When Arizona arrived in San Antonio for the 2010 Alamo Bowl, the Wildcats were greeted with billboards all across town.
The signs boasted that “Texas is Wildcat Country” and prominently featured Texans like quarterback Nick Foles, receiver David Douglas and cornerback Trevin Wade.
With Mike Stoops as coach, the Wildcats primarily recruited three areas — Arizona, California, and the Lone Star State.
And boy, did Stoops love Texas. Arizona signed 49 recruits from Texas during his tenure. Eight were rated four-star players by Scout.com.
Since Rich Rodriguez was hired to replace Stoops in 2012, Arizona has brought in four recruits from Texas — five if you count Texas transfer Cayleb Jones. Two, Josh Kern and Leo Thomas, were originally recruited by Stoops and his staff.
Rodriguez appears to be changing course entering his sixth year as Arizona’s coach. The Wildcats hired Theron Aych as its new receivers coach, a clear indication that Rodriguez intends to mine the talent-rich state of Texas for recruits going forward. Defensive coordinator Marcel Yates also has Texas connections from his time as Texas A&M’s defensive coordinator.
“I think coaches in the past here have done a really good job of bringing some Texas guys in here,” Rodriguez said. “We kind of branched away from it because I thought Texas kids were more interested in Big 12 or SEC than us, but I do think there are so many good players in the state of Texas and so many good programs, so many good high school coaches that we have to get into that state a little bit.”
Rodriguez may have a point about the Big 12 and SEC. The state produced 62 five- and four-star recruits in 2017; 40 of them wound up at schools in those two conferences, with just nine choosing Pac-12 schools.
But Texas is so filled with football talent that the Big 12 and SEC can take a large chunk of the top talent, and there may still be plenty left over for a school like Arizona.
The Wildcats found two-star safety Tristan Cooper in El Paso late in the 2016 recruiting cycle. He started five games for UA as a freshman.
“There’s so many players,” Aych said, “so many schools.”
Aych — who coached one year at UTEP and five at Angelo State — will focus primarily on Houston, the nation’s fourth-largest city.
Arizona already has offers out from three four-star recruits from the area for 2018: receiver Bryson Jackson, running back Craig Williams and defensive tackle Keondre Coburn. They could follow a small-but-impressive list of players from the region. The Wildcats reeled in Houston receiver Biren Ealy in 2002 and defensive end Lionel Dotson in 2003.
Arizona signed three players from the area in Stoops’ first recruiting class in 2004, including that year’s crown jewel, four-star defensive end McCollins Umeh, who died during a workout later that year. The Wildcats also brought standout punter Keenyn Crier and cornerback contributor Derrick Rainey from Houston.
Aych has already started to hear from Texas recruits on Twitter. The new assistant said he’s excited to pitch Arizona to Texans.
“I tell you what, this brand is easy to sell,” Aych said. “We’ve got media coverage, we’ve got our own network, so I think kids now are more familiar when they see something on TV, they’re all visual. I think that’s a brand that I can go into SEC country, Big 12 country and be able to talk about, and have some strength.”
Now, Aych added, “it’s just a matter of getting those guys out here.”
“I’ll tell you what, now that I’ve been here, I got a chance to see the campus and see the town: I think the facilities are going to sell themselves, and the culture here that’s already in place,” he said.
“I think in the past there’s been some really great players from Texas — Nick Foles, for example — who have come out to the University of Arizona and been spectacular, so I think that’s something we want to focus back on again.”
Arizona might not be quite ready for another “Texas is Wildcat Country” billboard just yet.
Maybe just one that says “We’re back.”
