Arizona's offense emphasizing 'consistency and attention to detail'

Changing coaching duties in the middle of a football season isn’t the easiest task, even for the coach who essentially received a promotion.

Arizona made a change at offensive play-caller leading up to the Wildcats’ upset win at Utah, moving passing game coordinator and tight ends coach Matt Adkins to play-caller over offensive coordinator and longtime coach Dino Babers.

The idea of Adkins taking over offensive play-calling duties started when the 63-year-old Babers was first hired to join head coach Brent Brennan’s staff as the savvy veteran to mentor the younger coaches.

That plan was fast-tracked after just a few games into the season, and after Adkins “accelerated his growth” over the last several months, “it was just a matter of time of when we were going to do it,” Babers said last week.

Babers “has been awesome and nothing but supportive and somebody that I can lean on a lot of different ways, not just football but also outside of football,” Adkins said on Tuesday.

Following the play-calling change, “the way he handled it, I hope I’m able to handle those situations the same way he did whenever they come across my desk,” Adkins said.

“He’s been absolutely fantastic and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate him,” Adkins said of Babers. “Outside of that, I’m excited about the opportunity. It’s something that I’ve been preparing my whole entire life for. To finally get that opportunity was a lot of excitement.”

Although the Wildcats made a change at offensive play-caller, they’re still in a rut offensively, which was a driving force in Arizona’s loss to Texas Tech. In the last two games, Arizona has a combined 17 drives end in its opponents’ territory, but only three touchdowns to show for it.

As the Arizona offense looks to get back on track against BYU on Saturday, Adkins weighed in on Babers’ experience, the UA offense “carrying too much scheme” and ball distribution, among other topics, on Tuesday.

What has been the most impactful thing you’ve learned while working alongside Babers?

A: “Just wisdom. I learned this from my grandfather and my dad: there’s no way to make up experience in this industry, and obviously as a young coach, I’m working to get as much experience as I possibly can. But he’s been through so many things, been through so many challenges, been through so many times where things are awesome, that he constantly has a good perspective for me. He also sees it through a different lens, so sometimes it’s great to get perspective other than your own. In those spots, he’s been invaluable to me.”

Brennan suggested the offense has been potentially “carrying too much scheme,” and it can be overcomplicated at times. Do you think that’s the case?

A: “I think if you talk to any coordinators across the country, that’s always a conversation about what’s the right amount, what’s too much and we are constantly having discussions about it as a stuff, trying to figure the right amount and the right amount in certain categories. As we look back on it, I think we felt good about the scheme that we carried, and a little bit of those conversations are about what we do in the week to make sure we’re solid in those schemes to where we’re still presenting challenges to the defense. But we want to make sure we are lock-solid without missing assignments on our side.”

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

Is there a common issue you’re seeing with the offense in the last few games?

A: “I think the biggest thing is consistency and attention to detail. If you have a play, you might have seven details that are important to you executing that play. On one rep, only three of them are important. On the next rep, three other details are important. ... Right now, we are straining as a coaching staff to try and get as much detail into our players as possible, because in critical moments, that’s not showing up. ... We are doing good stuff. There are pockets in there where we’re playing good football. It’s just a matter of getting that more consistently.”

During training camp, you jokingly said Arizona’s offense should figure out ways to get wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan the ball, but do you think there has been too much of a focus on his playmaking abilities and not enough on other skill players?

A: “One of my biggest emphasis is distribution of the football and making sure the football is going to the right guy because it should. I can’t tell you how stupid I’d be if we don’t try and profile T in this offense. He deserves that and we should be doing that. But we need to make sure that ball is distributed across everyone, whether that’s running backs, tight ends, other wide receivers. For us to be the healthiest offensively, we have to get the ball distributed more.”

Are some of the issues falling on wide receivers not getting open, or do you think quarterback Noah Fifita is holding on to the ball too long?

A: “I think it’s a mixture of all of it. I don’t think you could attribute it to one thing. It’d be great if you could, because you could just fix that one thing. At times, he just needs to trust the progression, trust where his eyes should be and trust the information that the defense is giving him. All of those things are conversations with us behind closed doors. ... There’s not another guy in the country I’d rather have play quarterback for me. I have a blast coaching him. I love his energy and the type of man he is. I feel confident he’s going to move in the right direction on that. ... We’ve left some things out there in the last couple of weeks. I promise you this, there’s no one in the building that knows it more than No. 11, and there’s no one in the building that takes it more serious than No. 11, and that’s why I have such confidence that we’ll get it going in the right direction.”

What’s your assessment of tight end Keyan Burnett over the last few weeks and what’s the next step in his evolution?

A: “The biggest thing for Key is that he’s ready to explode. He’s been banged up. There have been some ebb and flow there. It’s a point of emphasis for our offense, it’s a point of emphasis for me. ... to get him in the right spots so he can show consistently what he’s capable of doing. We have a great player and I’m confident the best football is in front of him.”

After you graduated from Southern Oregon, you were a play-caller for the Carlstad Crusaders in the Swedish Football League. How did that experience help your play-calling and the trajectory of your career?

A: “I’m a third-generation coach’s kid, but everyone was small-college coaches. I went over there (to Sweden) and had an absolute blast. It was my first time calling (an offense), and now it’s my first time since then calling it. It was transformative for me, because I came away from that and said, ‘I want to make sure the next time I call plays, it’s at the highest level possible,’ because I had such a positive experience and got a little bit confidence.

“’I have a chance to be halfway decent at this.’ These last two weeks, I’ve thought a lot about that experience and how grateful I was to go over there and how grateful I am for those guys to buy into me the way that they did, because it gave me the confidence go and volunteer, (be a graduate assistant) and be on the path that has me sitting here today.”