TEMPE — The Wildcats were supposed to practice for the first time in pads on Tuesday morning, but Mother Nature had other ideas.
“It was raining cats and dogs,” UA athletic director Greg Byrne said.
Arizona was going to have to uproot its operation entirely, and fast. Byrne made a few calls and the Wildcats suddenly had a new plan: They’d relocate the entire program to Tempe for two days.
The Star spoke with a few Arizona staff members behind-the-scenes to explore how the Wildcats ended up sharing the Arizona Cardinals’ team headquarters, the logistics behind the move — and how it all worked out:
The phone call
Wednesday and Thursday’s forecast called for rain. The Wildcats didn’t want a repeat of Tuesday morning, so Mike Parrish — the UA’s assistant athletic director in charge of football — checked in with local high schools and ballrooms. That’s fairly standard stuff during monsoon season: The Wildcats have practiced at Salpointe Catholic and Tucson High over the years, since both programs have artificial turf. They’ve held walk-throughs in McKale Center.
Byrne’s idea was anything but standard. Could the Wildcats, he wondered, practice inside the Arizona Cardinals’ practice bubble at their facility in Tempe. He called Cardinals general manager Steve Keim.
“I basically said, ‘Hey Steve, I understand if this can’t work (but) I’m just kind of racking my brain about ideas,’” Byrne said.
Keim explained that the Cardinals were training in Glendale, far from their Tempe headquarters. He took the idea to owner Michael Bidwill for approval.
Five minutes after Byrne hung up the phone with Keim, he received another phone call — it was Bidwill.
“Michael is on the phone and said, ‘What can we do to help you?’” Byrne said. “And then I went and talked to Rich (Rodriguez) to see if this was even feasible.”
The logistics
Wendell Neal left Lowell-Stevens on Tuesday afternoon planning to have a nice dinner with his wife. Short days are rare for UA support staffers, especially during training camp, and Neal — the assistant athletic director in charge of equipment — was ready to enjoy the break.
Before Neal reached his driveway, his phone rang. Assistant football manager Michael Barnett was with Parrish.
“He was having a hard time spitting it out,” Neal said. “(He said,) ‘I don’t know what to tell you, but Coach wants to move our operation up to Tempe to the Cardinals facility for the next couple of days for practices and two on Thursday.’
“I’m not making this up,” Neal said. “My response was, ‘That’s awesome.’”
But there was work to be done.
Neal called a moving company that could truck all the equipment from Tucson to Tempe early on Wednesday morning. Team managers loaded the gear onto the truck early Wednesday morning, and the gear was on its way.
Parrish, meanwhile, was in charge of finding hotel rooms. It’s hard enough booking last-second travel plans; try doing it for 182 people.
Parrish checked with a few hotels in the area before choosing the Sheraton Grand, 10 minutes from the Cardinals’ facility. The hotel hosts the Pac-12 team in the annual Cactus Bowl.
The Sheraton had enough rooms — over 100 rooms, with two players to a room — to accommodate the Wildcats.
“They (Sheraton) were surprised but excited because, again, it was a Wednesday. Not a busy time in the state of Arizona,” Parrish said. “So they were happy to get the business.”
Parrish then set up dinner plans for Wednesday night: Buffet at a local Dave and Buster’s.
The accommodations
The Wildcats felt right at home upon arriving in Tempe on Wednesday. The Cardinals hung a sign with the Arizona logo and the words “Bear Down” just outside the parking lot. Another banner showed both the Wildcats and Cardinals logos above large lettering that read “Football Is Family”.
“To be able to pull that off in 24 hours on their part is incredible,” Parrish said. “It’s not always easy to have a sign made like that, really fast. It’s easy to call a bus company and get buses out, but to actually have something created can be difficult.”
The Cardinals gave the Wildcats access to their indoor facility, outside fields and locker room.
“It was cool walking in the locker room and seeing those guys you see on Sundays, try not to get too amped up,” said linebacker Paul Magloire. “They treated us with a lot of respect.”
The Cardinals staff painted “ARIZONA” in Wildcats colors, and even painted hash marks along the field to college regulations.
Rodriguez said the NFL team was “fantastic.”
“You talk about first-class organization, first-class people,” he said. “I think they’re a model pro franchise in every aspect, I really do.”
