VICTORY LAP?
In 5th year at UA, Rodriguez aiming for new level of success
The fifth season of a college football coach’s tenure – if he’s allowed to stick around that long – can be a defining one. ¶ It's time for Rich Rodriguez to elevate Arizona football to another level. ¶ When the Wildcats face Brigham Young on Saturday night at University of Phoenix Stadium, we’ll get our first look at a team with an overhauled defense, a mystery at quarterback and a guaranteed entertaining offense. The last time Rodriguez found himself in this situation – entering his fifth season with two quarterbacks in the mix – the coach led West Virginia to an 11-1 record and a fifth-place finish in the final Associated Press college football poll. ¶ “Is the fifth season (defining)? I think the first and second one are, too, because they’ll fire you after three,” he said, laughing. ¶ Rodriguez has done a good job in a community best known as a basketball town, posting a winning record in each of his four seasons. Prior to his arrival, the Wildcats had just three in 13 tries. ¶ Improved facilities and an exciting brand of offense have generated enthusiasm in the community, but if anything has held Arizona back in competing consistently for the conference title – Rodriguez has a 17-18 Pac-12 record – it’s the challenge of luring the best players to the program.
“I like where our recruiting is going now,” Rodriguez said.
No one can accuse the coach of not being all in. His role has helped the Wildcats’ promotional videos become internet sensations, including this season’s Gladiator parody, “Are You Not Entertained?” which features Rodriguez in armor and sporting a sword.
Entertainment has not been the issue for Rodriguez’s teams. Results are a more popular topic among fans, who hope this group can channel the 2005 West Virginia Mountaineers. Translation: All the recruits are his.
“In the fifth season, there’s usually a sense of comfort that everyone’s kind of grown up in your program,” he said.
Rodriguez has yet to announce a starting quarterback. It could be incumbent Anu Solomon or challenger Brandon Dawkins. He could use a combination.
That’s the situation West Virginia found itself in 11 years ago when it came down to sophomore Adam Bednarik and redshirt freshman Pat White. Because the issue of a sure-fire starter never resolved itself, the two split time in the season’s first six games.
But when Bednarik went down with an injury in a game against No. 19 Louisville that saw the Mountaineers trailing by 17 in the fourth quarter, something magical happened.
White took over and the offense took off. He and fellow freshman running back Steve Slaton engineered a 46-44 triple-overtime victory that set the tone for the season and for several more years, turning West Virginia into one of the more exciting offenses in football at the time.
“Sometimes (the quarterback situation) is not sorted out until several games into the season,” Rodriguez said. “That was the case at West Virginia. They were splitting time and then one of them got hurt, and Pat White took over and the next thing you know, we took off and never looked back.
“Sometimes it takes that kind of thing to separate ‘em. Our goal is to make sure (Solomon and Dawkins) get better and maybe the competition would help them get better. And I think it has.
That Mountaineers team was deeper, but the season did suggest that often quarterback situations work themselves out.
What’s different about this Arizona team, too, is a completely new-look defense.
Rodriguez had enough after the Wildcats allowed 35.8 points per game – the most since he arrived in Tucson – and 30 touchdowns on the ground in 2015. Other factors played a part, too, including injuries at a middle linebacker and an unfriendly schedule that included no off week, but Rodriguez knew he had to do something, which included getting rid of most of his defensive staff and bringing in Boise State defensive coordinator Marcel Yates.
“We’re not as deep as we need to be,” Rodriguez said. “That’s something we’ve addressed in recruiting. … One of our goals is to play more people.”
The environment Saturday should be high energy. The crowd is expected to be about half BYU fans because of the large Cougars fan base in the Valley.
It should be emotional, too. Arizona players will wear helmet stickers and coaches will have patches to honor Zach Hemmila, the offensive lineman from Chandler who died during training camp.
A pregame ceremony also is scheduled.
“It was a tough situation, but I’m really proud of the team, how resilient they’ve been,” Rodriguez said. “I told them there is nothing in the coaching manual about how to deal with this other than just try to deal with it together. Hopefully, we can come together closer, and I think we have.
“We’ve stayed busy, really busy, and I think that’s helped a little bit, plus our senior class has done a great job of leadership, and we’re going to dedicate the season to him, and it’s helped bring a close team even closer.”
Unity is always one of the ingredients to success. So is recruiting and putting the right quarterback in place.
Rodriguez hopes a formula that worked so well more than decade ago does again in 2016.