Look up pass rusher in the big book of Arizona Wildcats, and youβll notice a few names: Tedy Bruschi, Brooks Reed and, of course, Scooby Wright.
Wright finished the 2014 season with 15 sacks while proving equally adept at both inside linebacker and defensive end. Not many players, really, can do that.
UA coach Rich Rodriguez has since dreamed of finding a pass rusher with Wrightβs capabilities.
Rodriguez has often joked β the kind of joke thatβs less of a joke and more of a plea β about Arizonaβs need to find the type of big, long, athletic pass rushers who can play down on the defensive line and up as an outside linebacker, perfect fits at the βstudβ position in Arizonaβs defensive scheme. Wright, at 6-foot-1 and 230 pounds, didnβt fit that bill.
βBody type-wise, athleticism-wise, we donβt have a lot of that on the roster currently,β Rodriguez said.
He does now.
Tempeβs My-King Johnson and Mesaβs Jalen Harris signed letters of intent on Wednesday, giving Rodriguez a pair of recruits to dream on.
Johnson is 2017’s top-rated defensive end in Arizona, according to Scout.com, and Harris is the state’s No. 1 athlete.
The Wildcats are developing redshirt freshmen Jalen Cochran and Francisco Nelson, both with similar body types and athletic skillsets, to become threatening, hybrid pass rushers. Neither were as highly sought-after recruits as Harris and Johnson.
βHopefully we do some damage,β Johnson said, βand scare some quarterbacks a little bit.β
Persistence pays off
Johnson was never supposed to end up at Arizona. But there he sat Wednesday, the guest of honor inside Tempe High Schoolβs auditorium.
As his coach, Brian Walker, listed off his remarkable career statistics, two adults in the crowd yelled out βBear Down!β
They were supposed to do the Eight Clap β for UCLA.
The Bruins offered Johnson a scholarship back in September, joining USC, Texas A&M, Oregon, Arizona State and the UA. Walker had suggested that he sign with the Trojans earlier in the summer.
βStraight up, I told him βMy-King, you donβt get those offers every day, man,β Walker said. ββYou might want to think about making a commitment here pretty soon.β He wanted to sit and think it out.β
Johnson then posted a stellar season, racking up 89 tackles, 21.5 sacks and three forced fumbles. He finished his Tempe career with 57 quarterback takedowns.
On Jan. 6, Johnson told UCLA coaches he was committing.
On Jan. 14, Johnson was told the Bruins no longer had space for him.
βThat was really hectic for me, after UCLA went out of the picture, trying to figure out where everything was and I had to go around and look like crazy,β Johnson said. βI was definitely stressed out at that point. β¦ I was really searching for answers because I didnβt know where to turn.β
Walker called Oregon and Texas A&M, both had moved on. He called Arizona State, and coaches there said they were interested.
Arizona coaches Vince Amey and Charlie Ragle were pushing hard, too. Arizona was the first Pac-12 school to offer Johnson a scholarship; the coaches were persistent, even after Johnson verbally committed to UCLA.
Amey coached Johnson at a camp last summer, and Johnson utilized some of what he learned during his senior campaign.
βI really got a feel for him,β Johnson said. βOnce I decided to go to U of A, I became excited.β
On Jan. 16, Johnson told the coaches the news they wanted to hear: He was going to be a Wildcat.
So whatβs Arizona getting with Johnson, who is 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds?
βHeβs real rangy,β Walker said. βHe gets off the ball quick. Once he gets off the ball, again, that strength just takes over and heβs got a knack for getting to the quarterback.β
His fatherβs footsteps
The Harris family has deep ties with the UA.
Sean Harris met Cha-Ron Walker walking around the halls of McKale Center 20 years ago.
He was a star middle linebacker on Arizonaβs legendary βDesert Swarmβ defenses; she was a UA womenβs basketball player.
They married two years after college, and Jalen was born not long after.
Now itβs 2017, and the younger Harris is set to start his own Arizona career.
βTo have my son playing at the same stadium I played in, attending the same school me and his mom attended, it will be a surreal experience to see him out there,β Sean said.
The experience almost relocated to South Bend, Indiana.
Jalen Harris was leaning toward a flip to Notre Dame just days before he signed with the Wildcats. He committed to Arizona in August before he blew up as a recruit, adding offers from Oregon, Washington and the Fighting Irish. Harris also took visits to Colorado and Illinois.
This all came as Harris closed out a multi-dimensional career for Mesa Desert Ridge, accumulating 1,274 yards and 11 touchdowns as a wide receiver, with 111 tackles, 30 sacks and 51 quarterback hurries as a defensive end-linebacker hybrid.
Traditional powerhouses β like Notre Dame β intrigued him. As late as Tuesday, he was choosing between UA and the Irish.
βI just felt like I want to be a place where Iβm needed at, not really just wanted and be just another person,β Harris said. βU of A coaches have been recruiting me from the beginning, they really wanted me. I felt it was a brotherhood and a family when I was down there, so I enjoyed myself.β
Sean Harris let his son make his own decision, but he always knew Jalen would probably end up in Tucson.
βWe would talk and he would always talk as if he was at Arizona,β Sean said, βso I kind of had a feeling.β
Jalen Harris might be following in his fatherβs footsteps down to UA, but heβs taking his own path. For one, Sean was a massive, 6-foot-3, 250-pound middle linebacker. Thatβs not Jalenβs game.
βHeβs more athletic, plays in space and heβs a better pass rusher than I ever could be,β Sean said.
