2015 Season Thread

PHXCATS · Post by **PHXCATS** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 9:35 am

ASUHATER! wrote:Just beat asu and go to a bowl. That's all that matters now. I can't see us beating Utah or USC and uw's defense is going to shut us down next week.

Terrible attitude to have. This team is good but injured. If players come back especially on D where the Cats can get pressure on the QB this team can win every game left on the schedule.

ASUHATER! · Post by **ASUHATER!** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 9:42 am

Not a bad attitude. Just a level headed and realistic one.

azthrillhouse · Post by **azthrillhouse** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 9:42 am

PHXCATS wrote:
ASUHATER! wrote:Just beat asu and go to a bowl. That's all that matters now. I can't see us beating Utah or USC and uw's defense is going to shut us down next week.
Terrible attitude to have. This team is good but injured. If players come back especially on D where the Cats can get pressure on the QB this team can win every game left on the schedule.

UW and ASU are winnable in our current state (though we're not going to be favored in either, obviously). Only way (in my opinion) USC and Utah are remotely winnable is if we get Scooby & Turituri back.

PHXCATS · Post by **PHXCATS** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 9:45 am

azthrillhouse wrote:
PHXCATS wrote:
ASUHATER! wrote:Just beat asu and go to a bowl. That's all that matters now. I can't see us beating Utah or USC and uw's defense is going to shut us down next week.
Terrible attitude to have. This team is good but injured. If players come back especially on D where the Cats can get pressure on the QB this team can win every game left on the schedule.
UW and ASU are winnable in our current state (though we're not going to be favored in either, obviously). Only way (in my opinion) USC and Utah are remotely winnable is if we get Scooby & Turituri back.

cats go at least two and two the rest of the way. Screw anyone who is happy onlybeating asu

Harvey Specter · Post by **Harvey Specter** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 10:24 am

azthrillhouse wrote:
Harvey Specter wrote: If our strategy is to recruit OKG's, then the coaches better actually recruit OKG's.
This, to me, is it in a nutshell.

I don't want to overreact, because to me this season has been a perfect storm of circumstances:

1) We have a defensive system that uses the LB's (and the spur/bandit) to get pressure on the QB rather than from the DL
2)Our LB corps has been absolutely decimated by injuries
3) We have no bye week to recover from injuries or make significant adjustments to cover for injuries
4) We have apparently mis-evaluated 2 or 3 of our highly touted LB recruits
5) We do not have the experience (or, arguably, talent) in the secondary to mask the deficiencies of the pass rush

[/B]Scheer tweeted out (and posted on TOS) a breakdown of all of the "misses" we've had w/ 4-stars and above, both with RR and Stoops. The number of 4- and 5- stars we have had that have actually lived up to or exceeded their billing in the past 10 years is very small (Gronk, Golden from the Stoops era, from the RR era...TBD).[/b]

We can't afford to stockpile guys just because they have a bunch of stars next to their name like USC & UCLA do - because if that 4-star turns out to be a bust, there's not another one behind him like there is at USC & UCLA.

We may be seeing the answer to a fundamental question about Arizona football - can we grow into a perennial contender for championships, or is our ceiling as a program to be the scrappy spoiler that once every 5-10 years has the right combo of talent & luck to do something special (a la the Tomey years, or last year).

Personally I'm OK with the latter.....as long as that occasional special year gets us a conference championship, rather than the near-misses we've had in the past.

And, if that's who you're going to be as a program.....then you're better off looking for guys that will pick up the schemes and who love to play football and not worrying about the 4 and 5 stars.

If, on the other hand, you think you can build a perennial contender here....something drastic needs to be done about our ability to recruit high-end talent that will actually contribute.

Off the top of my head - add in Matt Scott, Marquise Flowers, Ka'deem Carey, Cayleb Jones, Anu Solomon, Nick Wilson, Jerrard Randall, etc.

It's a numbers game. My guess is that our hit rate on 4-star recruits is not a lot different than the national average. We have so few elite-level recruits that we need / expect a disproportionate # of them to deliver. I have read suggestions that an individual recruit's star ranking represents the % likelihood that they will be a meaningful contributor, and I suspect that is probably very true.

If our 'hit rate' on meaningful contributors among 2 and 3 star recruits was appreciably higher - the great, but I do not believe that it is. People pointing to Scooby as a suggestion that "# stars never matter' are deluding themselves.

Whatever the case, and by whatever measure, we need to upgrade the talent level in the program, especially on the defensive side of the ball. I am all for whatever works, but I do not think that recruiting fewer elite recruits is the answer.

azthrillhouse · Post by **azthrillhouse** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 12:25 pm

Harvey Specter wrote:
Off the top of my head - add in Matt Scott, Marquise Flowers, Ka'deem Carey, Cayleb Jones, Anu Solomon, Nick Wilson, Jerrard Randall, etc.

It's a numbers game. My guess is that our hit rate on 4-star recruits is not a lot different than the national average. We have so few elite-level recruits that we need / expect a disproportionate # of them to deliver. I have read suggestions that an individual recruit's star ranking represents the % likelihood that they will be a meaningful contributor, and I suspect that is probably very true.

If our 'hit rate' on meaningful contributors among 2 and 3 star recruits was appreciably higher - the great, but I do not believe that it is. People pointing to Scooby as a suggestion that "# stars never matter' are deluding themselves.

Whatever the case, and by whatever measure, we need to upgrade the talent level in the program, especially on the defensive side of the ball. I am all for whatever works, but I do not think that recruiting fewer elite recruits is the answer.

Fair point on Scott, Anu, & Flowers & Wilson - KDC was a 3-star as I recall, and I wasn't considering transfers such as Jones & Randall as they came with baggage or a chip on their shoulder.

On defense, though, we do seem to have this pattern of our most productive defensive players being the overlooked guys w/ high football IQ. The number of solid contributors on D in the RR era that were highly recruited in HS is pretty short....Flowers, Shaq (arguable, and we only got him because he screwed up at UCLA)...anybody else?

Perhaps it's too soon to be panicking....I keep forgetting that guys like Cobb, Ware, Griffin, Denson are only in their 2nd year of the program. If those 4 guys (+ Sharif Williams) make a big leap next year, we could be having a drastically different discussion. If they don't......eesh.

azpenguin · Post by **azpenguin** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 4:26 pm

I'd like to see the offer lists... the staff offers a lot of guys, getting them to consider Arizona when the blue bloods are wooing them isn't easy. They chase some highly rated guys.

It's still a crap shoot. We lost Tabor and Hale in last year's class. Tabor can't stay out of trouble and Hale has been booted off UW. That's a five star and four star. Now had those guys stayed and had their heads on straight then the secondary looks totally different right now.

cordera89 · Post by **cordera89** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 7:12 pm

azthrillhouse wrote:
PHXCATS wrote:
ASUHATER! wrote:Just beat asu and go to a bowl. That's all that matters now. I can't see us beating Utah or USC and uw's defense is going to shut us down next week.
Terrible attitude to have. This team is good but injured. If players come back especially on D where the Cats can get pressure on the QB this team can win every game left on the schedule.
UW and ASU are winnable in our current state (though we're not going to be favored in either, obviously). Only way (in my opinion) USC and Utah are remotely winnable is if we get Scooby & Turituri back.

Our last four game aren't going to be winnable.

catinfl · Post by **catinfl** » Mon Oct 26, 2015 8:09 am

Washington's offense isn't anything to be scared of. Their defense is pretty good and they're at home, but I bet we get one of Turituri/Scoob back and if we do it's gonna make a difference.

azgreg · Post by **azgreg** » Mon Oct 26, 2015 8:11 am

cordera89 wrote:Our last four game aren't going to be winnable.

Every game is winnable, it's just a matter of how winnable.

azpenguin · Post by **azpenguin** » Mon Oct 26, 2015 8:44 am

All four are winnable. Depends on which Arizona team shows up.

cats101 · Post by **cats101** » Mon Oct 26, 2015 9:21 am

Hawkeye wrote:I hope I'm wrong but I don't see us winning another game this season.

I actually see this too...

I hate the Mutts, but winning in Seattle is not very easy regardless of how average their offense is.

Harvey Specter · Post by **Harvey Specter** » Mon Oct 26, 2015 12:48 pm

azpenguin wrote:All four are winnable. Depends on which Arizona team shows up.

The one that played against Oregon State, or the one that has played the rest of the season?

I am not trying to be negative, but I think that is the only game all season where we really looked 'good' (NAU does not count) - and it appears likely that the Beavs will go ohfer in conference play.

I think UW and ASU are winnable, but far from sure things, and we should be underdogs in both. As for USC and Utah... They are winnable in the sense that any game is for one of the 2 teams scheduled.

PHXCATS · Post by **PHXCATS** » Mon Oct 26, 2015 1:07 pm

You all realize if a semi healthy Scooby or one other semi decent pass rusher plays Saturday UA wins comfortably. Also a dumb fumble chaned everything.

azpenguin · Post by **azpenguin** » Mon Oct 26, 2015 1:18 pm

It's not quite as true anymore like it was last season, but to an extent, how Solomon plays is how Arizona plays. If he plays well and racks up TD drives, Cats win comfortably. If the defense can get itself back together then some pressure will come off him, an with the emergence of Randall this team can still be very dangerous.

ChooChooCat · Post by **ChooChooCat** » Mon Oct 26, 2015 1:20 pm

azpenguin wrote:It's not quite as true anymore like it was last season, but to an extent, how Solomon plays is how Arizona plays. If he plays well and racks up TD drives, Cats win comfortably. If the defense can get itself back together then some pressure will come off him, an with the emergence of Randall this team can still be very dangerous.

This team scored 42 points last Saturday and still lost. I'd say the issue is the defense and with a defense this bad there's no such thing as a comfortable win for Arizona.

azgreg · Post by **azgreg** » Mon Oct 26, 2015 1:43 pm

azpenguin · Post by **azpenguin** » Mon Oct 26, 2015 2:03 pm

ChooChooCat wrote:
azpenguin wrote:It's not quite as true anymore like it was last season, but to an extent, how Solomon plays is how Arizona plays. If he plays well and racks up TD drives, Cats win comfortably. If the defense can get itself back together then some pressure will come off him, an with the emergence of Randall this team can still be very dangerous.
This team scored 42 points last Saturday and still lost. I'd say the issue is the defense and with a defense this bad there's no such thing as a comfortable win for Arizona.

The defense is the big issue. But looking at the offense, Solomon had 5 possessions Saturday and three of them resulted in punts, including the first two. They totaled 35 yards on those three drives. One of those drives was killed by a holding penalty that put them way behind the chains and another by a bad snap. He didn't play badly, but if he puts a TD on the board on one or two of those drives this is a completely different conversation.

Randall, on the other hand, had four drives. One of them was a turnover on downs at the WSU 8, the other three were touchdowns. (Hindsight says they should have taken the points and kicked the FG on that drive, but RR said he didn't think field goals were going to win the game, and in that case he made the right call.)

Obviously Randall produced more in less time. Solomon had two drives killed by dumb errors that weren't his fault, plus another by the offense not being able to get two yards on the ground. Whoever starts needs to set a tone and not leave the team chasing points, particularly with this defense.

MrMeow · Post by **MrMeow** » Mon Oct 26, 2015 2:25 pm

azgreg wrote:

What's the rush? Bundage has only been sailing the ball over the QB's head for five games, now.

FightWildcatsFight · Post by **FightWildcatsFight** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 7:16 pm

RichRod isn't going anywhere, and things are never as bad or good as they seem. Just some things to remember.

azgreg · Post by **azgreg** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 7:24 pm

FightWildcatsFight wrote:RichRod isn't going anywhere, and things are never as bad or good as they seem. Just some things to remember.

What fun is that kind of talk?

azcat49 · Post by **azcat49** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 7:48 pm

FightWildcatsFight wrote:RichRod isn't going anywhere, and things are never as bad or good as they seem. Just some things to remember.

You would definitely be in the minority with that thought (about RR staying). Just optimism or some real insight?

CalStateTempe · Post by **CalStateTempe** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 8:15 pm

Arizona Football 2015

FightWildcatsFight · Post by **FightWildcatsFight** » Sat Nov 07, 2015 7:17 pm

azcat49 wrote:
FightWildcatsFight wrote:RichRod isn't going anywhere, and things are never as bad or good as they seem. Just some things to remember.

You would definitely be in the minority with that thought (about RR staying). Just optimism or some real insight?

No insider knowledge but I don't see him leaving this project only 4 years in. It's been debated to hell on here but imo it just wouldn't make sense to leave.

cordera89 · Post by **cordera89** » Sat Nov 07, 2015 7:44 pm

FightWildcatsFight wrote:
azcat49 wrote:
FightWildcatsFight wrote:RichRod isn't going anywhere, and things are never as bad or good as they seem. Just some things to remember.

You would definitely be in the minority with that thought (about RR staying). Just optimism or some real insight?
No insider knowledge but I don't see him leaving this project only 4 years in. It's been debated to hell on here but imo it just wouldn't make sense to leave.

Fight I don't think RR isn't leaving, The media has done a good job on painting the picture of him leaving Arizona for Va tech. Did you read an article on what Hansen wrote that he favor RR leaving on 7 to 2 odd of 7 reason why he leave for VT and 2 reason why he stay. Then another problem in which I heard this from the scout that two defense assistant said they don't like recruiting in Arizona. I don't know if that true or not or someone trying to stir up pot more. It will be a slap in face if RR leave Arizona after a disappointing season.

FightWildcatsFight · Post by **FightWildcatsFight** » Sat Nov 07, 2015 7:57 pm

cordera89 wrote:
FightWildcatsFight wrote:
azcat49 wrote:
FightWildcatsFight wrote:RichRod isn't going anywhere, and things are never as bad or good as they seem. Just some things to remember.

You would definitely be in the minority with that thought (about RR staying). Just optimism or some real insight?
No insider knowledge but I don't see him leaving this project only 4 years in. It's been debated to hell on here but imo it just wouldn't make sense to leave.

Fight I don't think RR isn't leaving, The media has done a good job on painting the picture of him leaving Arizona for Va tech. Did you read an article on what Hansen wrote that he favor RR leaving on 7 to 2 odd of 7 reason why he leave for VT and 2 reason why he stay. Then another problem in which I heard this from the scout that two defense assistant said they don't like recruiting in Arizona. I don't know if that true or not or someone trying to stir up pot more. It will be a slap in face if RR leave Arizona after a disappointing season.

I don't read Hansen but I heard that, and honestly the media comes up with all kinds of kooky hypothesis all the time. That's pretty much their job these days. I'm just gonna let it play out and see what happens. If RR is leaving, the one thing I hope to see is some fight in the team. I would lose a lot of respect for RR if this season was such a disaster because his foot was already out the door. That would be a huge FU to the players, fans, and the school.

azgreg · Post by **azgreg** » Tue Nov 17, 2015 8:34 am

ASUHATER! · Post by **ASUHATER!** » Tue Nov 17, 2015 8:36 am

Kinda crazy that the record for wins by a senior class at Arizona is only 32. Hopefully they get to 34

3goggles · Post by **3goggles** » Tue Nov 17, 2015 8:46 pm

Has anybody seen an update on how Keenan Walker is doing with his leg injury? Looking back at it his injury started our teams injury bug this year!

FightWildcatsFight · Post by **FightWildcatsFight** » Thu Nov 19, 2015 12:04 pm

Somebody else said it but I'll repeat it here.

Win over top 10 Utah and then ASu on the road to close the season? Season saved.

ASUHATER! · Post by **ASUHATER!** » Thu Nov 19, 2015 12:48 pm

FightWildcatsFight wrote:Somebody else said it but I'll repeat it here.

Win over top 10 Utah and then ASu on the road to close the season? Season saved.

I tend to agree. A 7 or possibly 8 win season with a bowl including a win over ASU and a top 10 team after all the injuries we've had and the lack of a bye week...that would count as a good season.

Newportcat · Post by **Newportcat** » Sun Nov 22, 2015 4:38 pm

2015

Another worthless, non memorable season for Arizona football. Since I started at U of A in 1999 ,with the exception of 2008 when they crushed ASU and beat BYU to win there first bowl game in a while, pretty much every season has been worthless or ended in a terrible non-memorable form. This year is no exception. Think about that, since 1999 we have only beaten ASU and won a bowl game in the same year once. Just pathetic

At some point, it would be nice to have a good football program (notice I didnt say team). Lets hope 2016 begins that trend (strong doubts from me with our recruiting being what it is and the current talent level on the team especially on defense).

Harvey Specter · Post by **Harvey Specter** » Sun Nov 22, 2015 5:02 pm

Newportcat wrote:2015

Another worthless, non memorable season for Arizona football. Since I started at U of A in 1999 ,with the exception of 2008 when they crushed ASU and beat BYU to win there first bowl game in a while, pretty much every season has been worthless or ended in a terrible non-memorable form. This year is no exception. Think about that, since 1999 we have only beaten ASU and won a bowl game in the same year once. Just pathetic

At some point, it would be nice to have a good football program (notice I didnt say team). Lets hope 2016 begins that trend (strong doubts from me with our recruiting being what it is and the current talent level on the team especially on defense).

Dude... It is never going to be what you want it to be.

Newportcat · Post by **Newportcat** » Sun Nov 22, 2015 5:35 pm

I don't have illusions of us being an Ohio State but there is no reason with good coaching and good consistent recruiting we cant be a Top 25 team most years. It is not too much to ask that in 16 years we beat ASU and win a bowl game in the same season more then once.

Obviously I would love us to be a dominant program like we are in basketball but unless we get some rich donor to go Oregon style on us with ridiculous facilities it ain't going to happen. However, we should be better then we have been.

ASUHATER! · Post by **ASUHATER!** » Sun Nov 22, 2015 7:01 pm

With more home games and a bye and hopefully better luck with injuries we will be better next year. If we had done better this year I probably would've had us as a top 15 team next year. But honestly I think we will/can be a 8-4/9-3/kinda team next year

Newportcat · Post by **Newportcat** » Sun Nov 22, 2015 7:11 pm

We should definitely be better on offense and no way we have the same injuries as this year I just cant make the statement we will be better on defense. We haven't been good on defense the last two years and we actually lose our best DL this year, Safety, and LB (With Scooby leaving). I don't see a big turnaround there unless we bring in some top notch JUCO guys.

CalStateTempe · Post by **CalStateTempe** » Sun Nov 22, 2015 9:04 pm

Pirate doing a damn good job in Pullman with worse facilities and more ground to cover for recruiting and shittier weather.

Harvey Specter · Post by **Harvey Specter** » Mon Nov 23, 2015 12:46 am

CalStateTempe wrote:Pirate doing a damn good job in Pullman with worse facilities and more ground to cover for recruiting and shittier weather.

But it is so hot in the summer here and we do not have an indoor practice facility.

This year notwithstanding, we have been better than Wazzu... and we should be thankful that we have a coach that can field a program that is usually better Wazzu with the Pirate at the helm. We are not USC, UCLA, or Oregon.

catinfl · Post by **catinfl** » Mon Nov 23, 2015 8:36 am

Sucks to lose to ASU, but given the circumstances it's hard to beat a team with a 3rd string QB. If Anu plays we win plain and simple, but 2015 will be the year of injuries. What could have been if Scooby, Turituri, Ippolitto, Wilson, and Solomon stayed healthy the whole year.

Merkin · Post by **Merkin** » Mon Nov 23, 2015 8:58 am

Harvey Specter wrote:
CalStateTempe wrote:Pirate doing a damn good job in Pullman with worse facilities and more ground to cover for recruiting and shittier weather.
But it is so hot in the summer here and we do not have an indoor practice facility.

This year notwithstanding, we have been better than Wazzu... and we should be thankful that we have a coach that can field a program that is usually better Wazzu with the Pirate at the helm. We are not USC, UCLA, or Oregon.

Mike Price took Wazzu to 2 Rose Bowls wrapped around some pretty mediocre seasons but with some great local QBs. Does the Palouse still produce NFL quality QBs? Price put 5 in the league while the UA had none until Foles.

That's the absolute most the UA can expect. Just need to get those very good years like last year to go great.

Then the shitty ones like this year.

azpenguin · Post by **azpenguin** » Mon Nov 23, 2015 9:45 am

CalStateTempe wrote:Pirate doing a damn good job in Pullman with worse facilities and more ground to cover for recruiting and shittier weather.

One good year so far. Barely made a bowl a couple of years ago and then lost that in an epic collapse. Lost to a FCS team to start the year. He's doing a pretty good job but this is the first year where they're punching above their weight.

Harvey Specter · Post by **Harvey Specter** » Mon Nov 23, 2015 9:57 am

azpenguin wrote:
CalStateTempe wrote:Pirate doing a damn good job in Pullman with worse facilities and more ground to cover for recruiting and shittier weather.
One good year so far. Barely made a bowl a couple of years ago and then lost that in an epic collapse. Lost to a FCS team to start the year. He's doing a pretty good job but this is the first year where they're punching above their weight.

If you think our program was in disarray 4 years ago, look at Wazzu. They were a disaster with more disadvantages than anyone in the conference as far as recruiting goes - and it is not really close.

We punched above our weight last year and ended the season in 2 epic collapses. Aside from the embarrassing FCS loss, UA last year = WSU this year.

Leach is doing a damn good job.

ChooChooCat · Post by **ChooChooCat** » Mon Nov 23, 2015 9:59 am

Was the Fiesta Bowl an epic collapse? It's not as if that game was not within reach.

azpenguin · Post by **azpenguin** » Mon Nov 23, 2015 10:15 am

ChooChooCat wrote:Was the Fiesta Bowl an epic collapse? It's not as if that game was not within reach.

It sucked but Arizona didn't give up a two score lead with under three minutes left.

azgreg · Post by **azgreg** » Mon Nov 23, 2015 10:18 am

Woo! Hoo! Finally bye week!

cpt · Post by **cpt** » Mon Nov 23, 2015 10:21 am

azgreg wrote:Woo! Hoo! Finally bye week!

Yes, so ends the worst Arizona football schedule of my lifetime...

RazorsEdgeAZ · Post by **RazorsEdgeAZ** » Mon Nov 23, 2015 2:01 pm

As Rich Rod stated, everything is (should) be evaluated. Assuming RR stays (6-6, schemes tough to sell in power conferences) it should all be evaluated. The running game has struggled two years in a row during conference play in stretches. This offense hums starting with the run game. Some of that starts with Solomon who has been reluctant to tuck the ball and run. Concussions and ankle injuries don't help.

Injuries. One position has got lots of play, but if you really look harder at it, AZ has been prone to many injuries, both sides of the ball last 4 years under RR. It's been consistent. At many many positions. Some, games at a time and others season ending. One of my theories is it could be size of recruits AZ targets (Tweeners). RR still saying team needs to get bigger (it's been 4 years) and other team bigger at most positions. Not entirely, but plays a factor. Going up against mostly ALL bigger teams across the board (generally speaking) in this conference in theory going to increase chances to get hurt.

RR teams generally have lots of injuries anyways because of number plays offense and his defenses (pace) tend to play. which puts MORE emphasis and NEED for depth.

I expect some changes on the defensive side of the ball, but cosmetic. The "Injuries" theme will continue to be "used".

I EXPECT this will be controversial as well. I would even evaluate Dudek at recruiting coordinator. I'm OK with him here, but could this position be improved upon? RR has traditionally had a RC that has played and/or coaches football (Hand, Gibson, Singletary). Could this type in this position help in the complete recruit evaluation? I understand Dudek popular (I like him) and recruits like him, but he doesn't seem to be a difference maker for in-state or blue chip recruits. AZ also still loses out to plenty of good 3 star recruits that have other power five offers. AZ doesn't seem to be winning lots in a popularity contest where it counts. Although he's popular. Rightfully so. I understand this position less impact on the success on the field than coaches. BUT that's why I think it's safe for it to be evaluated. Low risk - higher reward.

He's seems to be a great "best friend" to recruits and their families, but is that what a top recruit wants or needs from this position? It's less about the recruits and more about evaluating whether that position could be more with deep respectable experience in the game that a recruit could be blown away with.

Other programs seem to do OK with coordinators that come from/coach the game. Not saying it would directly transfer to more wins, just throwing out no sacred cows and tweaks that indirectly could be home runs/wins. Civil discourse please...

BTW, I don't know it RC should be evaluated, none of us do. Just dialog, given what RR has done in the past in this position.

Harvey Specter · Post by **Harvey Specter** » Mon Nov 23, 2015 3:03 pm

RazorsEdgeAZ wrote:As Rich Rod stated, everything is (should) be evaluated. Assuming RR stays (6-6, schemes tough to sell in power conferences) it should all be evaluated. The running game has struggled two years in a row during conference play in stretches. This offense hums starting with the run game. Some of that starts with Solomon who has been reluctant to tuck the ball and run. Concussions and ankle injuries don't help.

Injuries. One position has got lots of play, but if you really look harder at it, AZ has been prone to many injuries, both sides of the ball last 4 years under RR. It's been consistent. At many many positions. Some, games at a time and others season ending. One of my theories is it could be size of recruits AZ targets (Tweeners). RR still saying team needs to get bigger (it's been 4 years) and other team bigger at most positions. Not entirely, but plays a factor. Going up against mostly ALL bigger teams across the board (generally speaking) in this conference in theory going to increase chances to get hurt.

RR teams generally have lots of injuries anyways because of number plays offense and his defenses (pace) tend to play. which puts MORE emphasis and NEED for depth.

I expect some changes on the defensive side of the ball, but cosmetic. The "Injuries" theme will continue to be "used".

I EXPECT this will be controversial as well. I would even evaluate Dudek at recruiting coordinator. I'm OK with him here, but could this position be improved upon? RR has traditionally had a RC that has played and/or coaches football (Hand, Gibson, Singletary). Could this type in this position help in the complete recruit evaluation? I understand Dudek popular (I like him) and recruits like him, but he doesn't seem to be a difference maker for in-state or blue chip recruits. AZ also still loses out to plenty of good 3 star recruits that have other power five offers. AZ doesn't seem to be winning lots in a popularity contest where it counts. Although he's popular. Rightfully so. I understand this position less impact on the success on the field than coaches. BUT that's why I think it's safe for it to be evaluated. Low risk - higher reward.

He's seems to be a great "best friend" to recruits and their families, but is that what a top recruit wants or needs from this position? It's less about the recruits and more about evaluating whether that position could be more with deep respectable experience in the game that a recruit could be blown away with.

Other programs seem to do OK with coordinators that come from/coach the game. Not saying it would directly transfer to more wins, just throwing out no sacred cows and tweaks that indirectly could be home runs/wins. Civil discourse please...

BTW, I don't know it RC should be evaluated, none of us do. Just dialog, given what RR has done in the past in this position.

Interesting points.. everything is fair game. Dudek seems to be a really funny & personable dude that most (all?) of the fans who meet him end up liking. But our recruiting results need to get better... and I have seen a number of sales guys that everybody liked but not enough people buy from.

My view from a distance (seeing some of his tweets posted on here) is that he is probably a strong personality that works really well with some types and not at all with others. Kinda reminds me of stories about Pastner (although Dudek does not take himself as seriously... And that is intended as a compliment to Dudek).

If injuries were really our only problem this season then we probably should not change anything (except how to avoid them again)... But it seems to me there are other issues that need to be addressed. All of us have an opinion, but only people inside really know what is going on. We have to trust in them to take whatever steps are necessary to move the needle.

Scummy Dick Douglas · Post by **Scummy Dick Douglas** » Mon Nov 23, 2015 3:18 pm

Were the injuries experienced by UA just a phenomena of this season? (Admittedkly I have not really tracked injuries since RR's arrival.) I ask because if a program develops a history of injury issues I would take a look at the strength and conditioning program. Obviously some injuries are just freak situations that can't be avoided, but I have always felt that the strength and conditioning program plays a big role in the overall injury numbers. I think Stanford is a great example of what I am talking about (they do a particularly great job working on flexibility with their players).

catinfl · Post by **catinfl** » Mon Nov 23, 2015 3:21 pm

Scummy Dick Douglas wrote:Were the injuries experienced by UA just a phenomena of this season? (Admittedkly I have not really tracked injuries since RR's arrival.) I ask because if a program develops a history of injury issues I would take a look at the strength and conditioning program. Obviously some injuries are just freak situations that can't be avoided, but I have always felt that the strength and conditioning program plays a big role in the overall injury numbers. I think Stanford is a great example of what I am talking about (they do a particularly great job working on flexibility with their players).

Freak situation. Been healthy the last couple years. RR actually started doing yoga to help with flexibility, we just got hit with a ton of injuries.

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