Michael Eletise, one of the Arizona Wildcats’ biggest players and personalities, is demonstrating the lingering issues with his footwork.
The redshirt freshman guard is standing in the lobby of the Lowell-Stevens Football Facility, soaked in sweat and water from a dip in the cold tub after a recent practice under the searing sun. He shows an onlooker what he’s been working on lately.
“It’s trying to keep my feet from crossing over,” Eletise said. “If I can get that … I usually have really good drive. I’m pretty sure my coach is getting tired of me crossing over all the time.”
Arizona’s coaches are willing to be patient with Eletise because his upside is as immense as his 6-foot-3-inch, 318-pound body. Eletise was the Wildcats’ highest-ranked recruit in the class of 2016 and is expected to be a cornerstone of future offensive lines.
It seems more like a matter of when that will happen than if it’ll happen — but the when part isn’t entirely clear yet.
After redshirting last year, Eletise is battling Christian Boettcher — a relatively undersized but technically proficient former walk-on — for the starting job at left guard. UA coach Rich Rodriguez has said that Eletise “should be” one of Arizona’s top eight offensive linemen, a key demarcation. If you’re among the top eight, you’re one of the linemen Rodriguez trusts the most.
“I’m not satisfied with just being in the top eight,” Eletise said. “I want to be No. 1 on the O-line. Everybody around me wants to be No. 1.
“It’s hard, because everybody’s improving so much. You’ve got to keep on your toes and try your best every day to get that work in.”
It isn’t uncommon for even highly rated offensive linemen to redshirt as freshmen. Many don’t start as second-year players either. In the transition from high school to college, only quarterback is considered more difficult than offensive line, a position that demands massive strength gains and the mastering of unnatural techniques.
Strength never has been an issue for Eletise. As offensive line coach Jim Michalczik put it, Eletise is “so dang powerful.” The challenge lies in figuring out how to use that to his advantage.
“His biggest problem last year was he couldn’t bring it out onto the field,” said senior defensive tackle Luca Bruno, who often squares off against Eletise in practice. “Now he’s been learning to transfer all that. He can actually extend on people. He can bring that out there.
“When he thrusts off his hips like offensive linemen should, he’s got power behind him. Also, his feet got a lot better. I think he’s going to be a great guard.”
Eletise’s progress was slowed in spring when he got into a car accident and suffered a concussion. Eletise was just a passenger in a vehicle that got sideswiped, but that’s the sort of thing that can happen when you’re on your own and far from home.
Eletise crossed the Pacific Ocean to attend Arizona after starring at Kaiser High School in Honolulu. The move in and of itself proved trying for Eletise, as it does many college freshmen.
“It was easy when I first got here, because my parents were here,” Eletise said. “Then they left a couple weeks (later) and I realized, ‘Oh crap.’ You realize you’re an adult now.”
Eletise’s sister attends Grand Canyon University, so she’s relatively close by. But mainly Eletise depends on his teammates and their families on the mainland. The families of fellow offensive linemen Bryson Cain and Richard Merritt helped Eletise get settled into an off-campus apartment this summer. Cain, another ascending redshirt freshman, is Eletise’s roommate.
Because he’s so big and strong, it’s easy to forget that Eletise is only 19 years old. He’s still a kid at heart.
When a reporter suggested that he couldn’t eat McDonald’s every day just because he’s on his own, Eletise laughed.
“I wish,” he said, still smiling. “If there was a McDonald’s on the way to my house, I’d probably stop there more often than not.”
Extra points
- Arizona will conduct a scrimmage Saturday morning to conclude training camp. The scrimmage is open to the media but closed to the public. The Wildcats will hold an open workout Friday night at Arizona Stadium, followed by an autograph session.
- What is Rodriguez looking to see in the scrimmage, which will feature live tackling and coaches positioned on the sidelines? “There are some guys, when it’s live, their play will elevate,” he said. “And there’s some guys when it’s live, it exposes a few things we gotta fix. It’s going to be an important day for a lot of people.”
- Freshman linebacker Josh Brown is now going by JB Brown.
