lot. Run-and-shoot offense and they've got a highly talented quarterback. He puts the ball in really good spots, and they've got a lot of jitterbug receivers out there that seem like they run forever. ... It's gonna test us, it's gonna test us but we'll be up for the challenge."
The UA cornerbacks coach said the challenge for his group will be being in proper shape by that game since there will be a lot of ground to cover and then "trusting the defense" to know that there will be help and his corners don't have to cover everything.
* Christian Roland-Wallace was the talk of spring ball because of how he looked as a first-year player and how he performed once he was able to get on the field. He hasn't created as much buzz the last few weeks, but Martin said there's a reason for that.
* Bobby Wolfe came to Arizona as one of the highly-touted incoming freshmen. The Houston-based cornerback has plenty of swagger and is not afraid to showcase his confidence. That can be good especially at the cornerback position, but during the open portion of practices during camp he had his moments when he struggled. Martin said Wolfe has been humbled some by the new level of play and he thinks it has been positive for the freshman to go through that because it is forcing him to mature some more already.
* Right now Richmond transfer Samari Springs looks like he will be part of the rotation at cornerback and is one of the players at the top of the reserve group. The junior came in and impressed Martin with his abilities and since he has NFL pedigree as the son of Shawn Springs there is a lot the UA coach has to work with.
* Someone who could eventually end up being a big part of the defensive line is freshman Kyon Barrs and the Wildcats almost didn't end up getting him. The California native had academic issues that weren't resolved until late in the process and by that time most programs had finished their classes and were out of room on their rosters. He was planning to go to Riverside City College until Martin made a stop by his school to say hello to the coaching staff. That's when things changed and UA was able to make an impressive late addition.
He has also been able to get some more traction on the recruiting side with some potentially important additions over the last year and he spoke about that and more after Tuesday's practice.
Here are some of the highlights of what he talked about when he chatted with the media Tuesday night.
* I'll start with that added depth Martin has with his group this season. It is the problem any coach wants to have and right now he can rest a little easier knowing there are some options that will only make things easier on his two starters. Lorenzo Burns missed a game and still played the third-most snaps on the entire defense last season. The Wildcats want to have some more chances to give him a break so having that extra depth should help all the way around this year.
"It's always good to have a little bit more depth. We get guys running around out there and flying around, we get a little better practice mileage when you get a little better depth because they know when they get tired the next guy can tap right in. Hopefully you don't fall off that much. ... We got some young guys in that are pushing the level of competition up. Everybody's leveling up, so even the older guys are getting better because of the young guys coming in with competition. So, now with the young guys it's just about getting them experience at good times so they can experience some success."
Martin said he doesn't have a ballpark figure for how much he wants the starters to be on the field because the circumstances of who Arizona is playing and how the games shape up will determine how he approaches that part of his job and figuring out who needs to be on the field.
* Whittaker wasn't able to play outside of about one series last year while Burns was used as much as possible. The chance to get both on the field with their experience means the Wildcats have two legitimate standout cornerbacks on the field this year and the expectations internally are high for that tandem.
"I'm expecting a high level of production from those guys. Being leaders on and off the field, vocally, especially with their communication. They give the defense a sense of calmness because they're confident on the corners so they can exude that confidence to the inside of the defense."
* For Burns there was another level to reach after last season. He didn't have the type of interception numbers that he had the previous season and there are different things that caused that, but something that stood out was his inability to complete the play on possessions when he had a chance to pick a pass off. Many of those chances turned into pass interference calls. That is something Martin has been working with the redshirt junior on so far in practice.
"What we worked on is his ball location at the moment of truth. So, we're trying to make sure he doesn't panic and get those unnecessary PIs because he's fast as all outdoors and he can run with anybody. It's just the panic part at the moment of truth is what I call it and he's getting better at it. So, we'll see when the lights actually come on. ... The year that he had a lot of interceptions they were a lot more zone-based defense here. So, when you're a zone-based defense corner your eyes are on the quarterback watching the ball. We play a lot of man now, so our eyes ain't on the quarterback and it's different."
* Martin gave his quick rundown of Hawaii for the media and what the Warriors will bring to the table when the Wildcats make the trek out there in 10 days.
"They throw the ball a lot. They throw the ball a lot. Run-and-shoot offense and they've got a highly talented quarterback. He puts the ball in really good spots, and they've got a lot of jitterbug receivers out there that seem like they run forever. ... It's gonna test us, it's gonna test us but we'll be up for the challenge."
The UA cornerbacks coach said the challenge for his group will be being in proper shape by that game since there will be a lot of ground to cover and then "trusting the defense" to know that there will be help and his corners don't have to cover everything.
* Christian Roland-Wallace was the talk of spring ball because of how he looked as a first-year player and how he performed once he was able to get on the field. He hasn't created as much buzz the last few weeks, but Martin said there's a reason for that.
* Bobby Wolfe came to Arizona as one of the highly-touted incoming freshmen. The Houston-based cornerback has plenty of swagger and is not afraid to showcase his confidence. That can be good especially at the cornerback position, but during the open portion of practices during camp he had his moments when he struggled. Martin said Wolfe has been humbled some by the new level of play and he thinks it has been positive for the freshman to go through that because it is forcing him to mature some more already.
* Right now Richmond transfer Samari Springs looks like he will be part of the rotation at cornerback and is one of the players at the top of the reserve group. The junior came in and impressed Martin with his abilities and since he has NFL pedigree as the son of Shawn Springs there is a lot the UA coach has to work with.
* Someone who could eventually end up being a big part of the defensive line is freshman Kyon Barrs and the Wildcats almost didn't end up getting him. The California native had academic issues that weren't resolved until late in the process and by that time most programs had finished their classes and were out of room on their rosters. He was planning to go to Riverside City College until Martin made a stop by his school to say hello to the coaching staff. That's when things changed and UA was able to make an impressive late addition.
