The best thing about the Rich Rodriguez hire at Arizona is also the worst. Rodriguez clearly has something to prove. The odds are he is motivated and ready to prove his critics wrong.

Rodriguez went to Michigan as the golden boy. He took a solid West Virginia program and made them a national power. The Mounties were good under Don Nehlen but Rodriguez built them into a two-time BCS team and was one bad loss to Pitt away from playing for a national title. He was 35-5 his final three seasons.

He was THE hot candidate after the 2007 season. He reportedly turned down the Alabama job and took the Michigan job, replacing Lloyd Carr. (more…)

Greg Byrne Pt. 1 – Arizona Athletic Director Greg Byrne announces the dismissal of Mike Stoops.

Interim Head Coach Tim Kish

With Mike Stoops out at Arizona, Defensive Coordinator Tim Kish assumes the mantle as interim head coach.  Let’s take a closer look at the man who will guide Arizona the rest of the season.

Profile
Age: 56
Years at Arizona: 8
Hometown: Westerville, OH
College: Otterbein College, Bowling Green State

Kish has been at Arizona since the start of the Mike Stoops era. He joined Stoops as his first linebackers coach and was named associate head coach a few years into his Arizona stint. In 2009 he was named co-defensive coordinator with Greg Brown after Mark Stoops left for Florida State. After Brown left for Colorado, Kish was given the coordinator job outright.

Kish has been coaching for over 30 years, with stints in the Big-10, MAC and Ohio Prep ranks among others. He has been one of Arizona’s top recruiters, focusing on Phoenix and parts of the Los Angeles area. He also helps recruit Chicago after Bill Bedenbaugh departed for West Virginia.

Kish began his coaching career in 1976 at the prep level before becoming a grad assistant at Bowling Green State. In 1979 he became the assistant secondary coach at Purdue and after three years moved onto Ball State where he coached both quarterbacks and defensive line in successive years. (more…)

The Citadel may not look glamorous on the schedule but it is the sign of the times. Arizona AD Greg Byrne has said the Wildcats will schedule more I-AA teams. The Cats are slated to play NAU every other season and it seems like they will fill in the cracks with other lower division opponents.

“I want us to continue to get confidence on the football field and get victories,” said Byrne.

While I do not like it when I-A teams schedule I-AA teams, it is the current trend and will not end anytime soon. The NCAA allows one I-AA win to count towards bowl eligibility and financially it makes the most sense. More and more non-BCS teams are demanding return games or greater paydays to bypass playing at home. That is not the case with I-AA teams. They need the huge paydays that come with being road fodder for BCS teams. Some one-game paychecks are big enough to fund a program for a year.

The Wildcats have had their fair share of success against lower division teams. Since 2002 Arizona is 6-0 against I-AA opponents, outscoring them 199-69. Five of those wins were against Northern Arizona and the sixth was an unimpressive 28-10 win over Stephen F. Austin the week after the Cats were dismantled at LSU.

More and more the Wildcats will probably schedule less tough games, since the bowl system rarely rewards tough scheduling. That being said, the Wildcats start a series with Oklahoma State next season, but counters that by scheduling a home and home with both UNLV and Nevada, as well as getting a 2012 home game against Toledo.

Arizona plays NAU next season and will almost assuredly play them every other year, but currently does not have anything planned beyond the 2011 opener.

The Wildcats also have a two-for-one set up with Texas San-Antonio, but that series does not start until 2013. The Roadrunners begin play next season as a I-AA team but will be a I-A program starting the first season they play the Wildcats.

I have been bombarded with some of the same questions and comments from Arizona fans over the past few weeks. With so many of you out there with the same thoughts, I thought I’d address some of these topics.

I DO NOT CARE THAT THE NEW AD WENT TO ASU!!! Yes, in a perfect world the new AD would be a UA grad, but you have to get over the fact that Greg Byrne went to ASU. He is not here to subvert the UA athletic department from the inside. Byrne no longer looks through Mustard and Rust colored glasses. The only color he cares about is green.

I like the hire. He has experience in the private sector as well as academia. He has not spent his entire career in the “ivory tower”. He’s young, energetic and apparently media friendly. He gets it. He blogs, he tweets, he embraces technology. He was firing off texts and calls the moment he hit the ground in Tucson.

He has experience in the Pac-10 and SEC. His time in the SEC means that he knows big boys athletics.

I AM NOT WORRIED ABOUT THE CO-COORDINATORS!!! Let me rephrase that. I am not overly worried about the dynamics of having co-coordinators. Other teams have done this with no problems and great success. While the lack of play calling experience is a concern, it is not a huge one with me. I know the football minds here and they are all top-notch. My guess is there will be no issues with who actually calls the plays and that the coaches will be able to come up with game plans just fine.

THERE IS NO REAL QUARTERBACK BATTLE!!! Despite what new quarterback coach Frank Scelfo said, I do not believe that Matt Scott and Nick Foles are really competing for the starting quarterback job. Sure, if Scott makes clear gains and Foles scuffles, then Scott could conceivably win the job. The team has seemingly made a commitment to Foles and his type of passer. That is evident in how they have recruited quarterbacks this year. They offered and took a commitment from Dax Garman, a player very similar to Foles, while they waited to offer in-state prospect Brett Hundley. Hundley is more similar to Scott and despite being the son of a former Wildcat, just recently received an offer. Add to that the Wildcats just moved Richard Morrison, another running quarterback, to wide receiver.