The eye test through the first week of Arizonaβs training camp suggests the UA defense is ahead of the offense.
Even though the Wildcats are only in shells β thatβs shoulder pads and helmets β the defense has been noticeably better during the team periods.
βAs a competitor, you want to beat the defense every time youβre on the field, but give a lot of credit to them,β Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita said. βGreat, great players on that side of the field that make our jobs very difficult.β
Growing pains were inevitable. Star wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan is rehabbing from a leg injury he suffered in the spring; newcomers and rising receivers alike are integrating themselves in the rotation; three new running backs (Quali Conley, Jacori Croskey-Merritt and Kedrick Reescano) are settling in, too; and the offensive line is searching for its best five-man lineup.
Additionally, the Wildcats are "still working through a lot of things" in a potpourri of offensive concepts. That includes those of head coach Brent Brennan and offensive coordinator Dino Babers, along with the system Arizona played under former head coach Jedd Fisch that placed the UA No. 20 nationally in total offense last season.
βThereβs a lot of differences between the coaching staff, new players and new scheme, so we expected it to be different,β Fifita said. βAll in all, itβs been great. ... We have a lot to improve on offensively, a lot to improve on individually.β
Arizona is mixing the old with the new, while the defense, under defensive coordinator Duane Akina, is still in its 4-2-5 base defense with several returning starters.
βAt this stage of the game, the defense is always ahead of the offense, because the offense is putting in plays, massive amount of plays, and the defense is working on their defensive schemes and stuff like that,β Babers said. βI donβt want you to feel like weβve been doing terrible out there. Thatβs just how practice is. Weβve gotta get all of our formations, protections, shifts, all that stuff in. Once we get that stuff in, we can start settling down and start judging performance and finding out what weβre good at and what weβre not good at.β
Babers spoke to local media this week following a training camp session. Here are some of the items he discussed:
What are the benefits, if any, of having McMillan sidelined to begin training camp?
A: βIf someone were to tell us T-Mac didnβt turn pro, that he was going to stay with us and not go to another school and then sit out during spring ball and camp and then come in right before the season and play. Would we be happy with that? I think we might agree to that.β
Arizona center Josh Baker described the offensive system as βnasty.β What do you think about that?
A: βIt makes my hair stand up that our starting center used the word βnastyβ about an offense. As they go, we go. I grew up in the age where everyone used to call offensive linemen βhogs.β I say our offensive linemen arenβt hogs, theyβre elephants. Theyβre elephants. Everyone says the lion is the king of the jungle. Thatβs not true. Iβve seen many lions look at a whole bunch of elephants and go, βI ainβt going down there, those guys are big!β Elephants are the king of the jungle. As they go, we go. If Baker is going to lead and he says weβre nasty, then weβre nasty.
βThis is going to be a different journey. This is going to be a lot different. Iβm doing a combination of things that I havenβt done before β and some of it is really cool. As I evolve in both of the offenses we combined, itβll be fun to sprinkle in some of the experiences of the people Iβve been around to put the icing on the cake that makes it look and taste different.
βThereβs definitely some stuff from the previous stop that could be sprinkled in there.β
Between your past coaching experiences at Texas A&M and Baylor, what memories come to mind when you think about coaching in the Big 12?
A: βWhen I went to (Texas) A&M, we were extremely established with (former Aggies head coach) R.C. Slocum. That program had been around for a long time, he had been around for a long time.
βWhen I went back to Baylor, Baylor was supposedly the worst team. ... So that was a total rebuild when we went there. ... Itβs amazing thinking about what that league has gone through and how good that league is. The biggest thing I want everyone to understand is weβre excited to go to the Big 12. The Big 12 has been around for a long time.
βIβm excited about getting back into some of those venues down south, where church is on Sunday and they start by saying something good about the man upstairs, then the next thing you know, itβs the score of the football game. If you think Iβm making that up, I am not. My mouth just dropped. βWe just blessed him (points up) and the next thing you know, itβs the score of the A&M football game or Baylor football game? Are you kidding me?β That stuff is real. Itβs going to be a little bit different, but they gotta come out to Tucson, Arizona as well. Last time I checked on that football field, the practice we went through right there, it can get a little hot sometimes.β
Arizona running backs Quali Conley and Jacory Croskey-Merritt said they refer to Fifita as βcaptain.β After being at the UA over the last seven months, what have you seen regarding Fifitaβs leadership and ability to get players to rally around him?
A: βNoah is like Sainthood. ... Heβs not King Arthur, but who was King Arthurβs number one knight? Sir Lancelot? Thatβs who he is. He is absolutely amazing. I canβt even describe him. You start talking about him and your hair starts standing up.
βThe guy is special.β
Between redshirt freshman Brayden Dorman, San Jose State transfer Anthony Garcia, Northern Arizona transfer Adam Damante and walk-ons Cole Tannenbaum and Mason Bray, whatβs your plan to determine Fifitaβs backup?
A: βWeβve got so many of them, so weβre spacing out reps. Weβre slowing down our decisions, because weβre not going to have the opportunity to go down the road and go, βAh, man, we picked the wrong one,β and we train another one.
βSlow and steady is the way with some of those guys in the back, but thereβs going to come a day here really soon where weβre going to have to start making some decisions, and then weβre going to have to go with some guys. We gotta get that pocket of guys down to one guy.
βYou canβt give the backup quarterback enough reps, but you sure in hell can divide the reps between other people.β
What traits do you look for in determining the backup quarterback role?
A: βI donβt know, but I hope we can do what you guys did last year. Your backup quarterback was some guy by the name of Noah Fifita. I thought that guy was a heck of a backup, but I think he was an even better starter than he was as a backup.
βIf we can find something close to him, weβll be very excited.β