Hansen's Sunday Notebook: Jedd Fisch's program already making progress with ex-players; Arizona Stadium's rebuild is another big step

The Star columnist is curious how the Arizona Wildcats football program will financially recuperate from the COVID-19 pandemic in order to renovate Arizona Stadium. Plus, Jim Furyk and Phil Mickelson's big decision leading up to the Cologuard Classic, and a look at ex-Cats working for the UA athletic department with Tedy Bruschi on board. 

By the time Arizona can be expected to be a contender in the Pac-12 South again, the Wildcats must clear four monumental barriers:

1. The UA must reestablish a connection to its constituency in every range, including potential ticket-buyers and potential financial donors of significance.

2. It must change its image and approach in the recruiting industry. Much of that comes with hiring more competent coaches with 21st century vision in social media and outreach. Significant progress has already been made in that area.

3. It must repair the damage done to its alumni base and football lettermen.

4. It must spend perhaps as much as $200 million to demolish and rebuild the ancient west side of Arizona Stadium, which is now 92 years old,

If it can’t do all four, it risks becoming the UTEP of Pac-12 football.

Given fellow bottom-feeder Oregon State’s bold move forward under new president F. King Alexander — the Beavers last week announced they are moving forward on a $150 million rebuild of the west side of Reser Stadium — Arizona will now be alone in last place in bells, whistles, amenities and fan engagement. This isn’t 1990 any more. Bells, whistles and fan engagement are as important as developing an All-America linebacker.

It doesn’t always take bombshell-type headlines or barrels of booster money, either.

New Arizona coach Jedd Fisch last week mailed a simple hand-written note of congratulations to former Arizona linebacker Kevin Singleton, who has been promoted to defensive coordinator at Tempe McClintock High School.

McClintock isn’t a powerhouse in Phoenix-area football, but Fisch wisely listened to advice from some of his new, Arizona-connected advisors who know what Singleton means to UA football history.

In 1989, the former four-star level recruit from New Jersey almost died of leukemia. Somehow, after more than a month in the hospital and almost a year of treatment, he was able to return to play for the Wildcats.

Singleton became the UA team captain in both 1989 and 1990, which was unprecedented in modern UA football history. Dick Tomey referred to him as “the greatest Wildcat.”

Once he received Fisch’s note, Singleton posted a photo of it on Facebook. Within two days, about 100 former Wildcat football players of all levels — Armon Williams, Tommy BoBo, Jeff Fairholm, Ken McPeters, Donnie Salum, John Kaiser, Paul Tofflemire, Heath Bray, Reggie Gaddis and dozens of others — responded favorably.

You can’t put a value on that one simple Facebook post to a football program that had disconnected from players.

And it wasn’t just UA football that benefited from Fisch’s card. Former UA softball All-American Amy Chellevold Hillenbrand, 1990s starting basketball guard Matt Othick, ex-UA offensive coordinator Pat Hill and 1993 NCAA swimming national champion Seth Pepper also responded to Singleton, among others.

It was one of the few feel-good moments for the Arizona football program in a few years.

In a month’s time, Fisch has made up so much ground in outreach and PR repairs — hiring Chuck Cecil, Brandon Sanders, Tedy Bruschi and Ricky Hunley and participating in three Zoom conferences with football lettermen — that the slow climb back to being able to compete with Pac-12 South opponents can now become the focus.

The next move is up to athletic director Dave Heeke. Until COVID-19 devastated the UA’s financial health, Heeke had been more aggressive in making the school’s football facilities comparable to Pac-12 rivals than any AD in school history.

Heeke long ago planned reconstruction of the west side of Arizona Stadium. And then a global pandemic slowed progress. As the UA paused, Oregon State was blessed by a donation of $50 million from an anonymous booster. The Beavers plan to add $4.4 million a year to their already-massive debt service bill and take a loan through Pac-12 sources for about $40 million.

How Arizona responds, and how quickly, will be one of the leading stories of UA sports in 2021 and beyond.

Eight Pac-12 schools — Stanford, Cal, Washington, ASU, Washington State, Utah, Colorado and USC — have rebuilt their football stadiums in recent years. UCLA is part of a $200 million re-do at the Rose Bowl stadium. And Oregon is a step ahead, as usual. Now Oregon State is moving up.

COVID-19 or not, college football isn’t stopping to pity the Wildcats.

Arizona soars in golf poll

A week after winning its season-opening Arizona Intercollegiate tournament, coach Jim Anderson’s men’s golf team is ranked No. 4 in the Golfweek poll. That’s higher than any ranking in the esteemed UA men’s golf program since 2005.

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After a long rebuild, Anderson appears to have three alpha-type senior golfers: seniors Trevor Werbylo, Arizona Invitational champion Brad Reeves and David Laskin. Werbylo, from Salpointe Catholic High School, is so highly respected in amateur golf that he entered the Monday qualifying event for the ongoing PGA Tour Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Werbylo shot 68 and finished 10th in a field of 156 golfers. Only the top three earned a spot in the field. Werbylo finished one shot behind former Arizona All-American Ricky Barnes and beat ex-Wildcat All-Pac-12 players George Cunningham and Ted Purdy.

The UA women’s golf team, considered a strong NCAA championship contender, will not field a full team for this week’s Lamkin San Diego Classic. Catalina Foothills High School grad Maya Benita will make her college debut in the tournament. Meanwhile, UA sophomore Vivian Hou is now ranked No. 5 in the world amateur golf rankings. Her sister, senior Yu-Sang Hou, is ranked No. 24. They are not playing this week.

Cologuard Classic still waiting on Phil, Furyk to make decisions

The PGA Tour Champions Cologuard Classic, to be held Feb. Feb 26-28 at Tucson National, already has a strong field with Bernhard Langer, John Daly, Rocco Mediate, Darren Clarke, Lee Janzen and former Sabino High School standout Willie Wood, among others. But preparations for the seventh Champions Tour event in Tucson won’t be complete until Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk make decisions on whether to play here. Mickelson won the Tucson Open in 1991, 1995 and 1996, but hasn’t been persuaded by long-ago connections. The ASU grad skipped the ongoing Phoenix Open to compete in Saudi Arabia. Furyk, who will play in this week’s Pebble Beach Pro-Am, made a soft commitment to play in his first Champions Tour event in Tucson, the site of his first PGA Tour event in 1992. Details on fans and attendance have yet to be made public.

Ex-Wildcat resigns as president of Golf Channel

UA grad Mike McCarley, president of NBC/Golf Channel since 2011, is resigning his position to pursue other opportunities. If you attended a pre-game meeting before NBC’s golf telecast in Scottsdale this weekend, you would be in Wildcat country. McCarley, who worked in the UA’s sports information department 30 years ago, is joined by executive producer Tommy Roy, a UA and Salpointe Catholic High School grad, and play-by-play host Dan Hicks, a Sabino High School and UA grad.

Murky future could present challenges for Arizona, Pac-12

After Adia Barnes’ No. 9 Arizona women’s basketball team plays a Monday night ESPN2 game at No. 12 Oregon, the Wildcats will face an uncertain future unprecedented in program history. It will have five regular season games remaining and five postponed games to be rescheduled. Yet the regular season ends Feb. 28. The Pac-12 Tournament is scheduled to begin March 4. That means Barnes’ team might be asked to somehow squeeze in 10 games in 18 games — and four of them are on the road: at USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon State. That is fully unlikely. A more realistic scenario is to cancel the Pac-12 Tournament and use that week for makeup games. It probably cost the UA athletic department somewhere between $10,000 to $15,000 when Friday’s game at Oregon State was postponed after the Wildcats arrived in Oregon. That’s three extra hotel nights, ground transportation and meals for a travel party of close to 25.

Former Lancer, Wildcat Musch is new coach of Ford Aquatics team

Emma Darlington Munsch began swimming for the national powerhouse Ford Aquatics club at the Hillenbrand Aquatics Center when she was 14. Now the two-time NCAA champion and member of Arizona’s 2008 national championship team is the new head coach of Ford Aquatics. That’s quite a career move for Munsch, a Pima County Sports Hall of Fame member who was a history teacher at Salpointe Catholic High School from 2012-16. She has coached for almost 10 years.

Two Tucson pitchers receive nods for Team Mexico

Former Tucson High pitcher Jesus Castillo and ex-Sahuarita High pitcher Manny Barreda were selected to Team Mexico for the ongoing Caribbean World Series in Mazatlan, Mexico. Talk about two pitchers who have endured. Castillo, who was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2003, is 36. The former Pima College right-hander reached Triple-A before moving his career to Mexico. Barreda, 32, a 12th-round pick of the New York Yankees in 2007, reached Double-A before launching a career in the Mexican pro league.

Former UA basketball player, sports agent hits first hole-in-one on golf course

After Joe McLean completed his Arizona basketball career in 1996, he played in Europe for three years. Then he earned a degree from the UA Eller College of Management. Now he is the managing partner for Intersect Capital, a wealth management firm for pro athletes. He represents, among others, baseball’s Nolan Arenado, basketball’s Klay Thompson and golf’s Sergio Garcia. The New York Times estimated that McLean manages contracts of athletes worth in excess of $2 billion. In whatever free time he has, McLean is an accomplished golfer, almost a scratch player. Last week he played at the high-end Whisper Rock Golf Course in Scottsdale and got his first career hole-in-one. His caddy was former Canyon del Oro High School golf standout Jason Castles, who worked at Lute Olson‘s summer basketball camps in the early 2000s. Castles has become an elite-level caddy, working at Whisper Rock in the winter; in the summer, he moves to the grand Bandon Dunes golf facilities in the Oregon coast. “Joe is a super nice dude,” Castles said. “He sent me a text thanking me for a great day. I totally see why he’s so successful.”

My two cents: Bruschi joins distinguished list of ex-Cats working in athletic department

On the day Arizona hired Tedy Bruschi to be a special advisor to head coach Jedd Fisch, Texas hired 2006 Rose Bowl/national championship quarterback Vince Young to be a special assistant for Longhorns athletic director Chris Del Conte.

More and more, the nature of college sports is to maintain contact with prominent former athletes. UCLA, for example, employs 1995 NCAA championship point guard Tyus Edney as director of engagement for the Bruins Club; it also deploys softball legend Lisa Fernandez as an assistant coach.

I examined the staff directories of all Pac-12 schools, and no school compares to Arizona when it comes to the number of prominent former athletes on payroll. Being an athlete at Arizona doesn’t have to be a fleeting experience; it can be a career destination.

With Bruschi on board, here’s the list of former top UA athletes now working at their alma mater:

• Jason Terry, a 1999 consensus All-American basketball player, is an basketball coach.
• Adia Barnes, the school’s career leading scorer in women’s basketball, 1994-98, is the head women’s basketball coach.
• Reggie Geary, a 1994 Final Four guard and four-year starter, is a development director in fundraising.
• Callista Balko Elmore, a national championship softball catcher in 2006 and 2007, is director for regional development in fundraising.
• Syndric Steptoe, who caught 131 passes for 1,584 yards between 2003-06, is the football program’s director of player development.
• Michelle Skog, a two-time All-American sprinter in the 1990s, is an athletic department mental health counselor.
• Rita Stubbs, an All-Pac-10 volleyball player in 1993 and 1994, is the assistant head volleyball coach.
• Taryne Mowatt, the MVP of 2007 Women’s College World Series, is an assistant softball coach.
• Caitlin Lowe, a four-time All-American outfielder and silver medalist in the 2008 Olympics, is the associate head coach in softball.
• Stacy Iveson, an All-Pac-10 catcher in 1987, is the softball program’s director of recruiting/operations.
• Chuck Cecil, a consensus All-American safety in 1987, is an assistant football coach.
• Ricky Hunley, a consensus All-American linebacker in 1982 and 1983, is an assistant football coach.
• Brandon Sanders, an All-Pac-10 safety in 1994 and 1995, is the football program’s coordinator of alumni and high school relations.
• Dawn Mortensen Boxley, a four-year sprinter and the Wildcats’ team captain in 1995, is the track and field program’s director of operations.
• Erika Hanson Barnes, a first baseman on the Wildcats’ 2001 NCAA championship softball team, is the UA’s executive senior associate athletic director.
• Laura Ianello, a starter on Pac-10 championship golf teams in 2000, 2001 and 2002, is the head women’s golf coach.
• Chris Nallen, a four-time All-American golfer from 2001-04, is an assistant men’s golf coach.