Arizona coaches used their bye week to pause the present and focus on the future.
The Wildcatsโ staff packed their bags, rolled up their sleeves and went to work on the recruiting trail. They hit a total of 28 games across Airzona, California, Colorado, Texas and Hawaii.
Coach Jedd Fisch attended four on his own. He and quarterbacks coach Jimmie Dougherty took in Fridayโs Chandler Basha-Chandler Hamilton game with hopes of seeing a number of UA targets, including four-star Basha quarterback Demond Williams, three-star Hamilton safety and 2023 commit Genesis Smith and wide receiver Tre Spivey.
Arizona has 18 commits for its upcoming recruiting cycle, and 13 of them are defensive recruits. The list includes five defensive linemen and seven defensive backs. A year after bolstering the offensive side of the ball with a historic recruiting class, the Wildcatsโ efforts are โa little bit different,โ Fisch said.
Not only has Arizona struggled on defense, ranking 11th in the Pac-12 in total defense, but the Wildcats could lose nearly half of their defensive starters heading into next season.
โThe reception has been great, but I think the messaging, the way it looks for us, is pretty simple: last year, we were trying to figure out exactly what we were going to be. This year, weโre pretty confident that weโre going to become a really good offensive football team,โ Fisch said. โIf youโre out there as a recruit on offense, you want to be a part of a team thatโs explosive, that scores a lot and throws the ball a lot with a sophomore quarterback, unlike the programs weโre facing that have senior quarterbacks.
โIf youโre a defensive player, you have an opportunity to come in here and start right away. We have a lot of veterans on the defensive side, so you have the same opportunity to make the same impact as our offensive guys made this past offseason.โ
Fisch wants his program to take a another step forward, and said the 2023 class is โgoing to be a huge partโ of it.
โThe young freshmen we have are going to get better, as we see every week,โ Fisch said. โAnd then the guys coming in to join that group โ weโre probably bringing in 16 or 17 guys mid-year in January again. If we can do that, which we will be able to do that, there will be a lot of new (players) โ again โ but thatโs OK.โ
Greg Biggins, a national recruiting analyst for 247Sports.com, joined Spears and Ali on ESPN Tucson to provide his insight on UA football recruiting during the bye week. Here’s part of the conversation:
As a Southern California resident, youโve watched most of Arizonaโs impactful freshmen for several years. What do you make of how the Wildcatsโ freshmen are performing?
A: โFrom what Iโve seen so far, the guys who weโd hope would step up โ (Tetairoa McMillan) T-Mac, (Jonah) Savaiinaea. Iโm still kicking myself for not ranking Savaiinaea higher. The running backs look pretty good. I think itโs a great building block. โฆ The 2023 class looks strong as well, but the 2022 class has been a nice foundation and building block and put together back-to-back great classes.โ
What jumps out to you when you analyze Arizonaโs 2023 recruiting class?
A: โI would say balance. Itโs always smart to have a quarterback every single year, and (four-star quarterback) Brayden Dorman has had an excellent season so far. You donโt want to have a class of 10 guys and eight of them are receivers. You want to have your quarterback, running back, three or four O-linemen every year, three or four D-linemen every year, a couple linebackers and versatile defensive backs that could sway between cornerback and safety.
โYou see that in this class. You see a blend of offense and defense. โฆ Iโve had a chance to see (cornerback) Carter Stoutmire from Texas, I like him a lot. Iโve had a chance to see (two-way player) Gavin Hunter from Mililani, (Hawaii) and I like him a lot. (Mililani High School) has played a couple mainland teams over here, and he stood out in both games. Big, physical, long, rangy kid who plays with an attitude. He plays with an edge. โฆ Itโs balanced and thereโs guys who can come in and make a difference. Itโs a solid, all-around class on both sides of the ball.โ
Even if Arizona has a losing season, how important is it for the program to show significant progress to stack more impressive recruiting classes?
A: โYou want to be entertaining, even if you lose, especially if youโre recruiting Southern California. โฆ You want to get those wins obviously, you can only sell hope for one year, and then you want to see some improvement and say, โIf I go there, will we be competitive in my second or third year?โ I think they are showing that and theyโre playing a very entertaining brand of football. They put up a lot of points and they have elite wide receivers. โฆ If you put out that entertaining brand, I think theyโre going to be successful recruiting, because itโs a style kids want to play in.โ
Arizona is likely to lose three offensive linemen after this season in left tackle Jordan Morgan, guard Josh Donovan and right tackle Paiton Fears. The Wildcats have two offensive line commits for 2023, Los Angeles-area tackles Rhino Tapaatoutai and Elijha Payne. Can Arizona manage having two freshmen tackles?
A: โI honestly canโt tell if either of them are like Jonah Savaiinaea, where you look at them and say heโs a starter from Day 1. โฆ (Payne) is an interesting kid, because he has a tackle frame and tackle body โ and Rhino as well. Rhino, I think, is further along because heโs a little bit better athletically, but both those kids could be in the rotation, but I donโt know if theyโre Day 1 starters. I think thatโs the beauty of the (NCAA transfer) portal. Right now if youโre Arizona, you can sell a starting spot.
โIf youโre a portal kid, thatโs your biggest goal, is to go find a place and start right away. Those guys want to win, but more so playing for a championship, they want to find a place, start and get to the league as quickly as they can. โฆ If Iโm Arizona, Iโm continuing to recruit offensive linemen, but Iโm going heavy portal.โ