Arizona Football Legend Chuck Cecil hired by Rodriguez as Director of Player Development

Arizona Football coach Rich Rodriguez may have upped his stock with Wildcats fans today as he hired Wildcat Legend Chuck Cecil to head up Player Development in Tucson.

Arizona Football coach Rich Rodriguez made a bold move today and hired former NFL player (Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals, Houston Oilers), NFL Assistant Coach under Jeff Fisher (Rams, Titans) and Arizona Legend Chuck Cecil.

First off, many of the Arizona Football Alumni have been feeling a bit left out of the picture. Each time there was an opening, none of the Alumni got the nod. But today, Friday, July 28, 2017, is a different day, a new day. Today Rodriguez made a huge bold move and brought in NFL talent Arizona Folk Lore, and a huge talent back to Tucson.

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Cecil will get started ASAP next week for the start of preseason camp on Sunday and the team’s first practice on Monday, July 31st. Rodriguez promised that the media could come to a few more practices this season, but he doesn’t want them to analyze every little adjustment made during practice. For instance, if one QB gets more reps than another, that doesn’t mean one will start over another. He doesn’t want any “Fake News” or “Alternate Facts” out there in the press.

One has to assume that maybe the program will now be more friendly to Alumni, especially notable Alumni and allow them to stand on the sidelines with the team. In recent years, they have only been allowed in the end zone area or to site in a sky box, but the Alumni want to be on the sideline, and I cannot say I blame them. Heck if Eric Dickerson gets to do this in the NFL, why not college. Holds the players more accountable.

Rodriguez is looking for his players to “love football” as much or more than he does, why else play? We spoke to Jeff Worthy who told us he really loves the game of football, and he got that from Rich Rod, “Where do you think I got it from?”

With Cecil working with the players, being there for the players, being on the sidelines, you cannot help but think that maybe the love of football can come back to Tucson.

In addition to the love of the game, Cecil brings the love of being a Wildcat, and all of his NFL ties which Arizona sorely needs. It seems our players have struggled to get noticed by the NFL which doesn’t help with recruiting.

Bringing on Cecil should surely help Rodriguez’s seat get cooler, and I believe now he should get a couple more years to reboot. Mora had one more win than Rodriguez with supposedly much better talent.

As a side note, former Arizona quarterback BJ Denker is also on Rich Rodriguez’ staff.

Jake Fisher was hyped about the hire, “If you’re going to replace a guy like Matt Dudek, you can’t make a better hire than Chuck Cecil. Matt brought so much to the table and it was sad to see him move on. Chuck has Wildcat blood and knows what it takes to win in Tucson. He has experience in the pros and ultimately his ties to our program and NFL experience will make him successful. I was pumped up to see the hire.”

On a personal note, I just happened to get a seat in a movie theater in Los Angeles on Christmas Day right next to Cecil’s beautiful wife and daughter, but I didn’t know it. I was glancing through my Zona Zealots Twitter feed and Charli was watching me. “Hey, my dad played for the Arizona Wildcats!” I said, “Really, what’s your dad’s name?” Charli replied, “Chuck Cecil.” I nearly fell off my chair, I wasn’t supposed to be sitting in that seat but somehow there I was. We all had a great conversation, and his wife Carrie mentioned how nice it would be if Rodriguez could hire Chuck.

Well, when Matt Dudek left for Michigan, and according to Rodriguez for much more money, there was a position open, and Boom! Fate and timing are everything in this universe.

Cecil’s college career was phenomenal (From the  Arizona Wildcats press release):

"Off the field Cecil was a three-time Pac-10 All-Academic selection and culminated his education as a recipient of the NCAA VI Award, one of the nation’s top scholar-athlete citations. He was named Arizona’s male winner of the Pac-10 Conference Medal.Cecil finished his UA career with the then No. 1 mark in passes defended, 38, which currently is second to Michael Jolivette’s 44 from 2000 to 2003. He led the Wildcats with 80 solo tackles his senior year and also posted the school record that season with four interceptions at Stanford.Today, Cecil still ranks No. 7 on Arizona’s all-time tackles chart with a total of 392. Additionally, he holds the Arizona career record with 21 interceptions and among those returned one 100 yards for a touchdown against Arizona State in 1986, a play that likely rests atop many UA partisans’ choice as the single-most electrifying and revered moment in UA football history."

Here’s a look back at Chuck Cecil’s history with Arizona Football:

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We welcome Chuck Cecil with open arms! We cannot be happier that Rodriguez hired and Alumni. I just got those positive, hopeful chills about the future of Arizona Football. Congrats Rich! Your first win of the season! Bear Down and let’s win more than anyone thinks we are going to win!