Editor’s note: This is the latest in an ongoing series on the four new Arizona football assistants who haven’t met with the local media. Today: running backs coach AJ Steward.
AJ Steward played multiple positions at Kansas. Running back wasn’t among them.
So the aspiring coach was more than a bit surprised when, upon arriving for his first job, he was asked to help out with … the running backs.
Steward began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Rice in 2012. He was working under offensive coordinator John Reagan, who had been the offensive line coach for the Jayhawks. Reagan also coached the running backs for the Owls, but he handed much of the responsibility to Steward, despite his inexperience.
“It ended up being great for me,” said Steward, who eventually became the running backs coach at Rice and BYU and is in his first year leading that position group for Arizona. “I had to really learn football from a different perspective.
“I knew I didn’t have a clue. I was going to have to really roll my sleeves up and learn football the hard way. It actually ended up being a blessing in disguise.
“I wouldn’t have known football the way that I know it now if I didn’t get uncomfortable and build that foundation early in my career.”
Having experience in uncomfortable situations has benefited Steward in his new role.
He was on the job for about a month when the coronavirus pandemic shut down sports across the U.S. The Wildcats had completed only four of 15 spring practices.
Steward worked diligently during that time to get to know his players, and he has continued to build those relationships through Zoom meetings and FaceTime conversations. The 31-year-old has settled in Tucson with his wife, Virginia, and their 17-month-old son, also named AJ.
Steward spoke to the Star this week about his connection to Kevin Sumlin, his new group of backs, an exciting incoming freshman and other topics. The conversation has been lightly edited for context and clarity.
What appealed to you the most about coming to Arizona?
A: “Just being able to take the next step in my career. And then Coach Sumlin’s been somebody that I’ve always wanted to work for. I actually had an opportunity to work for him as a GA, but that was when I got promoted as a full-time coach at Rice. So we just missed each other on that opportunity. I had already kind of gotten to know him through that. And then once this thing came open, I didn’t have to do a lot of investigating because I knew a lot of people that are close to him, in his circle, and I had already met him a few times. It was a no-brainer.”
Former Rice head coach David Bailiff is friends with Coach Sumlin. Did that relationship help pull this thing together?
A: “Absolutely. I actually called him right after I was offered the job. He said, ‘Well, talk to your wife and make a decision, but don’t wait too long.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, for sure, Coach, just gotta call a couple people and just get the blessing from my wife.’ And then he called me back like maybe an hour later: ‘Hey, I was thinking about it. You’d be dumb not to take that job and work for Kevin.’
“David Bailiff … gave me my opportunity to get into this profession. His word is important to me. The fact that they know each other so well, that kind of solidified everything for me.”
What do you like most about coaching?
A: “Just being there for these guys, being a mentor. A lot of these guys have fathers, which is a blessing. But the reason why I got into coaching, I was raised in a single-parent household by my mom. Coaches helped me … get to this point in my life. They pushed me along in athletics, they encouraged me, they picked me up from home when my mom was working to take me to practice, spoke some really positive things into my life over the years. That’s the ‘why’ behind my coaching. It’s the impact.
“It’s not that I’m the running back coach at Arizona; it’s that I get to coach the running backs at Arizona, individually, in life. That’s something that’s really important to me, and this has been a great time for me to really get to know these guys and communicate with them and talk through the battles of everything that’s going on in our world.”
“If we protect the football, we’re always gonna have a chance,” said Arizona’s new running backs AJ Steward, left.
What are some of the main tenets that you try to convey to your players?
A: “No. 1, ball security. I tell my guys that as running backs, it doesn’t matter who we’re playing against. It could be a team that were favored to win by 30 points or to lose by 30. No matter what that team is, if we protect the football, we’re always gonna have a chance. If you go put the ball on the ground three or four times against a team that you’re predicted to beat, then they’re going to have an opportunity to beat you. If you go put the ball on the ground against a team that you’re an underdog against, then you’re definitely not going to beat them.
“And then the second is standards … attention to detail in every aspect of our game. Not only that, but the energy and effort that we put towards those things. I grade them every day on their finish on any play in practice. Doesn’t matter if they had the ball in their hand, or they’re on the backside of a pass play.
“I use the term, ‘the standard.’ … If they put the football on the ground in practice, ‘Hey, come on, man, that’s not the standard.’ If they didn’t finish after getting tagged off in practice, ‘Hey, come on, man, that’s not the standard.’ It’s basically saying that we go above and beyond the minimal criteria.”
What are your initial impressions of the main group you inherited — Gary Brightwell, Nathan Tilford, Michael Wiley and Bam Smith?
A: “I love our group. I brag about these guys to everybody. The talent, that’s not even a question. The thing that I really was very impressed with is their work ethic and their want-to as far as development. They soak up any coaching you give them.
“They’re very smart as well. I was pleasantly surprised with their learning curve, especially some of the younger guys.
“They just want to get better. That’s all you can really ask for as a coach, guys that are not only talented but are bought in already. They have their own self-discipline that I don’t have to come and build in them. So that’s been a blessing. That’s why I think we’ve hit the ground running.
“I think you’ll see, when we get back on the field, these guys take another step in their maturation process as players. Not because I’m this great coach, just because they’re bought in and we’re all working together.”
How familiar are you with incoming freshman Frank Brown’s game, and what do you envision his role being?
A: “I had heard about Frank Brown last year when I was still at BYU, just from having ties to Houston. By the time I heard about him, he already had 15-20 offers, really good offers.
“But we had offered another kid at another school (Manvel High School) that they were playing against on our bye week. I went to go watch the kid at the other school, and I’m like well, shoot, at least I can see this Frank Brown kid that everybody’s been telling me about, see how good he really is.
“He’s playing one of the best teams in the state of Texas, and it was unbelievable. Honestly, at the high school level, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anybody have a single performance as great as he had that night against the quality of opponent that he was going against. I was wowed. (Brown had 165 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns.)
“I followed him on Twitter after the game and just said, ‘Hey, man. I know you got a ton of offers, and I’m not even sitting here trying to recruit you. I just want to tell you I was thoroughly impressed watching you play tonight. And I look forward to seeing you moving forward, seeing how it pans out for you.’
“So we move along, a handful of months after, and now I’m going to be his coach. I hope that paints a picture of what I think about him. I think he’s still relatively raw as far as his running back (skills). I think he has a high ceiling. But he has an opportunity to do some really great things at this level.
“Him and (fellow freshman) Jalen John coming in, they set this thing up to make me look like a pretty good running back coach.”
