Whenever Antoine Cason walks into Arizona Stadium, he thinks about some of the greatest moments of the Mike Stoops era at Arizona.
Cason was in Tucson on Saturday to be Arizona’s honorary captain before the Wildcats’ homecoming matchup with the Kansas Jayhawks.
Cason’s favorite memory at Arizona was when the Wildcats knocked out second-ranked Oregon in 2007. The win over the Ducks was personal.
His dad, Wendell Cason, played for the Ducks, and Oregon barely showed any interest when he was coming out of Los Alamitos High School near Los Angeles.
When Arizona hosted Oregon in 2007, Ducks defensive back coach John Neal, “who lightly recruited me, came up to me on the field and said, ‘Hey, Andre!’” Cason said on ESPN Tucson’s “Spears & Ali.”
“He was serious, so I took that personally,” Cason said. “Every game after this, I’m trying to whoop you anyways, but that helps.”
Cason had an interception and returned it 42 yards, along with a 56-yard punt return for a touchdown in his final game in Tucson. Cason has the fourth-most career interceptions (15) by a Wildcat. The unanimous All-American and two-time All-Pac-10 cornerback won the Jim Thorpe Award for college football’s top defensive back in 2007.
Fans lean over the rail while trying to get an autograph from cornerback Antoine Cason, center, prior to the start of the “Meet the Team” scrimmage at Arizona Stadium Aug. 18, 2007.
The Wildcats had two memorable homecoming victories during Cason’s UA career: Arizona’s 52-14 win over seventh-ranked UCLA in 2005 and Arizona’s 24-20 win over No. 8 Cal the following year. Cason had a go-ahead 39-yard pick-six against Cal.
Cason was also an All-American sprinter for the Arizona track and field program, and he served on numerous student-athlete committees at the UA. He honored his late grandfather, who died from leukemia, by selling “Cason Cares” wristbands on the UA campus and raised $5,000, which was donated to the American Cancer Society.
After his prolific career at Arizona, the San Diego Chargers drafted Cason 27th overall in the first round of the NFL Draft. Cason played seven seasons in the NFL and played for the Chargers, Cardinals, Panthers and Ravens.
Cason said “that time in Tucson prepared me, because I wasn’t the guy right away.”
“I came into training camp and I was like the fifth (defensive back) on the depth chart and had to climb my way up,” Cason said. “I always tried to remember that. ‘Hey, you came in here and you weren’t that guy. Even when you play well, you’re not that guy.’ That always prepared me. ... I only had three Pac-10 offers and didn’t come to Arizona as the penciled-in starter, I had to earn that. ... Just so many people around (Arizona) Athletics that helped.”
Arizona cornerback Antoine Cason runs back an interception 39 yards for the game-winning touchdown in the Wildcats’ 2006 upset win over Cal.
Cason never expected the success. And now he gets to reminisce on his time in Tucson alongside his son, Antoine Cason II, who took an unofficial visit to the UA. The younger Cason is a freshman linebacker at Orange Lutheran (California).
“I never thought the outcome would ever be what it was,” Cason said of his time as a Wildcat. “I just went in with a mentality to work hard, be as good of a person as I can be, have fun, meet new people, be around athletes and handle athletics and school. To have that outcome is satisfying because now my son is in high school and he’s asking more questions about sports and challenges if he wants to do similar things or be better. That makes me feel good because he wants to be better, and I know he can.
“That was a pretty good time I had in Tucson. It was incredible, unbelievable. Some of the best years of my life.”
Leipold ‘the right person for that job’
Tony Daniel’s favorite Lance Leipold stat is that the Kansas head coach has just as many national championships as losses at the Division III level.
Buffalo head coach Lance Leipold reacts to a call in the second quarter against Penn State in State College, Pa., on Sept. 7, 2019.
Leipold won six national championships and posted a 109-6 record at Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Leipold’s success is why Daniel was eager to play for him when he replaced Jeff Quinn as head coach of Buffalo in 2014. Daniel, the UA’s senior associate athletic director of revenue generation and engagement, played quarterback for the Bulls from 2012-15. Daniel was teammates with Los Angeles Chargers star defensive end Khalil Mack at Buffalo.
From 2015-20, Leipold went 37-33 and led the Bulls to two MAC East championships, three bowl games and two bowl wins. He’s 27-32 in four-plus seasons at KU.
Kansas general manager Rob Ianello was Buffalo’s associate head coach and was an assistant at Arizona from 1994-2002. Ianello and Arizona head coach Brent Brennan coached under Dick Tomey in 2000.
“Him and his staff are great,” Daniel said. “They’ve won everywhere they’ve gone. Those guys know how to win and that translated well. It turned the Buffalo program around. It got the Kansas job. They’re doing big things. They’ve been up-and-down the last couple of years, but he’s a winner and a great man. Happy to see the success except for this week, because we’re all about the Wildcats. Coach Brennan and these guys, they’re playing really well.”
Kansas head coach Lance Leipold looks on during the first half of a game against Fresno State on Aug. 23, 2025.
The secret to Leipold’s success is “the care he has for the people. It’s a people business,” Daniel said.
“When he got to Buffalo, that’s what we noticed first and foremost,” Daniel said. “I enjoyed my time there. I only got one year with him, but I was excited to see what he did to the program after we left and then now with Kansas, it’s admirable. ... He’s the right person for that job.”
Between the Arizona-Kansas football game on Saturday, UA triathlon competing for a national championship in Tempe, both Arizona basketball programs in action this weekend, UA volleyball beating Texas Tech and other UA sporting events on campus, “the momentum is real” for Arizona’s athletic department, Daniel said.
“The buzz around campus is palpable,” he said. “We’re feeling it.”
Homecoming draws nearly 100 recruits
Arizona was set to host nearly 100 high school prospects on Saturday. The Wildcats expected 98 high school players to be in attendance and several commits from Arizona’s 2026 recruiting class, including linebacker Dash Fifita, defensive tackles Manoah Faupusa and Keytrin Harris, linebacker Jaden Parker and Phoenix-area offensive tackle Malachi Joyner.
The Wildcats also planned to host three-star Michigan State offensive line commit Quinn Buckey, a 6-6, 270-pound 2026 prospect from Bakersfield, California.
Arizona’s 21-player 2026 recruiting class ranks 40th nationally, according to 247Sports.com.
