In wake of allowing a total of 133 points to opponents over the last three weeks, the Arizona Wildcats fired defensive coordinator Marcel Yates and linebackers coach John Rushing. As head coach Kevin Sumlin put it Monday, the change is about "giving us the best chance to win now.”
Senior defensive analyst Chuck Cecil was named as the team’s defensive coordinator, and analyst Hank Hobson was named as the linebackers coach.
Below are some facts about each new coach as Arizona prepares to host Oregon State this weekend.
CHUCK CECIL
Chuck Cecil, Arizona senior defensive analyst and former player, speaks during a public memorial service for the late University of Arizona head football coach, Dick Tomey, on May 31, 2019 inside McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz.
Extensive playing and coaching experience
Cecil is regarded as one of the best defensive players in Arizona Wildcats history, but his resume extends far beyond that. Cecil spent seven years as an NFL safety, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. He finished with 461 tackles, 16 interceptions and one touchdown.
The San Diego, California native coached with Jeff Fisher in the Tennessee Titans organization for 10 years (2001-2010), eventually working his way from a defensive assistant to the team’s defensive coordinator in '09-'10. Cecil followed Fisher to St. Louis and was the Rams defensive coordinator from 2012-2016.
Cecil was hired by former Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez in 2017 as a defensive analyst with an emphasis in scouting and film breakdown.
Kevin Sumlin on Chuck Cecil taking over the defense and Hank Hobson working with the linebackers: pic.twitter.com/r5WuSGBaCS
— The Wildcaster (@TheWildcaster) October 28, 2019
Once featured on a Sports Illustrated cover
Chuck Cecil, then a player with the Arizona Cardinals, was on the cover of the Oct. 11, 1993, issue of Sports Illustrated.
Known for his bone-crushing hits as a safety, Cecil graced the cover of SI in Oct. 1993 as a member of the Phoenix Cardinals. Cecil was coming off his Pro Bowl selection in 1992 with the Packers when he signed with the Phoenix Cardinals that offseason. Within the first month of the '93 season, he was handed down a $30,000 fine for “two flagrant acts of unnecessary roughness involving the use of his helmet,” according to the story. That prompted the cover asking "Is Chuck Cecil Too Vicious for the NFL?"
Cecil is quoted in the story saying “People cheer when I make a big hit. I mean, that’s what I do.”
Current television analyst for the Tucson Sugar Skulls
The turf field is gray for the Tucson Sugar Skulls at the Tucson Arena, 260 S. Church Ave., Feb. 19, 2019, in Tucson, Ariz. The Indoor Football League team's first home game is Sunday, March 10, at 3 p.m. versus the Bismarck Bucks.
Tucson’s first Indoor Football League (IFL) team hired Cecil to be their color analyst for home television broadcasts in March 2019. Cecil is paired with play-by-play announcer Pat Parris, an anchor at KGUN9.
HANK HOBSON
Hank Hobson , staff, University of Arizona football team, 2016-17.
He’s seen several different eras of Arizona football
Hobson has been around the program for much of the last decade. He was a linebacker for the Cats from 2011-2013, playing under both Mike Stoops and Rich Rodriguez. Hobson was then hired to the staff in 2015 as a graduate assistant while Rodriguez was still coaching.
Sumlin retained Hobson as an analyst and now Hobson will serve as a coach in a larger capacity with Rushing gone.
“He’s a guy who I think is a little bit different and you see yourself in people,” Sumlin said of Hobson on Monday. “But a younger guy who has energy and can communicate with players.”
He’s the son of a former MLB player
Former Boston Red Sox manager and third baseman Butch Hobson smiles at a news conference in Nashua, N.H., after being announced as the new manager of the Atlantic League's Nashua Pride Thursday, Dec. 2, 1999. Hobson resigned as manager of the Red Sox Class A club in Sarasota to take the job. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)
Hank's father, Butch Hobson, spent seven years in the MLB, but prior to that, played as a dual-sport athlete at Alabama from 1969-1973. Hobson served as the backup quarterback under Bear Bryant, appearing in 11 games during the team’s 11-1 season in 1971. His baseball career with the Crimson Tide blossomed as he was named First Team All-SEC in 1973 and he was drafted by the Red Sox.
Hobson finished his professional career with 98 home runs, 347 RBI and a .248 batting average.
Hank Hobson also spent time playing football and baseball at Stockdale High School in Bakersfield, California.
