In the last year or so, four Super Bowl-winning NFL head coaches trekked to Tucson to support Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch and the Wildcats football program.
Just this spring alone, the visitors to visit the UA have combined to hoist the Lombardi Trophy nine times as head coaches. The bulk of those Super Bowls — the lord of the rings, if you will — was future Hall of Famer and longtime New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who watched Arizona’s final practice of its spring schedule on Wednesday.
Other Super Bowl-winning head coaches to have traveled to Tucson this spring include Brian Billick, who won his Lombardi with the Baltimore Ravens, and the Seattle Seahawks’ Pete Carroll. Last spring it was Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams. Belichick included, all four have mentored Fisch during his well-traveled football-coaching career.
Head coach Bill Belichick talks to an arc of reporters prior to the the New England Patriots first practice at the University of Arizona last December
Belichick has won eight Super Bowls — that’s six as head coach in New England with star quarterback Tom Brady and two as an assistant with the New York Giants — and has been the Associated Press Coach of the Year three times. Belichick has coached several former ex-Wildcats, including tight end Rob Gronkowski — Gronk returns to the Old Pueblo this week as an honorary head coach for Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. Spring Game at Arizona Stadium — and linebacker Tedy Bruschi. The list also includes current Patriots in running back J.J. Taylor and kicker Nick Folk, who both returned to Tucson this past season when New England practiced on the UA campus ahead of the Patriots’ game against the Las Vegas Raiders in December.
Head coach Bill Belichick patrols midfield as the New England Patriots get warmed up for their practice session in Arizona Stadium at the University of Arizona, continuing their week-long stay, Tucson, Ariz., December 15, 2022.
“I’ve had a great relationship with coach for 12 years. ... We’ve built this over time and he’s come out every year to Tucson since I’ve become a head coach,” Fisch said of Belichick. “He’s an unbelievable resource for me, so I can ask him anything and he helps me and guides me through the process. To continue to be around that is great, and it’s great that he came out.”
After practice on Wednesday, Belichick provided his evaluation of the Wildcats and advice to the players. When Belichick spoke, they listened. Emphasis on the latter.
“We got to take that to the heart and apply that, because he’s one of the best coaches in the whole world to do it. ... When you hear all these guys talk, they say the same thing,” Arizona receiver Jacob Cowing said. “First thing you have to be is a great teammate, work ethic has to be phenomenal. If you’re a lazy person, you’re not going to get the results you want.”
Belichick, Billick and Carroll were the headliners of visitors that also included Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor, former Atlanta Falcons head coach Mike Smith and ex-Patriots executive Michael Lombardi, among others.
Team Kai head coach Brian Billick, right, and Team Aina head coach Mike Smith are interviewed after the Hula Bowl on Jan. 14, 2023, in Orlando, Fla.
“Obviously it continues to bring credibility to our program, continues to remind our players that if you come play here, you’re going to be watched by — and talked to — by the best in the world, whether it was Pete Carroll, Zac Taylor, Sean McVay, Bill Belichick, Brian Billick,” Fisch said. “They’ve had a lot of great opportunities this year to say the least.”
Kicker Tyler Loop has ‘leg behind there’
So far in kicker Tyler Loop’s three-year career at Arizona, the Lucas, Texas native has kept it steady. In the last two seasons, Loop is 30-for-33 on field goals and a perfect 50-for-50 on PATs.
There is one gap on Loop’s resume: he has yet to make — or attempt — a 50-plus-yard field goal; his longest is a 48-yarder against Washington in Seattle. All three of Loop’s misses are between 40-49 yards.
Wildcats quarterback Jayden de Laura, right, talks with kicker Tyler Loop on the bench after Loop’s missed field goal against North Dakota State in 2022.
Concerning? Not for special teams coordinator and tight ends coach Jordan Paopao, who said Loop recently made a 68-yarder using a tee. Loop made a 50-yard field goal earlier this spring.
“So there’s leg behind there, but we just want to make sure that while we’re balancing and trying to test out how far we can hit it, we have to make sure we’re more consistent on the looks and kicks Coach Fisch is going to ask us to go operate on,” Paopao said. “So it’s really an emphasis on the 40-plus range, but making sure we don’t lose sight of the kicks he was fantastic at.”
‘Eyes wide open’
Arizona may not be done in the transfer portal for 2023, especially on defense.
The Wildcats added five players via the portal: linebackers Justin Flowe (Oregon) and Daniel Heimuli (Washington), defensive tackles Bill Norton (Georgia) and Tyler Manoa (UCLA) and edge rusher Orin Patu (Cal). Fisch said on Wednesday that Manoa and Norton “have been a nice addition to our program” as interior defensive linemen.
Justin Flowe, left, pumps up his teammates during an Arizona spring football practice on March 21.
As it currently stands, the Wildcats have three open scholarship spots, a void that could be filled with the portal after Saturday.
“We’ll see what that looks like,” Fisch said. “I love the fact that our defense is getting better, our defense is getting bigger, getting stronger and with that, they’re getting to a point where we have a chance to really compete at a higher level than we did a year ago.”
Fisch added Arizona’s staff will enter the summer with “eyes wide open.”
“See what is available, see what we need, see if we can bring in a couple guys to help out our football team. If we can find a couple that can, we’ll bring them in; if we can’t, we won’t,” Fisch said. “But we’re only going to try and bring in guys that can really help us at this point in time, because I like the commitment that the team we have here has made. ... We’re going to treat it for the 2023 season and see what we could do there, if we’re going to dive into the portal.”
Arizona’s Chris McAlister (11) makes an interception in the first quarter as New Mexico wide receiver Kirk Robbins can’t prevent the pick during the Insight.com Bowl at Arizona Stadium on Dec. 27, 1997.
CB McAlister ‘not matched by many’
Arizona is expecting roughly 280 former Wildcats in attendance for the spring game and UA alumni weekend on Saturday. One of them: Chris McAlister, a former unanimous All-American cornerback who helped the Wildcats to a 12-1 season in 1998, capped off by a Holiday Bowl victory against Nebraska.
McAlister and former Jim Thorpe Award winner Antoine Cason will serve as honorary defensive coordinators, with ex-Wildcats Rob Gronkowski and Chris Gronkowski as honorary head coaches.
“I love that Chris is coming back, it’s awesome,” said Fisch. “Chris is a great player, great player.”
Fisch was on Billick’s staff in Baltimore from 2004-07 as an offensive assistant when McAlister was a Pro Bowl cornerback in a stout Ravens defense. McAlister shared a defensive secondary with Hall of Fame safety Ed Reed, All-Pro cornerback Samari Rolle, free safety Will Demps and Deion Sanders at nickel back.
“So we had one heck of a defense to say the least,” Fisch said.
Prior to Arizona, McAlister starred at Mt. San Antonio College in Southern California. McAlister then played for the Wildcats under the late Dick Tomey from 1996-98 and recorded 15 interceptions, including two pick-sixes, and 1,098 yards and two touchdowns as a kick returner; his No. 11 jersey number is retired by the UA. Arizona senior defensive analyst Duane Akina, Tomey’s former longtime assistant, said he doesn’t “know how (McAlister) didn’t win anything in ’98.”
“I think back and can’t remember him ever dropping a ball,” Akina said.
“He’s as competitive as a football player as I’ve been around. ... His competitive spirit and his athletic ability is not matched by many — and I’ve had some great ones, too, at Texas and Stanford.”
Extra points
During Arizona’s final spring practice on Wednesday, freshman cornerback Tacario Davis started opposite Ephesians Prysock during team periods. Davis, Prysock, safeties Gunner Maldonado and Isaiah Taylor and nickel back Treydan Stukes were the starters in Arizona’s secondary. Davis had an interception during a red-zone 7-on-7 segment at the end of practice.
Cowing scored what appeared to be an 85-90-yard touchdown after a series of broken tackles and juking Taylor down the sideline.
Freshman walk-on receiver Devin Hyatt, brother of Biletnikoff Award winner and former University of Tennessee player Jalin Hyatt, had an impressive 20-yard acrobatic catch over two defenders.
Arizona senior defensive analyst Duane Akina discussed a number of topics during his media availability on Monday.
