Rich Rodriguez and the Arizona Wildcats will bat leadoff when Pac-12 Media Days get underway Wednesday morning. So no matter what happens the rest of the season, the Cats can say they were first in something.
All joking aside, this is a critical year for Rodriguez. Arizona finished the 2014 regular season 10-2. Since then, the Wildcats are 10-17 β and just 4-15 against conference opponents.
After suffering through a 3-9 campaign last year, Rodriguez lost one of his biggest advocates in the offseason when Athletic Director Greg Byrne left for Alabama. Will new AD Dave Heeke be as patient with Rodriguez as Byrne, who hired him, might have been?
So yeah, there are ton of questions facing Rodriguez as he enters his sixth season as UA coach. Here are five that are bound to come up when he meets the media in Hollywood, California:
1. Are you on the hot seat, and if so, what does it feel like?
So, that seat youβre sitting on, Rich: Would you say itβs blazing, boiling, scorching, sizzling, sweltering or scalding? Is it unbearable like a Tucson summer or tolerable like July in SoCal?
Rodriguez will get questions like these in a variety of forms, and he likely will deflect all of them. Heβll acknowledge the pressure heβs under and assert that itβs always there and no different than any other season. Heβll express confidence in where the program is headed.
Whether itβs true or not, it would be counterproductive for Rodriguez to concede heβs a lame duck. His sole focus should be on winning, because thatβs the only way he can secure his future at the UA.
The current state of affairs makes getting off to a strong start imperative. Arizona will be a prohibitive favorite in the opener against Northern Arizona. But the Week 2 matchup against Houston looks like a toss-up. And the Week 3 trip to UTEP could be tricky.
If the Wildcats are anything less than 2-1 entering conference play, the hot-seat chatter will heat up anew.
2. The quarterback room is suddenly overcrowded, and thereβs no clear-cut starter. Whatβs the story there?
Itβs complicated β¦ but Rodriguez will say itβs simple: The guy who plays the best will win the job.
Arizona is expected to have four scholarship quarterbacks when training-camp practices begin Monday β veterans Brandon Dawkins and Khalil Tate, plus freshmen KβHari Lane and Rhett Rodriguez β as well as walk-on Donavan Tate, the former first-round MLB flameout whoβs trying to resurrect his athletic career at age 26.
Dawkins, who started nine games last year, and Khalil Tate are the co-favorites; Donavan Tate is the dark horse; Lane and Rodriguez are long shots. How Rich Rodriguez plans to get all of them sufficient practice reps remains to be seen.
The Wildcats entered last season with a similar level of uncertainty surrounding the offenseβs most important position, and it lingered throughout the year. It wasnβt the cause of Arizonaβs descent, but it didnβt help.
Clearing up the QB logjam before the Sept. 2 opener against Northern Arizona would provide welcome clarity. Donβt count on it, though.
3. You have significantly fewer verbal commits than you did a year ago at this time. What, if anything, does that mean?
Letβs start with the numbers. Arizona had seven commitments for 2018 as of Tuesday. (One projected member of the class, offensive tackle Maisen Knight, will be on the roster this fall.) The UA had 21 heading into last yearβs Pac-12 Media Days (which were held 12 days earlier).
Of those 21, six ended up decommitting, including four-star prospects Greg Johnson (who landed at USC) and Braxton Burmeister (Oregon). Given how that cycle played out β others besides those six pledged to Arizona before changing their minds β having fewer committed recruits in July might not be such a bad thing. Or so the thinking goes.
On the other hand, 15 players stuck it out to form the nucleus of the β17 class. It felt as if the Wildcats had serious momentum.
So whatβs the holdup this year? Why have relatively few recruits committed despite Arizona having sent out a boatload of offers?
It could be that players are hesitant to commit because of Rodriguezβs tenuous status. It could be a strategic reaction to last yearβs disappointing outcome. Or it simply could be a product of the fickle nature of 17- and 18-year-olds.
One indisputably positive development: Two of the current commits are from Texas, a state Rodriguez largely ignored before pouring resources into it this offseason.
4. Youβve lost several members of the coaching and support staffs this offseason. Is that the normal churn or a sign of things to come?
Three of Rodriguezβs on-field assistants left for other Power Five jobs: DontΓ© Williams (Nebraska), Charlie Ragle (Cal) and Tony Dews (West Virginia). Combined with last offseasonβs complete purging of the defensive staff, Arizona will have seven assistants who werenβt on campus or in their current roles at the end of the 2015 season. The lone holdovers from Rodriguezβs original β12 staff: Rod Smith (quarterbacks) and Calvin Magee (running backs/tight ends).
Additionally, Matt Dudek, who had been the programβs general manager and director of player personnel, left this week to join the staff at Michigan.
There are two ways to look at all this. The first is that changes happen everywhere in college and pro football, no matter the previous seasonβs win-loss record. For example, Alabama, the premier program in college football, cycled through multiple offensive coordinators in a matter of weeks. One of the Crimson Tideβs 2016 offensive assistants (Billy Napier) is now at Arizona State; another (Mario Cristobal) is at Oregon.
The other way to view the changes, especially those made this offseason: Coaches and support staff are abandoning ship before it sinks. If Arizona suffers through another season like last year, Rodriguez could lose his job. In that case, every assistant would face an uncertain future. Better to chart your own course than get canned.
5. Whatβs the status of senior pass rusher DeAndreβ Miller?
Miller was supposed to accompany the team to Pac-12 Media Days, but he suffered a foot injury last week and is unable to attend. Senior defensive lineman Luca Bruno is filling in.
The severity of Millerβs injury is unclear, but foot injuries often sideline players for several weeks. Miller might be back before the start of the season; he might not.
He has a history of injuries, including a high ankle sprain that slowed him last year. Foot and ankle injuries are problematic for any player; they can be especially encumbering for pass rushers, who rely on sudden movements and quick pivots to maneuver past blockers.
Miller was the favorite to start at the hybrid βStudβ position. Arizona might have to look elsewhere for edge rushers, at least in August. Candidates range from veterans Justin Belknap and Jack Banda to youngsters Jalen Cochran, Francisco Nelson, Jalen Harris, My-King Johnson and Jose Ramirez.
Regardless of when Miller returns, his getting hurt on the eve of training camp isnβt a good sign for a team decimated by injuries the past two seasons.
