Bobo is back: Arizona CB Tacario Davis removes name from transfer portal

After Arizona's spring game, there was a non-zero chance cornerback Tacario Davis would leave the Wildcats after all and spend the 2024 season somewhere else — perhaps even reunite with his former crew at Washington.

UA coach Brent Brennan revealed Saturday that he never received confirmation from Arizona's star cornerback if he would return for the upcoming season. Davis, who entered the transfer portal following the departure of head coach Jedd Fisch, didn't remove his name this spring, but, "just to give the new coaches a shot," still practiced with the team.

“I didn’t just want to hop in (the transfer portal) and not know (anything),” Davis said at the start of spring practices in March. “I’m just giving them a chance, because everybody stayed together for the team. I just wanted to be a part of something special, stay together, stick around and see what it’s about.”

Davis reportedly removed his name from the transfer portal on Tuesday, according to 247Sports.com and The Athletic. Tuesday is also the day the spring transfer portal closes for new entries.

The return of Davis, who is nicknamed "Bobo," means the Wildcats return four starting defensive backs from the secondary that helped Arizona go 10-3 last season. Davis, safeties Gunner Maldonado and Dalton Johnson and "Star" defensive back Treydan Stukes headline Arizona's veteran defensive secondary. Arizona will replace starting cornerback Ephesians Prysock, who transferred to Washington.  

Davis, a 6-4, 195-pound Long Beach, California, native, was a part of Arizona’s loaded 2022 recruiting class and played in five games at defensive back as a true freshman in the Wildcats’ seven-defensive back “dollar” package.

As a sophomore this past season, Davis started all but two games for the Wildcats. Graduate transfer Dylan Wyatt started the season opener against Northern Arizona, while senior Martell Irby started against UTEP. Davis made his first career start at the UA in the Wildcats’ road-opening loss to Mississippi State.

Davis grew into one of the top defensive backs nationally after leading the Pac-12 in pass breakups (16) and receiving an 87.5 coverage grade from Pro Football Focus.

“He’s a player that really emerged last year and you got see him really start to accelerate his development, and I thought that was really, really cool,” Brennan said of Davis. “It’s rare when you have a group of guys that’s as close as they are here.

"Those guys are so close and being able to play at the level he wants to play at and the consistency he wants to perform at, being in the back end with people who you’ve done it with before and you know where they’re going to be and you trust each other, it’s a huge part of it.“

Davis' PBUs — near interceptions — last season “frustrated me" and "still haunts me to this day," he said. 

Added Davis: "I just gotta put it to the side, just keep working and know I gotta do more ball drills after practice.”

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Davis was Arizona’s highest-graded (85.5) defensive Wildcat on PFF for the ’23 season. He also had 25 tackles and one interception during his breakout season and was named an Associated Press All-Pac-12 Second-Team selection.

“He’s got all the physical tools and he’s just getting smarter and smarter as a football player,” Stukes said of Davis. “It’s going to be great help to have a dominant corner like that.

"A lot of times corners get put in that athlete position where they don’t think you’re that smart," Stukes said. "He took the mental side of the game very seriously and we could all tell and see it in his play.“

Davis, who changed his jersey number from 23 to 1, is about to become a draft-eligible prospect in the upcoming season as a junior. Arizona's defensive coordinator Duane Akina has coached four Jim Thorpe Award winners throughout his coaching journey. Arizona cornerbacks coach Chip Viney played for DeWayne Walker, who recruited Davis to Arizona in '22, at UCLA. 

“He’s what everyone in the country is looking for. Long, can run and cover, and I think he’s got a lot of potential,” Viney said of Davis. “He’s just scratching the surface. He’s got a lot ahead of him, and that’s what I talked to him about: continuing that development and transformation of the foundation he’s already laid.

“Sky’s the limit for Tacario. He’s a worker. On the outside looking in, a lot of things can be said. He’s a guy that wants to be here and he loves this place. He’s putting his best foot forward to transform into the elite player that he can be.”

Every practice this spring, Davis matched up with Arizona star wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, who enters the season as one of the top college football's top receiver and a projected first-round pick for the 2025 NFL Draft. Covering McMillan in practice every day "prepares me a lot because, in my eyes, he’s a first-round guy, so going up against him every day is going up against one of the best receivers in the country,” Davis said.

Another year of matching up with McMillan coupled with another productive season in the fall could position Davis as one of the top defensive backs in the NFL Draft next spring.

Extra points

• PFF currently projects Davis as one of three Wildcats to land in the first round of next year's draft, along with McMillan, who is projected to land at No. 14 to the Pittsburgh, and right tackle Jonah Savaiinaea, who is predicted to go No. 31 to the San Francisco 49ers; PFF has Davis going No. 16 to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

• Former Arizona long snapper Seth MacKellar accepted a rookie minicamp invitation with the Buffalo Bills on Wednesday. MacKellar snapped for the Wildcats from 2019-23. MacKellar is one of eight Wildcats from the 2023 team to receive a rookie mini camp invitation, along with draft picks in left tackle Jordan Morgan (Green Bay Packers), wide receiver Jacob Cowing (San Francisco 49ers) and tight end Tanner McLachlan (Cincinnati Bengals), and undrafted running back Michael Wiley (Washington Commanders), defensive end Taylor Upshaw (Carolina Panthers), defensive tackle Tyler Manoa (Minnesota Vikings) and running back DJ Williams (Tampa Bay Buccaneers).