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.

Fipp, 38, played at Arizona from 1994 to 1997, arriving as a walk-on free safety. After ranking third on the team with 54 tackles as a senior, he began his coaching career as the safeties coach at Holy Cross in 1998. Fipp returned to Arizona in 2000 as a graduate assistant coach.

Among other stops, he was the defensive coordinator for Rich Ellerson at Cal Poly and for Dick Tomey at San Jose State before jumping to the NFL for the 2008 season. Fipp spent three seasons with the San Francisco 49ers as their assistant special teams coach.

Another former Wildcat, Peter Hansen, is headed to the Super Bowl with the 49ers.

Hansen, who also played basketball for Lute Olson at Arizona, was a designated kick blocker for Tomey from 1998 to 2001. The 6-7 Hansen blocked seven kicks for the Cats.

He is in his second season as a defensive assistant/quality control coach for the 49ers, following head coach Jim Harbaugh from Stanford, where Hansen was a defensive assistant for two seasons.

There is an ex-Wildcat assistant on the other side of the Super Bowl matchup: Clarence Brooks coaches the defensive line for the Baltimore Ravens. He coached that spot for Arizona from 1990 to 1992.

In other coaching news with Arizona ties, Garret Chachere is returning to the Pac-12 to coach defensive ends for new Cal coach Sonny Dykes, a former UA offensive coordinator. Chachere was at Arizona from 2009 to 2011, coaching inside receivers for two years and running backs for one season.

He spent last season as the tight ends coach/special teams coordinator for Southern Miss but was looking for work again after the school fired Ellis Johnson, who went 0-12 in his first year with the Golden Eagles.

Chachere and Dykes overlapped at Arizona in 2009.

Also, CoachingSearch.com is reporting that former Arizona quarterbacks coach Frank Scelfo will be hired to coach quarterbacks for new Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley.

(Just think: Bradley had two interviews with the Eagles to become their head coach. If Philadelphia had gone in that direction, Bradley might have reunited Scelfo with his star pupil at Arizona, Nick Foles.)

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:

“Look at the rookie quarterbacks playing so well this year — they all have the ability to extend plays due to their mobility. That’s where the NFL is going now at the quarterback position. Scott has that ability, too. He’s the guy lying in the weeds that I could see jumping up and surprising some people with how high he goes.”

I talked to Rang on Monday for more on Scott.

“The biggest thing is that he has the skill set that NFL teams are looking for, kind of the new quarterback model,” said Rang, who has studied several Arizona games this season.

“He has a strong arm and shows the ability to throw with touch as well, but he’s absolutely a dynamic athlete. He’s more and more the type of quarterback, that dual threat, that NFL teams are looking for. It’s evidence of how the NFL has changed. He fits the prototype.”

Scott, who was second-team All-Pac-12, completed 301 of 499 passes for 3,620 yards, with 27 touchdowns and 14 interceptions, as a senior. He also ran for 506 yards.

This was the first extended playing time of Scott’s five-year Arizona career, so, developmentally, he isn’t as far along as, say, USC’s Matt Barkley and West Virginia’s Geno Smith. That could actually end up working in Scott’s favor, as scouts might be able to project a lot of room for him to move further along the learning curve.

Scott last week said he didn’t know which postseason all-star game he would attend. At this point, he’s probably hoping for the Senior Bowl, which typically invites six quarterbacks. Arkansas’ Tyler Wilson, North Carolina State’s Mike Glennon and Florida State’s E.J. Manuel are three who have publicly accepted invitations.

Best bet: Look for Scott to go to the East-West Shrine Game, Jan. 19 in St. Petersburg, Fla.

“They are going to like his arm strength because he spins the ball well,” Scelfo said in a phone interview Monday. “They are going to like his athleticism. His size is not going to be that bad. He’s probably going to have to gain a few pounds.

“And then there’s his competitiveness. That’s an intangible that not everyone has.”

Scott is listed at 6-3, 196. He might come in at 6-2 when measured by the NFL.

Scelfo, who keeps in regular contact with Foles and Scott, said the new Arizona staff of Rich Rodriguez did a nice job of evaluating Scott and putting him in position to succeed within the read-option offense.

“(Quarterbacks coach) Rod Smith did a nice job with him,” Scelfo said.

This quarterback class isn’t as talented or deep as last year’s group — “there’s not a lot of slam-dunk guys,” Rang said — which does give Scott a chance to stand out.

Rang said the questions about Scott heading into this scouting period will be his accuracy on deep throws and his ability to read NFL-style defenses. College spread offenses are often (relatively) simple for quarterbacks to run.

Just as it was a year ago with Foles, it will be interesting to track Scott’s progress toward the NFL. If Scott does well in workouts, Arizona might produce a top 100 pick at quarterback in back-to-back years.

“It’s good to see the talent coming through Tucson now,” Rang said.

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.

The third-round pick completed 6 of 10 passes for 144 yards, with touchdown throws of 70 and 44 yards, as the Eagles rallied late to beat Pittsburgh 24-23. In that game, backup quarterback Mike Kafka suffered broke a bone in his non-throwing hand, which will force him to miss at least the next two preseason games.

That means Foles will be getting an extended chance to work with the second-team offense, playing behind starter Michael Vick. Trent Edwards is the Eagles’ other quarterback.

Foles’ next opportunity to make a depth chart statement comes in a Monday night game on ESPN at the New England Patriots.

“His poise has really impressed me,” Vick said in a story on the Eagles’ official website, “his decision making obviously, and he has a big time arm. I think Nick has all the ingredients to be a great quarterback in this league. It may take some time, it may not. He has all the intangibles of what it takes.”

With the help of Scelfo’s tutelage, Foles rewrote most of the passing records at Arizona. Scelfo, who is sitting out this season from coaching — “redshirting” as he put it with a laugh — spent a few days with Foles in training camp earlier this summer.

“To me,” Scelfo said, “the big thing in the preseason I wanted to see is if he felt comfortable on the field. It was just a preseason game, but he knew what he was doing and what others were doing, and it looked like he had control of the offense.

“He feels very confident. The biggest thing they are working with him is the timing between him and his new receivers, and having the plays come to him quickly. He had been in the same system (at Arizona) for three years and he could call the play before it was called.

“He’s going to have to get to that point again where he can do that without thinking.”

Foles, in a video interview posted on the Eagles’ site, pretty much agreed with that assessment of how he can improve.

“When the ball is snapped, I’m just trying to play as fast as I can and try to let natural habits take control instead of thinking too much,” Foles said. “Because if you’re thinking too much, you can’t play fast.”

Additional reading: Backup quarterback Nick Foles looks like a natural (Philly.com)

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.

* * *

Arizona got a break on the first play of the drive. Foles threw an uncatchable pass well over Crump’s head on the right sideline, but ASU safety Eddie Elder nonetheless smacked Crump and drew a 15-yard personal foul penalty.

Instead of second-and-10 at the 6, Arizona had first-and-10 at its 21.

Huge difference.

“When things like that happen, you just get some energy,” Scelfo said.

Foles intended to hit a quick out pattern on the next play, but Arizona State had it covered while quickly breaking down UA’s pass protection. Scelfo’s words were still ringing in Foles’ ears — you cannot take a sack — and he maneuvered out of the pocket and shuffled the ball to Richard Morrison with his left hand as he was tackled.

“How about that guy,” Scelfo said of Foles.

The play went for no gain, but at least it wasn’t a loss and Arizona didn’t have to panic. Foles, though, was under pressure again on second down. He had initially been looking left but after stepping through the traffic in the backfield, came back to find Dan Buckner in the right flat. Buckner made a man miss and gained 14 yards.

“Obviously, he’s not Michael Vick back there,” Scelfo said of Foles, “but he does a great job of extending the play when things break down.”

Arizona was now on the move.

* * *

The Wildcats’ fast pace was beginning to take effect.

ASU didn’t have to time to make different defensive calls and to give Arizona “junk” as Scelfo called it. The Sun Devils had to stick with their base 4-3 defense, with the four defensive backs in quarters coverage.

The Sun Devils didn’t have much time to think. When Arizona snapped the ball after Buckner’s catch, only one ASU defensive lineman — tackle Bo Moos — had his hand on the ground, ready to play.

Arizona, meanwhile, was making adjustments.

After seeing Foles scrambling on the previous two plays, the coaches called for a sprint-out to the left, moving the pocket. They couldn’t let him get hit again. Foles threw on the run and hit a quick pass to Juron Criner for a gain of 6.

That was fine. Arizona just wanted to keep playing “inside the chains,” Scelfo said. They also had just made ASU’s defensive linemen chase a play to the perimeter, further wearing them out. The pass rush the rest of the drive would not be a factor.

Arizona was now at its 41.

ASU was still in its base coverage. Arizona had two receivers on either side and knew what to expect. Foles quickly looked for running back Ka’Deem Carey in the right flat, the same screen pass on which running back Keola Antolin went 46 yards in the first quarter.

Carey picked up a block and gained 15 yards. A teammate helped him get off the ground so Arizona could get lined up quickly.

Foles took the snap. His first option was to find receiver David Roberts, coming from the left side, over the middle. Foles read middle linebacker Vontaze Burfict. He had stayed home. Foles glanced away and read cornerback Alden Darby to his left.

If Darby had stayed in the flat, then Roberts would work off Burfict back toward the sideline, settling down between the coverage. But Darby went with Roberts, bracketing the receiver and jamming him in the middle of the field.

Foles could have gone to Criner on a curl route near the left sideline. But that wasn’t his progression. He quickly flipped the pages in his mental playbook: If Darby went with Roberts, then Carey was going to be open on a swing pass to the left.

Foles processed all this in an instant, re-set his feet to throw to the left and fired to Carey, who picked up 11 yards to the ASU 33.

“That is where he has grown so fast,” Scelfo said of Foles.

“I get aggravated when people say, ‘He’s rushing his throws.’ Nobody knows what he is doing. He has so much stuff to do, man. Does he look skittish in the pocket? Not a bit. He looks very comfortable. He gets his feet set. He makes a throw.

“The swing pass is not an easy pass to make, and he makes it and gives it to Ka’Deem in a position where he can get it and go run.”

* * *

ASU had just seen Arizona go 61 yards in less than two minutes. The Devils had to do something to mix up their defense. They did. Pre-snap, Foles spotted a safety in the middle of the field. ASU was man-to-man in what Arizona called “one rat.”

The “rat” was linebacker Colin Parker, who was on the right side of ASU’s formation. He was an X-factor. His job was to read Foles and react.

Gino Crump breaks free for a 33-yard touchdown reception. Photo by Pat Shannahan/The Arizona Republic

The middle of the field was closed. ASU was prepared to come with pressure. Foles saw this. He made a check at the line. He knew what to do based off his work during the week in film study.

“We knew going in that if they match up this play with this coverage, throw this route,” Scelfo said.

The call was a quick hitch to Crump, lined up on the left side with Roberts. Cornerback Osahon Irabor was playing about 8 yards off Crump. Arizona would be happy to complete the pass, take 5 yards, stay inside the chains and keep on moving.

But timing is everything.

Foles took the shotgun snap, took a couple of steps back, decisively planted and threw to Crump. As Foles’ hands were split as he prepared to throw, Irabor broke on the ball.

Scelfo sat in his office earlier this week, breaking down the play all over again. What if Foles, he wondered, was a tenth of a second later in delivering the pass?

That fraction might have been enough for Irabor to close enough to stop Crump right where he caught the pass. That is exactly what had happened on the same play earlier in the game.

This time, Crump had just enough separation.

He spun to the sideline, shaking an attempted tackle around his waist. Parker, the rat, had reacted well to the pass, but he overran the play and missed the tackle, too. Roberts was down field, getting in the way just enough to provide some blocking.

Crump cut inside, cut back outside and went 33 yards for a touchdown.

“Once I broke that first tackle, I was in the zone from that point on,” Crump said after Wednesday’s practice.

“That one play will go down in my personal hall of fame forever. I’ve probably watched it 20 times, maybe more. If I’m not watching it, one of friends or something is posting it on my Facebook. It’s hard to avoid it right now.”

* * *

Arizona went 94 yards in two minutes, eight seconds. The Wildcats were back in the game.

They still needed another touchdown drive, and multiple key defensive plays, to win. They got them all. Arizona won 31-27.

Foles, though, couldn’t finish the game, didn’t throw another pass after the one to Crump, leaving the game with a rib contusion.

There is no guarantee Foles will be able to play Saturday against Louisiana in the final game of his career. If he doesn’t, he goes out on the highest of notes — going 6 for 6 for 79 yards on his final full drive.

At first glance, none of his throws was instantly memorable. Crump made the highlight play. But Foles was basically perfect. He kept plays alive. He played fast. He made all the right reads. He knew exactly where to go with the ball. He didn’t hesitate. He hit receivers in stride.

“What you saw the whole drive was Nick being quick in his decision-making,” said Scelfo, snapping his fingers. “It was right there. It was right on.

“He missed some stuff during the game. On this drive, he didn’t.”

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.

“Probably the guys I have not worked with before will be guys who have experience recruiting in this region,” he said.

He added: “The best coaches can recruit anywhere.”

He mentioned the state of Florida, which he has recruited extensively, as a potential recruiting area for the Wildcats.

He also has the beginning of a track record in Arizona.

In the class of 2009, Rodriguez landed two four-star recruits from Scottsdale Chaparral High School — offensive lineman Taylor Lewan and defensive end Craig Roh. That is working out well for the Wolverines. Lewan is a two-year starter at left tackle; Roh has started 36 consecutive games and has eight tackles for loss this season.

Arizona athletic director Greg Byrne cited input from Chaparral coach Charlie Ragle as an influence on his decision. Ragle and his staff later spent time in Ann Arbor, picking the brains of Rodriguez and the Michigan coaches.

“He said, ‘I had never spent so much time with a major college coach who had devoted so much time and interest in my program,’” Byrne said of Ragle.

“Coach Ragle told me in all his years he had never been more impressed in dealing with a coaching staff from a football standpoint, from a recruiting standpoint, from a compliance standpoint and from an academic standpoint.

“That meant a lot to me.”

Rodriguez said he will consider retaining current members of the Arizona coaching staff, with any of those discussions coming after Saturday’s season-finale against Louisiana on Saturday (2 p.m., Arizona Stadium).

He worked with UA quarterbacks coach Frank Scelfo at Tulane in 1997 and 1998. That 1998 season produced a 12-0 record with Rodriguez as the coordinator for head coach Tommy Bowden.

“When he came in, we had never worked together. I was new to the spread system,” Scelfo said of Rodriguez. “He’s innovative. He’s done things that nobody else has done, and he’s had success doing it.”

Scelfo said he would be happy to have a discussion about staying at Arizona if that’s what Rodriguez wants. Scelfo added he is “very much” comfortable with Rodriguez’s read-option spread offense.

“I mean, we ran it,” Scelfo said. “Everybody is going to run some form of it right now.”

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:

On the differences with quarterback Nick Foles this season:
“I think he is a lot further along mentally than he was last year, studying film and kind of knowing what to do with the football. I think that’s the most progress that he has made from last year to this year. He can still throw it, and his mechanics have improved and will continue to improve, but his biggest improvement has been learning.”

On Foles moving around the pocket better this year:
“Nick has always been a very good basketball player; a lot of people don’t know that. But his movement on the basketball court hasn’t translated to the football field. That was a big emphasis for us this spring — to get that ability to move. He’s athletic. He’s not a big, heavy-footed guy back there. He can move, and he’s taken that to heart so far.”

On the necessity for smart quarterbacks and how hard it is to identify them during the recruiting process:
“You see those five-star guys who never amount to anything — whether they went into the wrong system or they just couldn’t get it done in a big-time atmosphere. Then you see guys that nobody recruited who become first-day picks when the draft rolls around.

“One of the best quarterbacks I have ever seen, ever played against, is Kellen Moore of Boise State. There’s a guy who is too small, too slow, arm strength is not good. He’s got every other aspect about him, though, and he knows how to win a game. That guy there is remarkable. I would vote for him for the Heisman because I think he does more with a ballclub than anybody I have ever seen.”

On the difficulty Foles will have making the transition after the season from a spread quarterback to a pro-style QB:
“I don’t think there is a difficult transition any more. You look at every NFL team, all of them have the shotgun in their package. (Peyton) Manning, for the most part, is probably 50-50. (Tom) Brady is even more than that. (Drew) Brees is a big gun guy. … I don’t think (Foles) is going to have a problem either way when he gets to that level. He’s athletic enough to do both, and he’s big enough to where he can see whether he is under center or in the gun. He’s going to be fine. I don’t think it will be a transition for him at all.”

On Stanford’s defense:
“They are going to give us a lot of different stuff. Their front seven guys are excellent. They are going to come at you from different angles. Coverage-wise, they did a great job with us last year, banging our guys at the line of scrimmage, not letting them off. They mix up their coverages. When you look at the variety of things that they do, it’s hard to prepare for one specific thing. Nick is really going to have to be on as far as recognition — pre-snap and post-snap. And our offensive line will really be put to the test by what they’re going to see from a blitz standpoint. They bring guys from all different directions.”

On what he learned about Pac-12 defenses after one year in the conference:
“I probably didn’t appreciate how good the coaching is, how well things are coached schematically. You know the players are good; you see that every year on draft day. But schematically, they throw a lot of stuff at you. You have to make sure you’re on top of everything, because they are going to give you something that you haven’t seen and haven’t prepared for. We have yet to go into a game, saying, ‘All right, this is what they’re going to give us’ and that is what they play. You are going to get something new.”

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.

Foles has done all he could in the offseason to be a great college quarterback. He showed his leadership by organizing the team’s informal workouts. He helped the team rally around its wristbands bearing the messages “All in” and “No looking back.” He learned of food allergies, changed his diet and became noticeably leaner.

The does-he-translate-to-the-NFL question doesn’t have to be answered now. But let’s say this: Scelfo says Foles is receiving the training he needs to convert to a pro-style quarterback in about four months.

“Spread quarterbacks, for the most part, don’t read fronts and coverages,” Scelfo said.

“Our mission here is to develop quarterbacks who go to the NFL. So on top of what we do, we teach fronts and coverage recognition and the footwork that the NFL wants to see. In the offseason, the summer, stuff like that.

“What the NFL wants to see are the characteristics that their game uses, so we have to make sure we teach that also.”

Scelfo, while he was an assistant at Tulane, helped send four quarterbacks into the NFL, so he has ample credibility. He spent 11 years coaching college football in Louisiana before coming to Arizona for the 2010 season.

Foles discovered something about Scelfo’s deep Louisiana ties when he attended the Manning Passing Academy in Thibodaux, La., this summer. Foles served as a camp counselor to eighth-graders and high school players, hung out with more than 30 other Division I quarterbacks and picked the brains of the quarterbacking Manning family, including Peyton and Eli.

“I’ve known the Mannings since Eli was in the eighth grade,” Scelfo said.

“Archie is a good friend. Peyton is a good friend. Those guys have been around. So I ask them a lot of questions. Different strategies, different ideas, different angles.”

When talking football with the Mannings, Foles was eager to learn the strategies of how they broke down game film. He learned that their way of examining plays was pretty much his way of examining plays because of the Scelfo connections.

“They know Coach Scelfo, and it reassured me that how they do things is how we do it,” Foles said.

“I got on the phone with him and said, ‘Man, how Peyton watches film is how we do it.’ And he says, ‘I know. This isn’t my first rodeo, man.’

“I’ve always known, but it made me realize how fortunate I am to play at Arizona with the coaching staff I have.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the third installment of our 24 Hours of Arizona Football Blogging — one post at the top of every hour. Keep checking back at TucsonCitizen.com through Friday at 11 a.m. or follow the entire series with the “24 hours of blogging” tag.

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.

“I had drank whey protein shakes my whole life, and when I got off them and started taking different supplements and proteins, I noticed a huge difference in the weight room and my body fat going down. My muscles were recovering better and my strength was going up. Just everything.”

Foles said his body fat, measured at the beginning of summer, was about 8 or 9 percent. He hadn’t been tested a year earlier, but he said he figures that is about a drop of 3 to 5 percent.

The upshot is that Foles — who now won’t be loading up on foods that are bad for him before games — will have more confidence on the field. He’s been known more for his arm and his accuracy than his overall athleticism, which is somewhat strange considering he was a basketball player of some renown at Westlake High in Austin, Texas.

“On the basketball court, I have always been able to run with anybody, jump high, slam dunk and do all those things,” he said.

“To put my basketball abilities on the football field, that’s something I’m continuing to do. I’m starting to feel more comfortable moving around, making plays with my feet. I love throwing on the run, just being more of an athlete out there.”

So, he’ll skip the cheese enchiladas or similar things at the team’s training table, focusing on beef or chicken and finding substitutes for his protein shakes. And he’s OK with a little cheating now and then.

“It’s definitely a challenge, though, when you have three basic things — whey, milk and eggs — that are in a lot of things,” he said.

“Sometimes, people don’t like to test because they don’t want to know what they’re allergic to and to know that they’re not going to be able to eat something they love. That happened to me, but it’s worth the sacrifice.

“Anytime you can get better in any aspect of the game, that’s exciting to me.”

Foles’ transformation through nutrition is such that quarterbacks coach Frank Scelfo commented, “It has just allowed his body to blossom.”

And Scelfo was impressed enough to follow his quarterback’s lead.

Scelfo had his son Anthony — who is an outfielder for the Class A Charlotte Stone Crabs — tested for food allergies. Turns out, Anthony is allergic to — of all things for a baseball player — sunflower seeds.

“He says he feels so much better now,” Frank Scelfo said.

Foles is feeling pretty good, too. His investment into his senior season is complete, from his dietary changes to how he firmly established himself as the team leader in the summer, organizing informal team workouts and rallying his teammates around their “All in” motto.

“It’s almost like he’s our coach,” said freshman quarterback Daxx Garman.

Foles completed 286 of 426 passes for 3,191 yards, with 20 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, last season. He led late game-winning touchdown drives vs. Iowa and Cal. He also led late scoring drives against Oregon State and USC, but the Cats fell just short both times. Foles did it again against ASU, but a blocked PAT with 27 seconds remaining denied Foles the credit for another game-winning march.

Now, he feels better than ever, has almost certainly the best receiving corps in school history at his disposal, and is playing in an offense that will rely on his right arm.

Assuming he stays healthy behind an all-new offensive line, this is the Season of Foles.

“He wants this,” Scelfo said.

“This season is very important to him, for the University of Arizona, for what he leaves behind. He is not going to be judged by yards or anything like that. It’s going to be wins and losses.”

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.

“He has good pocket presence. A big, strong, physical guy,” Scelfo said. “Big arm. A gym rat when it comes to studying the game.”

Scelfo said a good situation for Arizona in this recruiting season would have been to add a junior college quarterback who had two years of eligibility, plus a redshirt year.

“We didn’t get one,” he said.

This is even better. Savage has ample Division I experience — earning Freshman All-America honors in 2009 — and will have two years of eligibility left after he sits out the 2011 season under transfer rules.

Arizona’s quarterback depth now looks like this for 2011:

• Senior Nick Foles
• Senior Matt Scott (would like to redshirt)
• Senior Bryson Beirne
• Redshirt freshman Cam Allerheiligen
• True freshman Daxx Garman
• Junior Tom Savage (must sit out 2011 season because of transfer rules)

If all goes well in 2011, then Arizona will go into 2012 with the experienced Scott and Savage.

Savage, in interviews in the past few weeks with TucsonCitizen.com, consistently has said he knew he was going to run into competition anywhere he went and that the biggest factor in his decision would be how comfortable he felt with the campus, coaches and players.

“He never once talked about the opportunity to play. He never once asked about the depth chart,” Scelfo said.

“He never talked about anything other than he wanted to get a feel for the university itself. He walked around campus and went into the buildings and fell in love with it.”

Savage, from Springfield, Pa., was the gem of Rutgers’ 2009 recruiting class, rated the 125th-best overall high school prospect and the 10th-best quarterback in the country by ESPN.com. Rivals.com rated Savage as a four-star prospect and No. 131 overall nationally.

Savage completed 149 of 289 passes for 2,211 yards, with 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions, as a freshman at Rutgers. Ineffectiveness and injury led to a disappointing sophomore season in which he completed 43 of 83 passes for 521 yards, with two touchdowns and three interceptions.

NOTE
Quarterback Ross Oltorik, who walked-on last summer as a transfer from Ohio State, has been moved to fullback/H-back, Scelfo said.

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?

“Just getting him to class, find the locker room, getting dressed, try to get him to take a deep breath so he’s OK with stuff,” quarterback coach Frank Scelfo said light-heartedly.

“The good part about a guy coming in early is that you’re able to coach him and spend time with him without the rigors of getting ready for a game. Because once you get to the season, you can’t spend time with those guys.”

That was the case in the fall with freshman Cam Allerheiligen, who spent last season on the scout team. He’s the team’s other young scholarship quarterback who will get coaching attention in spring ball, which starts March 21. The spring game is set for April 16.

“Cam is a really smart guy. He’s a gym rat,” Scelfo said. “He’s more than capable and he’s starting to come into his own. He’s starting to feel more comfortable.”

A year from now, each of these quarterbacks might be competing for playing time — or even a starting spot, who knows? — but Scelfo can continue to work on their fundamentals until then.

Garman didn’t play high school ball last season, ruled ineligible after transferring from Jones (Okla.) High to Southlake (Texas) Carroll High School. Arizona coach Mike Stoops said having Garman here for spring helps make up for that experience gap.

Perhaps in a hurry.

“It’s going to be one of those things where he gets a good feel for what’s going on, and we’ll evaluate him and see how rusty he is and then let him go play,” Scelfo said.

“We’re going to be yelling at him in the spring game and he should be going to prom.”

More Arizona quarterback stories:

Ex-Rutgers quarterback Tom Savage makes Arizona his first recruiting stop

Scelfo sets out spring strategy for Nick Foles

Even with redshirt plan, Matt Scott needs to prepare to play