One thing that happens after a rough 3-9 football season and the departure of three Arizona assistant coaches is that the Wildcats lose their hiring leverage.
So far, Rich Rodriguez has hired replacements from Nevada and UTEP, Scott Boone and Theron Aych, respectively, whose previous jobs were at William & Mary and Angelo State.
Meanwhile, Colorado, which won the Pac-12 South title, replaced two assistant coaches and was able to hire from Power 5 schools: Purdue defensive coordinator Ross Els, whose previous job was at Nebraska, and Kentucky defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot, who previously coached at Florida State.
During Arizona’s years as a consistent winner, it was able to hire former UCLA/Alabama assistant Homer Smith, former Michigan assistant Chuck Stobart, ex-Wisconsin assistant Ron McBride and former Texas Tech coach Bill Bedenbaugh.
When RichRod hires a special teams coach, the pedigree of that man will be viewed with unusual interest.
