Bear Down Wildcats

I can hardly stand myself waiting for Spring Football to start. I'm not sure why, I won't be able to see any of it and I'll have to rely on sports writers and other eye witnesses. I want to see how our running backs are looking this year and how we're progressing at defensive tackle. I don't know about anyone else but those are my concerns. I'm not sure but from what I've ready about Mazzone and Sumlin, I'm thinking our offense may look a lot like a Sonny Dykes offense and I can live with that.

First time I think a lot of fans are excited for Spring Ball.

My concerns are

Developing QB depth now that Dawkins is gone and how Tate picks up the new offense

Running Back - Does Tilford pass JJ and how do they utilize JJ and what depth looks like behind those two

OL Depth and who the starting 5 ends up being (I would say I am less concerned with starting group and more about developing depth)

DL - I think its been since 2009 when I was not concerned about the DL at Arizona. Curious to see how guys like My King and Jalen Harris develop on the Edge and if Mykee, Sione, or PJ Johnson show promise early as they all bring much needed size to DT. In Fall camp going to be interesting to see if Adam Plant is ready to contribute Day 1.

I think defense should be improved and in the LB and Secondary as we bring back a lot in both positions

6pm on a Saturday. RR seemed to always pick Fridays or off times so we get a prime spots to attend now.

Gilbertcat wrote:6pm on a Saturday. RR seemed to always pick Fridays or off times so we get a prime spots to attend now.

I think I read that the only practice open to the public will be the spring game on April 14.

Michael Lev's position by position breakdown: I'm interested to see what Gary Brightwell might bring to the table. Lev seems optimistically bullish on the O-Line and we might finally have hope for a serviceable D-Line.

I don’t know about Brightwell. Tilford might have a good season though.

Arizona is constantly undersized. But with a playmaker like Tate, there are opportunities to create mismatches against opponents utilizing the tight end and undersized receivers. It's really about understanding your personnel.

And I'll remain skeptical about our D-line until I see improvement against quality competition (i.e. not Southern Utah).

Well, if the football program follows through and allows no media contact during spring except the springs game then I’m extremely disappointed. I honestly don’t get it. Giving media access gives stories for reportsers to write. When there are stories to read you get more emotional investment from fans. With no real articles to read fans don’t invest into the program and when the season hits there is a lack of excitement.

I fully believe that the reason ticket seeks has been so bad under RR than Stoops was the off-season reporting.

OSUCat wrote:Well, if the football program follows through and allows no media contact during spring except the springs game then I’m extremely disappointed. I honestly don’t get it. Giving media access gives stories for reportsers to write. When there are stories to read you get more emotional investment from fans. With no real articles to read fans don’t invest into the program and when the season hits there is a lack of excitement.

I fully believe that the reason ticket seeks has been so bad under RR than Stoops was the off-season reporting.

I think U of A is doubling down on getting Hansen fired. Sending a message right now and personally I like it.

Local Media (Basically Hansen) has been absolute crap for many years. Michael Lev does a great job but U of A is punishing the star which is a great thing

I don't see that being the issue (bad ticket sales due to lack of access). Sumlin has a lot to do this off season. I don't mind less stories while he puts in his system. Wins are why sales have sucked. If the access is this bad next year I will be more concerned.

I think U of A is doubling down on getting Hansen fired. Sending a message right now and personally I like it. Local Media (Basically Hansen) has been absolute crap for many years. Michael Lev does a great job but U of A is punishing the star which is a great thing.

...and in order to boost better ticket sales to the Spring Game, the Star needs to be an example and purchase tickets like everyone else.

No matter your feelings towards Scheer, he has a very valid point.

Merkin wrote:No matter your feelings towards Scheer, he has a very valid point.

I find that the athletic department does a great job in putting out pictures and videos through Twitter and YouTube

It’s spring football. Give me photos and videos of practice and I am fine

Feel bad for scheer as he is a good guy but this is clearly a message to the star that you can’t have your lead opinion reporter being a major douchebag towards our program and not expect us to fight back

Proud of Dave Heeke for this

This will have to do for now, which works for me!

http://arizonawildcats.com/galleries/?gallery=3406

Yup, Star has to police its own.

Feel bad for Scheer, but this is why we can’t have nice things.

Maybe Hansen’s dig at pjc prior to the buffalo game got in his head, who knows.

But I completely stand behind Heeke in this move.

MountainCat wrote:This will have to do for now, which works for me!

http://arizonawildcats.com/galleries/?gallery=3406

Jesus, the guns on JJ....wow! Just for clarification (scum) guns- the kids biceps are yoked, large, massive....

So, Rhett is actually going to stay with the program? If so, it says...something. Not sure what, but something.

PS. I can give a flying fig if our football coaching staff doesn’t talk to the media all spring and most of the season. All I ask is they change the culture of Arizona football, expect to win, and go win.

You guys understand that if Arizona wanted to punish the star then they wouldn’t allow them interviews or access while giving access to others. This has nothing to do with the Star or Hansen.

OSUCat wrote:You guys understand that if Arizona wanted to punish the star then they wouldn’t allow them interviews or access while giving access to others. This has nothing to do with the Star or Hansen.

I disagree as I think then it looks like they are calling out the star. This makes it look like an overall change

Siempre Verde wrote:So, Rhett is actually going to stay with the program? If so, it says...something. Not sure what, but something.

PS. I can give a flying fig if our football coaching staff doesn’t talk to the media all spring and most of the season. All I ask is they change the culture of Arizona football, expect to win, and go win.

Rhett should not have been given a scholarship in the first place for a variety of obvious reasons. The fact that he is still with the team says good things. The fact that he is still on scholarship not so much.

Newportcat wrote:

OSUCat wrote:You guys understand that if Arizona wanted to punish the star then they wouldn’t allow them interviews or access while giving access to others. This has nothing to do with the Star or Hansen.

I disagree as I think then it looks like they are calling out the star. This makes it look like an overall change

Nah, OSU is right. If they wanted to punish the Star they absolutely could. They can give and take away media rights at the drop of a hat. If you want to stick it to the Star give the access to Scheer, Gimino, etc.

OSUCat wrote:You guys understand that if Arizona wanted to punish the star then they wouldn’t allow them interviews or access while giving access to others. This has nothing to do with the Star or Hansen.

Media in Arizona hates this but thinks Hansen is part of it

I was telling a friend yesterday about the UofA media blackout on spring football and he tells me, "Welcome to the Sumlin era". I don't think that is correct at all. Sumlin doesn't strike me as someone that's unapproachable by the media. I believe he understands the importance of a good relationship with the media. On the other hand he is probably well aware of how Tucson sports media has reported things in the past. If the UofA singles out the The Star and denies them access it certainly sends a message but does nothing for establishing a good relationship. I think the media blackout has more to do with Sumlin being busier than a one legged man in a butt kicking contest about now. He has players to evaluate and put in an entirely new offensive system and still stay on the recruiting trail. He doesn't have the time for a lot of questions that he probably doesn't even know the answer to yet. Who's gonna start at this position, who's going to backup so and so and what about this or that or some other thing. At this point I doubt if he even knows. I think sometimes we just read to much into things. If a lot of the media thinks this has to do with Hansen, that's kind of telling us what they think of Hansen.

tgrumpy2 wrote:I was telling a friend yesterday about the UofA media blackout on spring football and he tells me, "Welcome to the Sumlin era". I don't think that is correct at all. Sumlin doesn't strike me as someone that's unapproachable by the media. I believe he understands the importance of a good relationship with the media. On the other hand he is probably well aware of how Tucson sports media has reported things in the past. If the UofA singles out the The Star and denies them access it certainly sends a message but does nothing for establishing a good relationship. I think the media blackout has more to do with Sumlin being busier than a one legged man in a butt kicking contest about now. He has players to evaluate and put in an entirely new offensive system and still stay on the recruiting trail. He doesn't have the time for a lot of questions that he probably doesn't even know the answer to yet. Who's gonna start at this position, who's going to backup so and so and what about this or that or some other thing. At this point I doubt if he even knows. I think sometimes we just read to much into things. If a lot of the media thinks this has to do with Hansen, that's kind of telling us what they think of Hansen.

To be honest, those post practice interviews are worthless usually. All Coach speak. If we win football games, I could care less about Media coverage

What BS. In my opinion, Scheer can't write a decent story without being fed info by the team. The Star actually has journalists that can write without access. If this hurts anyone, it is the rest of them besides the Star. Complaining and blaming the Star is just cover for poor journalistic skills. The team played Scheer with the Navy coach story.

FlyonWall wrote:What BS. In my opinion, Scheer can't write a decent story without being fed info by the team. The Star actually has journalists that can write without access. If this hurts anyone, it is the rest of them besides the Star. Complaining and blaming the Star is just cover for poor journalistic skills. The team played Scheer with the Navy coach story.

I mentioned this in another thread but always always take whatever Jason says with a massive grain of salt. He is a pawn in a much larger PR game for U of A. Al his inside info is just information fed to him by U of A.

I do not blame Jason for it, just his job

I want more of these.

Mazzone came off very likable there

I know we won’t get to here chief zona’s Take because he is now OUT but he said he was not a great coach. I disagree and think mazzone will do a much better job then Rod Smith

Then I think basically anyone could do better then Rod smith could at developing a good QB.

Glad to see these names on this list. Especially the men in the trenches.

btfd16 wrote:

Glad to see these names on this list. Especially the men in the trenches.

Great to hear some of the big uglies are making names for themselves. Really think Thiyo could be a good one for us and heaven help us if Sione turns into a good player for us.

A good DT over 300 LBS...what a concept!

I am actually really excited to watch the spring football game. Have not said that in a long time

Always interesting to see kids get a new start with a new staff and to see who rises to the top.

Anyone have a list of incoming frosh participating in spring practice? I think Kevin Doyle is in this week and apparently Mykee Irving, too.

Also, I can see why Sumlin likes Kevin Doyle. He looks like a taller Johnny Football on tape. Needs to work on his footwork and mechanics but the potential is there.

TatetheGreat wrote:Anyone have a list of incoming frosh participating in spring practice? I think Kevin Doyle is in this week and apparently Mykee Irving, too.

Mykee is already enrolled in school and participating in Spring practice

TatetheGreat wrote:Anyone have a list of incoming frosh participating in spring practice? I think Kevin Doyle is in this week and apparently Mykee Irving, too.

Doyle is just visiting for the week, he's not enrolled nor participating in practices. Irving is enrolled and participating in practices.

ANGCatFan wrote:
I want more of these.

I like him so far. Seems like a pretty positive coaching approach.

Yep, really do like how Mazzonne is positive. I didn't really think about it before but RR was often very critical of his best players. I can't remember if I noticed if his assistants were the same or more positive. I think positivity can be infectious and so can negativity. When the chips are down, I much prefer a positive approach because when negativity is prevalent, folks just seem to freeze when there is so much pressure to succeed and they you start worrying about how your butt will get chewed out if you make a mistake.

Newportcat wrote:Mazzone came off very likable there

I know we won’t get to here chief zona’s Take because he is now OUT but he said he was not a great coach. I disagree and think mazzone will do a much better job then Rod Smith

Then I think basically anyone could do better then Rod smith could at developing a good QB.

Chief says he likes Mazzone on his Twitter.

athlete armory wrote:

Newportcat wrote:Mazzone came off very likable there

I know we won’t get to here chief zona’s Take because he is now OUT but he said he was not a great coach. I disagree and think mazzone will do a much better job then Rod Smith

Then I think basically anyone could do better then Rod smith could at developing a good QB.

Chief says he likes Mazzone on his Twitter.

So are you chief with a new name since he "retired"?

DrWildcat wrote:

athlete armory wrote:

Newportcat wrote:Mazzone came off very likable there

I know we won’t get to here chief zona’s Take because he is now OUT but he said he was not a great coach. I disagree and think mazzone will do a much better job then Rod Smith

Then I think basically anyone could do better then Rod smith could at developing a good QB.

Chief says he likes Mazzone on his Twitter.

So are you chief with a new name since he "retired"?

I sure hope he keeps coming around. He always made me laugh and was so entertaining.

azgreg wrote:

I saw that and what a concept huh? Someone that coaches special teams.

tgrumpy2 wrote:

azgreg wrote:

I saw that and what a concept huh? Someone that coaches special teams.

Also, coaches by demonstrating technique which I think is great. Seems to enjoy what he is doing....

What a concept.

tgrumpy2 wrote:

azgreg wrote:

I saw that and what a concept huh? Someone that coaches special teams.

I think I cried watching that video of a coach actually coaching special teams

Is god blessing us finally???????????

We've always had a special teams coach.

I like the videos. If the program is restricting journalists from writing boring stories, at least give us video content.

tgrumpy2 wrote:

DrWildcat wrote:

athlete armory wrote:

Newportcat wrote:Mazzone came off very likable there

I know we won’t get to here chief zona’s Take because he is now OUT but he said he was not a great coach. I disagree and think mazzone will do a much better job then Rod Smith

Then I think basically anyone could do better then Rod smith could at developing a good QB.

Chief says he likes Mazzone on his Twitter.

So are you chief with a new name since he "retired"?

I sure hope he keeps coming around. He always made me laugh and was so entertaining.

Still patting himself on the back on twitter like usual. Probably getting tendinitis from doing it so much.

Merkin wrote:

tgrumpy2 wrote:

DrWildcat wrote:

athlete armory wrote:

Newportcat wrote:Mazzone came off very likable there

I know we won’t get to here chief zona’s Take because he is now OUT but he said he was not a great coach. I disagree and think mazzone will do a much better job then Rod Smith

Then I think basically anyone could do better then Rod smith could at developing a good QB.

Chief says he likes Mazzone on his Twitter.

So are you chief with a new name since he "retired"?

I sure hope he keeps coming around. He always made me laugh and was so entertaining.

Still patting himself on the back on twitter like usual. Probably getting tendinitis from doing it so much.

He still browses. Saw him on the "users on this board" line at the bottom yesterday. He loves telling us that he was right too much not to post ever again. Something will get him out.

Sid wrote:

tgrumpy2 wrote:

azgreg wrote:

I saw that and what a concept huh? Someone that coaches special teams.

Also, coaches by demonstrating technique which I think is great. Seems to enjoy what he is doing....

What a concept.

I couldn't help but smile watching that. Guy has some energy. I love it.