After signing autographs and chatting with fans for an hour at Arizonaβs βFan Appreciation Day,β Rich Rodriguez was ready to talk football.
The sixth-year coach sat down on the stairway just past the Wildcats locker room inside the Lowell-Stevens Football Facility and discussed a variety of topics in an exclusive interview with the Star on Saturday.
Rodriguez had a lot to say about the new NCAA football reforms, and weβll get to that at a later date. In the meantime, here are some of Rodriguezβs takes on the current UA squad as the Wildcats head toward summer workouts:
On QB Khalil Tateβs breakout performance in the final spring scrimmage: βIt helped him. Heβd had a pretty solid spring. But that was the best he had played. I donβt necessarily believe in guys that are βgamersβ and then turn it on when the lights are on. Youβve got to do it every day. Heβs a very talented guy that itβs important to. Heβll keep getting better. We needed him to push Brandon (Dawkins) more. Brandonβs a good player, but everybody needs competition.β
On whether that performance changed Rodriguezβs perception of Tate: βThat single practice didnβt, even though it helped him from the standpoint that he needed to progress. You donβt want guys staying level; you want them to keep getting better. He got better in that practice.β
On his overall impressions of spring practice, which concluded March 31: βYouβre always working on attitude and culture. Itβs always been pretty good. But this spring was as good as weβve had. Iβm talking about enthusiasm, effort, the willingness to compete. The retention of some stuff that we carried over from the fall scheme-wise and new things that we wanted to put in. It was very productive. I would have liked to have had 10 more practices. I donβt think the players wouldβve.β
On the defensive player who stood out most in spring: βSome of the veterans, you want them to still get better. You talk about a guy like Parker Zellers. He came here as unrecruited walk-on that nobody knew anything about. Undersized. And he made himself into a player. This spring he was even better. Heβs a guy youβve got to throw out of drills. Thatβs an example of that edge weβve got to keep fostering. At times you can maybe lose that a little bit. We canβt afford to lose that hard edge here.β
On the depth of the offensive line after the departure of Keenan Walker: βWhen I look at it now β and you donβt know for sure how the newcomers are going to perform until they get here β thatβs the only position where Iβm not as comfortable that we have as much competition as we do other positions. Thatβs one position weβre addressing in recruiting. Itβs probably not as deep as Iβd like it to be.β