We finally got to meet some of the Arizona Wildcats’ much-ballyhooed freshman recently. Now you can too.
Leading up to Arizona's season-opener on Saturday against NAU, Star reporters Michael Lev and Zack Rosenblatt will bring you a Q&A with a different newcomer.
Today's subject: defensive lineman Kurtis Brown, who was touted throughout training camp for his high football IQ and emergence in Arizona's defensive line rotation.
BIO BASICS
- Height/weight: 6-1, 285
- Position: Quarterback
- High school: Liberty (Bakersfield, California)
- Rating: 3 stars
Kurtis says...
On why he stuck to his Arizona commitment: "(UA defensive line coach Vince) Amey. He’s absolutely my guy. I like the coaches that get on you but they don’t have to do it every single play, just screaming at your face. He’s a jokester too. He promised, well not promised, but he said you can come in and compete, you just have to do your job. So I took that to heart and focused on my rehab." (Note: Brown injured his knee in his senior season at Liberty)
On fall camp: "It’s been a learning experience, learning from Parker Zellers, Marcus (Griffin) and even D-Bo (Dereck Boles), he was at Boise State where he learned some things. So I’m just trying to learn all these things coming together because they have all those years of experience playing college football and I’m just trying to put that into my game."
On what he still needs to master: "Just about everything. Especially as a true freshman, there’s a lot of things we need to learn still. But my main focus is especially on the pass rush end. I say I’m kind of average at it. But I’m learning how it goes and all the different sets. It’s a learning process and I can’t wait to see what happens."
On the defensive line's underdog mentality: "Parker (Zellers) carries that the most, he’s a walk-on and he’s a little guy but that fool is feisty. He goes out there and competes, and you just watch that and it’s like, this fool is smaller than everyone else and he’s kicking fools butts. It’s just like you really want to work harder. Him and Luca (Bruno), they’re kicking butt and this is their last year, so you really want to do it for them."
On playing as a freshman: "It is a big deal. but we still have a long way to go. It’s just taking in from those people around you. Luca told me in the first week: you know, you have a pretty damn good shot of even starting and playing for us. So I’ve just been under his wing and he’s been teaching me how to do things. He’s always been there."
