Arizona didn’t ease Theron Aych into his new job.
Aych officially became the Wildcats’ receivers coach Saturday. He worked with his new position group Monday afternoon, when the UA conducted its fifth spring practice.
Aych met with reporters afterward. He talked about his quick transition from UTEP to Arizona, as well as his recruiting ties in Texas. We’ll have more on the latter later this week. In the meantime, here’s a portion of that conversation:
On his initial impressions of Arizona: “I’ve had about three days to get ready for practice, learn the personnel and obviously a new playbook. It’s been fun. It’s exciting. I obviously wouldn’t have it any other way.”
On how long it will take him to get up to speed: “The system here, it’s been in place for a while. I’ve got a lot of veteran players around me. I’m really kind of relying on them. The other coaches are getting me coached up through the weekend. It’s just a matter of me plugging it in, getting familiar with the terminology and that sort of thing. We play fast. That’s my style of play. It’s been a lot of fun learning.”
On how the job opportunity came about: “When I was at the University of Houston about 15 years ago, I wanted to learn the zone read. Coach Magee (Calvin Magee, now Arizona’s RB coach) was the first guy I called. I had some familiarity with him and Coach (Rich) Rodriguez. Obviously a fan of what they do on offense. When I had the opportunity to come out here and join the staff, I just couldn’t pass up on it.”
On how long the process took: “It really happened pretty quick. I had about 24 hours to leave UTEP, pack up and then just move to Tucson. It happened on Thursday. I was here on Friday.”
On jumping in partway through spring practice: “It’s a little bit of a challenge for me personally, just as a new position coach coming in, trying to learn a brand-new system. But at the same time, like I said, this offense is so established. It’s just a matter of me plugging in terminology. For me, it’s a challenge I was ready for.”
On which veterans he’s leaning on most: “Shun Brown really is a guy I’m going to rely on right now, not just from a physical standpoint on the field. He’s a leader. He’s a guy that has a good grasp of the offense. Just helping me familiarize myself with the terminology. He’s been really my bell cow.”
