Arizona football adds 'beef in the middle,' speed in secondary via transfer portal

In order to come play football at Arizona through the transfer portal, there are a few prerequisites.

Maybe the most important one: familiarity.

“If we don’t know anything about them, I’m not interested,” Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch said. “We just can’t do it.”

That’s step one. Step two?

“So now it’s a matter of, ‘Alright, well, let’s turn on his film, let’s look at his production, let’s find out the background of how many years he has left. Is he coming in as a (graduate) transfer or is he coming in as a one-time transfer, undergrad transfer? Are there any things that we need to know?’

“Then we turn the film on, watch the film and we see, ‘Where does this person fit in?’ And then I ask our position coaches and our recruiting department to inform me on, ‘Where do you see this player playing on our team? Are we bringing him in to add depth or are we bringing him in here to start?’ To pass the start test with me is a very hard test.”

Three players were able to check most of the boxes: Former Indiana cornerback Jordan Shaw, Tennessee safety Jack Luttrell and UC Davis defensive tackle Chubba Maae, the only players to sign with Arizona on Wednesday through the transfer portal or, in the perspective of Fisch, college football’s version of free agency.

“Those were the three guys that really stood out in the portal side of things,” Fisch said. “And really, we’ve kind of limited our portal acquisitions to that.”

Luttrell, a 6-foot, 180-pound safety from Moultrie, Georgia, was a two-way star at Colquitt County High School and was recruited by numerous Power 5 teams including Stanford, where current UA assistant defensive backs coach Duane Akina worked. Akina “was very close in that recruiting process to bring him to Stanford,” Fisch said.

The 6-foot, 170-pound Shaw, a Downey, California, native and former St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy standout, had 12 tackles and a pass breakup in one season at Indiana. Shaw played in the 2023 All-American Bowl at the Alamodome in San Antonio, the same venue hosting Arizona for the Valero Alamo Bowl. Before committing to Indiana, Shaw pledged to Colorado, which had current UA assistant director of recruiting Armond Hawkins on staff.

“He had relationships with the whole secondary side of our program,” Fisch said of Shaw.

Barring injuries within the five starting defensive backs, Luttrell and Shaw aren’t going to start for the Wildcats in 2024. After that, however, star cornerbacks Ephesians Prysock and Tacario Davis will be draft eligible, while nickelback Treydan Stukes, free safety Gunner Maldonado and strong safety Dalton Johnson will all be upperclassmen. Plus, Arizona will lose defensive backs Martell Irby and Dylan Wyatt and have already lost safety Isaiah Taylor to the portal.

Arizona defensive coordinator Johnny Nansen often relies on the “dollar” package, which deploys seven defensive backs to counter pass-oriented teams.

“When you look at the roster, obviously everyone is coming back,” Nansen said. “Our safeties, most of those guys are seniors, so that was a big focus going in and really build our depth back there.

“We needed to bring in body types like (freshman) Genesis (Smith). I was looking for was more speed, especially with the dollar package we have. We’re playing with seven DBs, so to increase that number was a main focus in this signing class.”

The 6-2 Maae, a former All-Big Sky selection at UC Davis, recently said he weighs 370 pounds, but is tasked with losing 30 pounds before the start of next season. Maae played preps ball at Long Beach Polytechnic High School, a prominent football program in Southern California, and was coached by ex-Wildcat and Las Vegas Raiders interim head coach Antonio Pierce. Long Beach Poly also produced current Arizona starting left guard Wendell Moe and freshman edge rusher Dominic Lolesio.

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“He’s proven (and) a very productive young man,” Nansen said of Maae.

“The biggest thing for me, when you’re building up a defense, you always want to build it up inside and out,” added Nansen. “Having Bill (Norton) and him next year, that’s going to add a lot of beef in the middle to help our many linebackers; take the pressure off those guys.”

LB Heimuli enters transfer portal after one season with Wildcats

Arizona junior linebacker Daniel Heimuli announced on Thursday that he’s entering the the transfer portal and will miss the 14th-ranked Wildcats’ matchup with No. 12 Oklahoma in the Valero Alamo Bowl.

Heimuli started four games at “Mike” linebacker and logged 15 tackles and one fumble recovery in his lone season with the Wildcats, after transferring from Washington.

“I extend my deepest appreciation to the University of Arizona, my exceptional teammates and the coaching staff for their unwavering support and guidance,” Heimuli said. “Earning my degree from this esteemed institution is a life accomplishment that I will forever cherish. The memories created on the field and the bonds formed with my teammates will remain etched in my heart.

“As I embark on this new chapter of my journey, I want to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who has been a part of my Wildcat family. This season has been more than I could ask for, and through God’s will, I’m excited for what the future holds.”

Heimuli starred at Menlo-Atherton High School in East Palo Alto, California. The former four-star linebacker was rated by 247Sports.com as the ninth-best linebacker for the 2019 class. Arizona tight ends coach Jordan Paopao was one of Heimuli’s primary recruiters at Washington.

After four seasons at Washington, Heimuli transferred to Arizona and was named the Wildcats’ starting middle linebacker alongside Jacob Manu, but was replaced by former Oregon transfer Justin Flowe after the overtime loss to Mississippi State. Heimuli started in Arizona’s only home loss of the year against his former team Washington and the home finale against Utah.

Nansen said on Wednesday that Flowe “has been taking most of the reps” at middle linebacker leading up to the Alamo Bowl. Arizona senior nickelback Martell Irby, who started the UCLA and Colorado games at middle linebacker, is also “sharing the reps in practice.”

Flowe is expected to return to the UA next season, along with freshmen Kamuela Ka’aihue, Chandler native Taye Brown and former four-star recruit Leviticus Su’a. Arizona also signed three-star Los Angeles-area linebacker Stacy Bey for 2024 on Wednesday.

“There’s going to be some competition in the spring,” Nansen said. “And some new backers are coming in.”

Extra points

Nansen, on Toronto native Bryce Butler, a 6-5, 295-pound defensive lineman from Garden City Community College in Kansas, who signed with the UA on Wednesday: “His film was just as good as the portal guys and the high schools.

“He can play either outside or three-technique (defensive tackle). When you look at him, you can barely tell he’s a 300-pounder. He’s slim, he’s very athletic and a true three-technique, which I’m accustomed to. So that’s what stood out to me.”

Former Arizona linebacker Ammon Allen transferred to Northern Arizona. The redshirt sophomore from Mesa played his first three seasons at the UA and recorded three tackles in 26 games.

The Wildcats added former Western Kentucky long snapper and Salpointe Catholic product Trey Naughton as a preferred walk-on. Senior long snapper Seth MacKellar is out of eligibility after this season and redshirt junior Kameron Hawkins is the only other long snapper on roster.