Adam Hall had an interception return for a touchdown in the team's scrimmage/Photo by Brad Allis, WildcatSportsReport.com

Fall camp is usually a back and forth between the offense and defense. Finally, the Arizona Wildcats’ defense went forth and got back at the offense.

“All the coaches have been riding us to get better,” senior defensive end Ricky Elmore said after Wednesday night’s closed scrimmage, “but I think we came out and answered that call.”

Elmore said the first-string defense did not allow a touchdown to the first-string offense Wednesday night, and that sophomore safety Adam Hall returned an interception for a touchdown. That was a big change after the more-experienced offense had its way in the first two scrimmages.

“I think they came on a lot today and had a great day,” quarterback Nick Foles said of the defense.

The defense, replacing seven starters, has been a work in progress during fall camp, but the coaches have been paring down the practice rotation this week and settling guys into roles.

“We’re trying to give guys opportunities, but we got to a point where we have to solidify the first 11 because they have to build up that camaraderie and get familiar with playing with each other,” co-defensive coordinator Tim Kish told me earlier this week.

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Derek Earls is the new man in the middle for Arizona.
Photo by Brad Allis, WildcatSportsReport.com

Arizona released its post-spring depth chart Wednesday, and the starting linebacker spots came into clearer focus.

“Obviously, it’s the biggest question mark,” said Tim Kish, the linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator.

There’s no experience to speak of, but there are reasons for reasonable optimism.

“That’s the way we always look at it, with the glass half full,” Kish said.

What we know at the end of spring ball that we didn’t at the beginning is that mid-year junior college transfer Derek Earls should be solid at middle linebacker. And that sophomore Jack Fischer, from Ironwood Ridge High School, is a real find. And that … well, maybe that’s about it.

Here’s how Kish breaks it down:

MLB Derek Earls, Jr., 6-3, 235
Kish said Earls is a “little bit behind concepts-wise, but I have never had a guy come in from a juco situation and be able to transition that quickly at that position. He made a few mistakes, but he did them playing fast. If you’re going to make a mistake early, make it playing fast.

“He really has a tremendous upside. I’m really anxious to see how he will progress over the course of the summer and fall camp, and I anticipate him being a leader as well.”

SLB Jake Fischer, So., 5-11, 220
He doesn’t fit the physical profile that the UA coaches would like from their linebackers, but Kish seems to like everything else about Fischer, who mostly played on special teams as a true freshman. Fischer did enough to impress in spring, moving from the weak side to the strong side, even though he was limited with a foot problem. Kish said Fischer underwent surgery Tuesday to remove an extra bone from a foot.

“That’s a guy who is a little bit of a throwback,” Kish said.

“I tell you what, I just think his potential is great because he’s such a tough nut and he can do so many things for you. He can come off the edge. He can be in the gap in the core in run situations. He’s quick enough to help on the perimeter in pass situations. His flexibility and his toughness overshadow any lack of size he might have.”

WLB Paul Vassallo, Jr., 6-3, 240 and WLB R.J. Young, So., 5-11, 232
Vassallo and Young are listed as co-starters heading into the summer.

“Paul probably has not picked it up as quickly as Derek from a concepts standpoint and probably is not playing as fast right now, but I think potentially he could have the same impact as Derek,” Kish said.

“I think R.J. has been fairly steady all spring. I’m not giving either one of those guys the nod right now. I want them to compete all summer and in the offseason program and come out ready to compete again in the fall. Hopefully, the good news will be that both will help us.”

Also on the depth chart are redshirt freshman Trevor Erno and senior C.J. Parish at middle linebacker, and redshirt freshman Cordarius Golston at strong-side linebacker.

On Parish, Kish said: “He is going to play a little bit of defensive end for us. We’re trying to get that fast rush group going, and he could be a factor in that. I’m really pleased in the progression he’s made.”

Arizona has one incoming recruit at the position — freshman Kyle Benson from Tempe Corona del Sol High School — but he is recovering from a knee injury, which limits his chances of contributing in his first year.

Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli rushes for the game-winning touchdown in the second overtime aganist Arizona last season/Photo by Chris Morrison, US Presswire

(Check out more UA football notes, including more comments from co-defensive coordinator Tim Kish and video of coach Mike Stoops, at FoxSportsArizona.com.)

Let’s face it. The last player Arizona wanted to see next season was Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli.

Masoli was unstoppable when it mattered most in last season’s game against the Wildcats in Arizona Stadium, throwing for three touchdowns (including the game-tying score with six seconds left in regulation) and running for three scores (including the game-winner in the second overtime).

Oregon’s 44-41 victory on Nov. 22 ended Arizona’s hopes of the Rose Bowl, while the Ducks would go on to win the Pac-10 and go to Pasadena.

But earlier this month, Oregon coach Chip Kelly suspended Masoli for the 2010 season after the quarterback pleaded guilty to a second-degree burglary charge for stealing two laptops and a guitar from a fraternity house in January.

The reaction of one of the Arizona men charged to stop Masoli?

“You know what, I’m sad,” UA co-defensive coordinator Tim Kish said after Monday’s practice. “I don’t want to see that happen to anybody.”

That didn’t stop the coaches from using Masoli’s bad behavior as a teaching moment for their own team.

“We talked about that as a defense today when we met before we came out on the field,” Kish said.

“That’s part of your responsibilities as a student athlete. You’re under the microscope. I mean, I can’t fathom he needed to be burglarizing somebody else’s property.

“You have to be accountable and respectful to your teammates. If you can’t do that, then you don’t deserve to be out on the field. … All we hope is that we learn from it.”

GRIGSBY BACK
Running back Nic Grigsby, who suffered a hamstring injury in the second spring practice March 6 was able to practice and hit in Monday’s practice.

He said it’s not 100 percent, and he couldn’t commit to being able to play in the spring game April 10 … but he did say his shoulder is feeling good. A separated shoulder cost him almost all of the Pac-10 season last year.

Grigsby is listed at 190 pounds on the spring roster, but he says he’s up to a more-muscular 198.

“I still have the speed,” he said.

He said the weight gain is all extra time in the weight room under strength coach Corey Edmond.

“With Coach Ed, he has us lifting like we’re machines,” Grigsby said.

“When we get hurt, he still says, ‘Put more weight on.’ When we hurt, we lift more. So I advise you not to get hurt.”

Mark Stoops

Arizona defensive coordinator Mark Stoops has accepted the same position at Florida State, according to several media outlets, including the Tallahassee Democrat and ESPN.com.

Stoops, however, was at UA’s practice Friday afternoon and did not talk about his job situation when asked about reports of his agreement. Florida State’s Jimbo Fisher, who will take over for coaching legend Bobby Bowden after the Seminoles’ bowl game, is in the process of hiring his coaching staff.

Earlier in the day, Arizona head coach Mike Stoops talked about the possibility of losing his younger brother to another job.

“It’s always tough,” Mike Stoops said. “Any time you have success, people are going to look at your coaches and they are going to have opportunities.

“It becomes a personal decision. Is it a better opportunity? That is where your family has to evaluate the situation. I am certainly going to help him if I feel that is a better career move.”

Mark Stoops, 42, also has been mentioned as a possibility for the head coaching position at hometown Youngstown State in Ohio. Mark has experience in the state of Florida, having served as the defensive backs coach at Miami from 2001-2003 before joining Mike Stoops at Arizona.

“I hope we don’t have to change,” Mike said Friday morning at a press conference, “but if we do, we’ve always been able to replace great coaches with other great coaches.”

The easiest move for Mike Stoops would be to promote linebackers coach Tim Kish to defensive coordinator. He held the position at Illinois (1997-2000), Ohio (2001) and Indiana (2002-03). Kish, who is one of UA’s top recruiters, has been with Stoops at Arizona throughout the past six seasons and is certainly well versed in the defense, which is largely the vision of Mike Stoops anyway.

The Arizona media relations office brought in several football players for group interviews Monday. The player who spoke the loudest, most authoritatively … the one who was most at ease?

Nick Foles at Monday's press conference/TucsonCitizen.com photo

That’s the way you would want it, and for all the good stuff he is doing on the field, that’s only part of the story. He has been a starter for only four games, but this is his team.

“Nick is a leader,” said senior receiver Delashaun Dean. “Probably one of the best I have seen come through here. He keeps everybody loose. He’s just a guy you want to have as your general out there on the field. We just want to rally behind him.”

UA outside receivers coach Dave Nichol was at Baylor when he tried to lure Foles from Westlake High School in Austin, Texas. “I wrote him a million letters,” Nichol said, “which he never replied to.”

I asked Nichol what was it about Foles that he really liked in high school. “Just real sharp. His coach would say that he was the leader of the basketball team and he would organize seven-on-seven drills in the summer. Those guys at the quarterback position, that is what you look for. Obviously, he is big and he can throw it, but he just kind of has that savviness that says, ‘I’m a leader.’”

Foles said he didn’t remember those million letters from Nichol, but he did say that after he sent his letter-of-intent to Michigan State in February 2007, his dad told him that Baylor had come through with a scholarship offer for football and basketball. Before you get any ideas, realize that coach Sean Miller’s basketball team is plenty deep and Foles has absolutely no inclination to do any walk-on work with UA hoops, as quarterback Ortege Jenkins did about a decade ago.

“When you play quarterback at this level, it’s hard,” Foles said. “In the offseason, that’s your chance to become better — work on timing with the guys, go through film cut-ups. At this level, with this offense, you have to be studying your butt off in the offseason. So that is what I’m going to be doing.” …

Read more about Foles at our partner wildaboutazcats.com’s weekly Nothing but the Notes column.

The hallmark of this Arizona defense is speed over size, and that is especially applicable at linebacker, where the Wildcats have two outside ‘backers who are listed at 5-foot-11 (Xavier Kelley and Sterling Lewis) and a middle linebacker, Vuna Tuihalamaka, dubiously listed at 6-2. They are not major prospects from an NFL perspective. “I think maybe the knock on our linebackers this year is our overall size,” said linebackers coach Tim Kish. “I think everybody in the NFL would love to have 6-3, 6-4 linebackers because of the size of the offensive linemen they’re competing against. But nobody plays with as much heart as these three guys do. They’re students of the game, and I think all three will get a look (at the next level).” …

As far as linebackers of the future, Arizona is hosting Josh Shirley on an official visit this weekend. Shirley, from Fontana (Calif.) Kaiser High School, is rated the 117th-best prospect in the nation, and the seventh-best outside linebacker, as rated by Rivals.com. He has offers from a slew of schools, including USC, Tennessee, Notre Dame and Miami and Washington (which he visited in September). Another key recruit visiting this weekend is running back Jordon James of Corona, Calif. He is rated the 19th-best recruit in the country by ESPN.com, although he’s “only” No. 91 on the Rivals.com list. The Wildcats could end up being a finalist for James, who still has to visit UCLA but has said he could decide by the end of the month. … UA’s quarterback commit for next season — Matt Brown of Allen (Texas) High — is expected to be in town. In a 52-28 win over Plano East on Oct. 30, he threw for 260 yards and ran for 148. … For more football recruiting news for this weekend, check out Chris Bonney’s story at Wildcat Sports Report. …

In UA’s most recent game, Arizona guard Herman Hall went up against UCLA junior defensive tackle Brian Price, who is having an All-American kind of season, with a conference-best 12 tackles for loss, including four sacks. Has Price been Hall’s toughest competition of the season? Nope. “The toughest guy I have gone against this year is No. 54 from Oregon State,” Hall said. “He’s a big, strong kid — and a nice player, too.” No. 54 is Stephen Paea, who does fall into the underrated category. … Could Foles have a big game Saturday against Washington State? Consider that the Cougars have allowed five of eight opponents to gain at least 500 yards (and another put up 481). “Washington State is going to throw everything they have at us,” Foles said. “For a lot of teams, it’s easy to overlook games like this, but this game means as much as any other.” …

How good has Arizona been in the past two years? The Wildcats are 16-8 overall and 11-6 in the Pac-10 since Oct. 27, 2007 — which is a pretty remarkable turnaround since coach Mike Stoops likely was a whisker away from being fired before the Cats turned it around by rallying to win at Washington in late October 2007. Looking at how other Pac-10 teams have done in their past 17 conference games, USC has 14 victories, Oregon State has 13, Oregon has 12 and Arizona is next with its 11 wins. “We have played some awfully good football the last two years,” Stoops said.

Other national reading:
George Schroeder, the very fine columnist for the Eugene Register-Guard, wrote a piece for SI.com Thursday: Under-the-radar Arizona sitting pretty in Rose Bowl race

And there was this from Steve Megargee from Rivals.com: Arizona quietly making a move in the Pac-10

Anthony Gimino can be reached at anthonygimino (at) gmail.com