Arizona Football: 3 Takeaways from Rich Rod’s postgame press conference
Takeaway No. 3 – There is a bright future ahead
For several years, Coach Rodriguez and his staff have had to find diamonds in the rough; undiscovered talent with two stars or three stars who have heart and desire to work hard, OKG’S (Our Kinda Guys).
It’s not easy to lure players to play in Arizona where temperatures on the field during practice or a mid-day game can reach 137 degrees. Also, as Clay Helton boasts about his 496 former Trojan NFL players, Rodriguez doesn’t have that luxury.
We spoke to Hawkins HS five-star WR recruit Jalen Hall. Hall wants to play right off the bat. He wants a promise that he will play immediately. That’s difficult for a program like Arizona’s to do since they rely on giving their freshman time to grow emotionally and physically.
Nearly two-thirds of the team have the words ‘red shirt’ before their class (like Freshman). Mostly because the commits they have gotten in the past have not been the four and five-star recruits you saw from USC this weekend. So the staff brings in the commits and teaches them until they are ready to play.
Rodriguez got a couple of messages from fans last season. And he acted on them. The first message was that the fans felt that the defense wasn’t working and the second was that something had to be done about recruiting.
This season’s freshman hope to red shirt to get physically and emotionally ready to play NCAA Division one college football. There are several freshmen at Arizona who will make a difference on both ends of the field. In addition to the freshmen who haven’t yet stepped on the football field in regulation, there is a top rated top 15 2017 class coming in next season.
Rich Rod explained what Khalil Tate was up against on Saturday, “He’s a competitive guy, and he competed, but it was a challenge, and a lot of the challenge was because they have some pretty good dudes over there [at USC].” USC started out slow this season, but the team is gaining steam and are on a three-game winning streak with their good dudes. Wildcats need some huge dudes to help with sacking, turnovers and blocking and protecting the quarterback.
Like RR said yesterday some of what needs to be fixed will take a couple years … gotta have the dudes
— Matt Moreno (@MattRMoreno) October 16, 2016
Have you seen Cody Shear’s highlights from his senior year yet? Well then, here is one of them which includes a game where he, “Had close to 20 tackles. 15 or more big cakes, a punt block, a sack, and a forced fumble that knocked the RB out.”
Have you heard Arizona’s top recruit in the 2017 class, cornerback Greg Johnson, talk about what he wants to carry out in Arizona?
Maybe we should reflect on Stanley Johnson’s word of the week:
Patience
— 7even (@iAmSJ) October 17, 2016
Being patient isn’t easy, but this is an excellent opportunity to hone your skills in this area, you will feel better about the future. For now, let’s be realistic and try to still support the team in any way we can. Yes, I am a realist too!
Just BearDown and give it a few years.