Bear Down Wildcats

Arizona safety Will Parks is adding a new wrinkle to a laborious training regimen designed to prepare his body for the 2015 season: boxing.

Parks enters the ring multiple times weekly, muscling through six different sets of punch combinations as he strives to improve his balance, timing and power as a defensive back.

Will Parks, S, Arizona

Arizona’s defense has room to improve after allowing 451 yards per game last season, but there were a few bright spots for coordinator Jeff Casteel. Linebacker Scooby Wright is arguably the top defender in college football, and Parks had a breakout campaign in his first year as a full-time starter. Parks started all 14 games for the Wildcats and recorded 81 stops (13 for a loss), one sack, two interceptions and eight pass breakups. With some new faces stepping into the starting lineup around Parks, the senior should be the leader for Arizona’s secondary this season.

When William Parks attended Germantown High School, he was known as a leader in the classroom and on the football field. Considering that the school closed a year after Parks' 2012 graduation, he fills the role of the last great athlete to graduate from the 99-year-old institution.

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Parks — who was named defensive MVP of the 2013 Independence Bowl — discussed what it means to be already placed on the pre-season watch list of candidates for the honor.

"It's a humbling experience. I was telling my dad about it and he said I can use that as motivation now that people are realizing what I can do on the field," he said. "He told me to go out and not just do good things, but great things, to have a season like no one thought you could ever have. It's time to work even harder because you're starting to make a name for yourself."

Beach vid: http://websta.me/p/944451673107920380_1675206980