If defense is Arizona football's biggest concern going forward, Rich Rodriguez's revamped UA defensive staff is quickly doing its best to remedy that situation in next year's recruiting class.
Tuesday night, the Wildcats received verbal commitments from two defensive recruits — linebacker Kylan Wilborn and defensive lineman Kurtis Brown.
Both Wilborn and Brown are rated 3-star recruits by Scout.com, with Wilborn listed as the No. 10 linebacker in the West, Brown the No. 9 defensive lineman in the same region. They are the third and fourth players to commit to Arizona's 2017 class, joining four-star athlete Greg Johnson and Catalina Foothills quarterback Rhett Rodriguez.
Brown, listed at 6-foot-3 and 260 pounds, visited the Wildcats a couple weeks ago, and picked Arizona over offers from nine other schools, including Colorado, Oregon State and Washington State. He played at Liberty High School in Bakersfield, Calif., with UA safety Anthony Mariscal.
"Arizona just felt like home," Brown said in a text message to the Star. "I had a great connection with all the coaches, I love the new coaching staff they have there, and they truly believed that I can be something special, and I took that to heart."
Wilborn, listed at 6-foot-1 and 235 pounds, didn't have quite as many offers yet as Brown, but growing up Sherman Oaks, Calif., he was an avid fan of the Pac-12, so it meant a lot to him when Arizona was his first offer from that conference.
He picked the Wildcats over offers from Hawaii and Idaho after taking an unofficial visit to campus this past weekend.
For Wilborn the biggest selling point was Arizona's coaching staff, combined with the chance to play right away.
"I really liked the way the coaches talked to me," Wilborn told the Star. "They said they had a need at the position (outside linebacker) and think I’m the man to do it. I can come in and compete for a starting position on the first day. That’s definitely something I’m looking forward to."
Marcel Yates, Arizona's new defensive coordinator, was Wilborn's primary recruiter, and the linebacker said he appreciated how Yates "kept it real" with him.
Further proof of the impact of the new UA staff — Wilborn said the first people he told of his decision were Yates and new recruiting coordinator Chris Singletary, along with receivers coach Tony Dews. Defensive line coach Vince Amey was Brown's primary recruiter.
"Everything he (Yates) said was not selling me, he was just telling me the facts," Wilborn said. Yates said "'Nothing is going to be easy, nothing is going to be given. You have to come in and work for it.' He’s just a great coach and I’m looking forward to spending more time with him."
