New Arizona Wildcats RB coach Scottie Graham took unconventional route to Tucson

Scottie Graham never held a full-time on-field coaching position before becoming the running backs coach at Arizona. Yet Jedd Fisch is confident Graham won’t fumble the opportunity.

Why does the Wildcats coach feel that way?

Well, Graham touched the ball 413 times during his six-year NFL career and never lost a fumble. He was as sure-handed as they came.

Graham’s reliability wasn’t the only reason Fisch’s contacts in the coaching profession recommended the former Ohio State and NFL running back for the job. Brian Billick, Bobby Turner and others lauded Graham’s honesty and leadership skills.

“They all said to me, if there’s one guy that you should really consider — and he’s in Arizona currently — to coach your running backs, it would be Scottie Graham,” Fisch said.

So Fisch took something of a leap of faith. Graham’s connections to Fisch and/or the UA program weren’t as straightforward as other assistants who have joined the staff. Graham’s résumé isn’t as conventional.

But what is coaching about, really? It’s about personal relationships, a theme Fisch and eight new Arizona assistants hammered home during a series of video interviews Thursday.

“I think transparency is the No. 1 thing you can do,” Graham said. “These young people are ready for the truth. When you sugarcoat it is when you kind of lose them.

“Michael Wiley (Arizona’s top returning running back) wants to know the truth. If you tell them the truth, I think you’ve got a chance. If you love them, you come out of space of love, you’ve got an opportunity.”

Graham already has met with some of his running backs — Wiley, veteran Nathan Tilford and newly arrived freshman Stevie Rocker Jr. Interacting with players is nothing new for him.

After his playing career ended in 1997, Graham spent 16 years working for the NFL Players Association. His duties included developing relationships with active and former players and disseminating information about the collective bargaining agreement

It’s a lot easier to explain a blitz pickup than the fine print in the CBA.

“At the end of the day, how do you communicate with a guy?” Graham, 51, said. “That was a skill set that I was blessed with, and I use it as much as I can.”

After the NFLPA changed leadership in 2009, Graham was asked to take on a different role. It was more marketing oriented. Graham didn’t know anything about marketing.

“But you know you, and you know people,” former Minnesota Vikings teammate Warren Moon told him. “Just be Scottie Graham. You’ll figure it out.”

Another ex-teammate, Cris Carter, had similar advice when Graham got the UA job.

“You’re gonna be amazing,” Carter told Graham. “You’ve got a great foundation. Continue to be Scottie.”

After leaving the NFLPA, Graham worked with student-athletes for six years as a senior associate athletic director at Arizona State. His job was to provide support in all areas pertaining to student-athlete development and welfare.

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But during his time at ASU, Graham got the itch to “get back on the grass.” In 2019 he served an internship with the San Francisco 49ers, where he reconnected with Turner, his former OSU position coach and mentor. Turner has tutored a plethora of 1,000-yard backs during his 25-year NFL coaching career.

“Bobby Turner’s just the best,” Graham said. “That’s what put me over the top to go, ‘I want to do this.’ I told him, ‘I want to be a young Bobby T.’”

“Scottie G” will be Arizona’s fifth running backs coach in as many seasons. Tilford will have played for all of them. Graham conceded that that’s a “tough” deal. But as they both know, change is inevitable. They’ll experience the next chapter together.

“It’s exciting to be new, but not new, if that makes sense,” Graham said. “It’s like riding a bike. It’s relationships, which I’ve been doing for the last 35 years, and teaching, which I do every single day, and being yourself. I’m comfortable being in my skin.”

In-state blitz

Fisch has emphasized the importance of in-state recruiting since his first day, and he’s implementing a plan to achieve that objective.

Fisch said he and his staff would reach out by phone to “every single high school in the state of Arizona” over a 48-hour period. Via Twitter, a handful of high school coaches acknowledged receiving those calls.

“We’re working through that right now, and we’ll get that done,” Fisch said. “It’s very simple to send a letter, very simple to put out a graphic, very simple to throw out a tweet. But we’re going to share our message of it being personal. ... Whether that be me or an assistant coach on our staff personally contacting them, it’s our goal to reach out to as many as we humanly, possibly can.”

Fisch said he also plans to start a weekly dialogue with high school coaches. He termed it a “Talk from Tucson.” He is hopeful high school players and coaches will “see our commitment” and view the UA as the “flagship university” in the state.

Fisch and his staff already have signed three transfers with Arizona ties. Defensive end Jason Harris is from Gilbert. Tailback Drake Anderson and safety Gunner Maldonado are from Chandler.

“There’s a lot of guys that leave the West Coast and go to other places,” Fisch said. “Our ultimate goal is to not let them leave.”

Increased infrastructure

Fisch said athletic director Dave Heeke and the UA administration have afforded him the opportunity to expand the football personnel department. That will put Arizona in a better position to compete with the powerhouse programs in the Pac-12.

“It’s a critical part to the success of college football in 2021 and beyond,” Fisch said. “The way these programs are being built and the amount of information that is available, you need to build more infrastructure. Dave has given us the resources to be able to increase that.”

Recent UA job postings include director of player personnel; coordinator of football alumni and high school relations; and associate athletic director for football.

Extra points

• Four UA players — all wide receivers — recently withdrew their names from the NCAA transfer portal. “The biggest message I gave those guys was, why leave?” Fisch said. “What’s the value of leaving?” Fisch also argued that no position will be better coached than wide receiver. Fisch and his top two offensive aides, Brennan Carroll and Jimmie Dougherty, have coached receivers in the past. That assignment here will fall to Kevin Cummings, who played the position and coached receivers at San Jose State.
• UA freshman running back Frank Brown Jr. has entered the portal. Brown, who’s from Houston, was Arizona’s top-ranked recruit in the 2020 class. He suffered a knee injury before the ’20 season, limiting his playing time to a handful of special-teams opportunities.
• Tailback Bam Smith, who opted out last year because of COVID-19 concerns, is returning to the team. Smith appeared in 13 games in 2018 and ’19. He rushed for 301 yards and two touchdowns and caught 13 passes for 184 yards and two scores.
• Fisch said special teams coaching duties will be split between tight ends coach Jordan Paopao and Arizona’s 10th assistant, who had yet to be officially announced as of Thursday. The 10th coach — Keith Dudzinski, a longtime confidante of defensive coordinator Don Brown — is expected to be introduced Friday. Dudzinski also will coach linebackers.