Dave Fipp. Photo from MiamiDolphins.com

Former Arizona Wildcats safety Dave Fipp has joined the staff of new Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly to coach special teams.

Fipp has spent the past two seasons as an assistant special teams coach with the Miami Dolphins.

There was no official word from the Eagles, who are waiting until the completion of the staff to announce the hirings, but Dolphins coach Joe Philbin confirmed the transaction to CSNPhilly.com, which also reported that Fipp was scouting the Senior Bowl practices outfitted in Eagles gear.

(more…)

Matt Scott shows off his Offensive MVP award after Arizona rallied to beat Nevada in the New Mexico Bowl. Photo by Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

I remember talking to then-Arizona Wildcats quarterback coach Frank Scelfo after his first spring practice in Tucson in 2010.

He was new to the area, having spent most of his career in Louisiana. We talked about UA’s woeful quarterback history, and he was shocked to learn that the Wildcats hadn’t produced a quarterback who had thrown a pass in the NFL since 1973.

“That’s OK,” Scelfo said. “We’ll get us one pretty soon here.”

How about two?

Scelfo helped develop Nick Foles, who was a third-round pick in this year’s draft and is now in the middle of an extended audition as the Philadelphia Eagles starter.

And Scelfo helped improve the passing fundamentals of Matt Scott, who just completed an excellent senior season and appears to be climbing draft boards.

NFLDraftScout.com, which had been ranking Scott as a fifth- to sixth-round possibility has upgraded his status to the third- to fourth-round range.

Rob Rang, senior draft analyst for NFLDraftScout.com/CBSSports.com, quoted an anonymous NFL scout as saying this about Scott:

(more…)

Nick Foles will play in his second preseason game Monday night at New England. Photo by Eric Hartline-US PRESSWIRE

Soon after his debut with the Philadelphia Eagles in last week’s preseason opener, former Arizona Wildcats quarterback Nick Foles got on the phone to talk to his old position coach.

Frank Scelfo, who was UA’s quarterback coach for the past two seasons, had been watching Foles on TV with his coach’s eye.

“We went over this throws and his reads,” Scelfo said in a phone interview Friday afternoon. “He felt comfortable in the pocket. It looked like he belonged.”

There has been growing buzz in Philadelphia about Foles.

(more…)

Nick Foles was 6-for-6 on the drive that got Arizona back in the game in the fourth quarter at Arizona State. Photo by Rob Schumacher/The Arizona Republic

There was 12:25 left in the game. Arizona trailed Arizona State 27-17. The Wildcats, after an illegal block penalty on the kick return, were pushed back to their 6-yard-line, pushed to the brink.

Time was running out at Sun Devil Stadium. Arizona had scored only once in its past eight possessions. The last chance to feel something good about the season was slipping away.

“Maybe in some other games during the course of the season, if we were down 10 at this point in the game, I’m not sure we believed we could win the game,” said UA quarterbacks coach Frank Scelfo. “We still believed we could win the game here.”

But it was now or ever.

A short drive, or a three-and-out, likely would set up ASU on a short field, potentially in position for a game-clinching score. The Cats had to hit the accelerator.

“Arizona State had a bead on us pretty good,” Scelfo said.

“We wanted to increase the tempo and kind of take them out of their comfort zone. Probably should have done it earlier, but that’s hindsight.”

What followed was a 94-yard drive in which Arizona played fast, quarterback Nick Foles was accurate and decisive, and receiver Gino Crump made one spectacular play.

(more…)

Now that Greg Byrne (left) has hired Rich Rodriguez, the new coach has to hire his assistant coaches. Photo by Mark Evans, TucsonCitizen.com

Arizona Wildcats coach Rich Rodriguez said he would like to hire a few assistant coaches quickly — meaning in the next couple of weeks after teams end their regular season.

“Then I will be more deliberate than I have been in my career in hiring the rest,” he said Tuesday at his introductory news conference.

“It might be up to a month before I complete the staff.”

As it typical in these situations, Rodriguez is expected to bring in assistants who worked for him previously, either at Michigan or West Virginia or both. Mountaineers’ defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel is presumed to be a target.

Rodriguez will be careful to not overload his staff with only guys he has hired before. He and those assistants have recruited some in Arizona, Texas and California — the recruiting bases for the Wildcats — but Rodriguez acknowledges the need for stronger and more immediate ties to those areas.

(more…)

Arizona quarterbacks coach Frank Scelfo with Nick Foles in the spring. Photo by Michael Chow/The Arizona Republic

Arizona Wildcats quarterbacks coach Frank Scelfo sat down the media Monday as part of the team’s weekly news conference, talking about a variety of subjects.

Scelfo is in his second season Arizona, coming to Tucson from Louisiana Tech, where he got an up-close look in WAC play at Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore. That helps give some background to his comments about Moore below.

As for his quarterback, senior Nick Foles, Scelfo says that he is especially excelling this season in the intangible parts of the game. Foles has completed 71 of 93 passes (76.3 percent) for 810 yards and six touchdowns, with no interceptions, through two games.

“People really need to appreciate what they got right now, because they’re not going to have him much longer,” Scelfo said.

Here are some of the highlights from Scelfo’s sit-down with the local media:

(more…)

Arizona quarterbacks coach Frank Scelfo with Nick Foles in the spring. Photo by Michael Chow/The Arizona Republic

Arizona quarterbacks coach Frank Scelfo didn’t wait for the question to be finished.

“When spread-offense quarterbacks are done in college …” I began.

” … they don’t translate to the NFL,” Scelfo concluded.

That’s the long-term question about the Wildcats’ Nick Foles as he enters his senior season with wide-ranging projections about his pro prospects.

(more…)

Nick Foles, seen here in spring, should show more athleticism this season. Photo by David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic

Arizona Wildcats coach Mike Stoops says, perhaps exaggerating only slightly, that if his offense has to pass 60 times a game, it will.

For sure, quarterback Nick Foles is going to need a lot of energy.

And he has more of it than ever before.

One of the changes in Foles this season is that while he is still around 245 pounds, he is noticeably leaner, the result of dietary changes that came after he was tested for food allergies. He read about the subject and decided to get tested.

The discovery: He had to say adios to three staples of his diet: whey protein (which he would take after workouts), milk and eggs. Oh, is that all?

His body’s reaction to those foods causes slight swelling and general sluggishness.

“My biggest allergy was whey protein,” he said. “It wasn’t doing anything for me, and it was actually making me have a food-allergy reaction.

(more…)

Tom Savage's size and skill-set are similar to those of Nick Foles, according to UA coaches.
Photo by Jim O'Connor-US PRESSWIRE

One of the things that sold the Arizona Wildcats coaching staff on Rutgers transfer quarterback Tom Savage was an endorsement from his former coach, Greg Schiano.

That might come as a surprise because Schiano made headlines when he granted Savage only a partial release from his scholarship, originally barring the quarterback from contacting certain schools, including Florida and Miami.

Schiano later lifted the restrictions after further discussions with Savage, telling the Newark Star-Ledger that “the quality young man that he is” played a role in changing his mind.

“I talked to Coach Schiano at Rutgers, and he had nothing but great things to say about him,” Arizona quarterbacks coach Frank Scelfo said after the university announced Thursday that Savage had signed a financial aid agreement with UA.

“That speaks volumes when the coach speaks good things about you.”

That gave the Arizona coaches an insight to Savage’s character. What Scelfo sees on film is a 6-5 quarterback who is similar to Wildcats senior Nick Foles, a former transfer from Michigan State.

(more…)

Scelfo

Note: This wraps up our conversation last week with Arizona quarterbacks coach Frank Scelfo. See links at bottom of post for more on the Wildcats quarterbacks.

Arizona’s 2012 quarterback plans are up in the air.

The Wildcats could have senior Matt Scott — if all goes well and he is able to redshirt behind Nick Foles this season.

And the Wildcats could have Rutgers transfer quarterback Tom Savage, who, as of Wednesday, is on a recruiting visit to Arizona.

Or they could have neither.

In the meantime, true freshman quarterback Daxx Garman, who enrolled at the semester break, can prepare for the future without the urgency of getting ready to play right away.

How can Arizona help him before spring practice begins?

(more…)