Arizona Football redshirt freshman Devaughn Cooper is back on campus and part of the program!
Practice is going well, and freshmen are catching on fast. Some will undoubtedly help the team this season according to the head coach. Training camp is well under way with two weeks left. Head Coach Rich Rodriguez and his coaching crew are working on their depth charge.
The punters are all even, and they are punting well. Nick Wilson is 100% according to coach Rod.
Quarterback announcements will come in week one of the season. Coach Rod has a “different philosophy” in that he does not name a quarterback early on. He will reduce his seven quarterbacks to four and then top two by week one of the upcoming season.
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All the quarterbacks are getting reps, and the Wildcats get anywhere from eight to fifteen plays in a five-minute period. In total, the team gets 70-80 reps per practice, with multiple quarterbacks.
But that isn’t the big news for Zona Zealots since we covered Devaughn Cooper from Narbonne High School before he got to Tucson. He fell out of the program some how about a month ago, but then a couple of weeks ago, according to Coach Rod, he called the program and wanted to come back. So, Rodriguez is going to honor the commitment since school hadn’t started yet and he has some scholarships left.
Cooper has a ton of upside. Cooper scored the first touchdown in Narbonne’s CIF State Championship game which they won in his senior year.
Cooper and Khalil Tate used to play against each other, but have been friends all along. The two practice in Los Angeles on breaks and he got along with his team. Rodriguez did not say what the issue was, but it seems Coop missed his teammates, the school, and the sport, so HE’S BACK!
— Devaughn Cooper (@coopa_da_rula) August 10, 2017
Coach Rod told the media that he has to “Earn his way back in” to where he was before he left. Coop has missed the first two weeks of training camp. Cooper has a couple of weeks to catch up, and the team welcomed him back. Rodriguez didn’t want to talk about what went down, “He’s a good young man, we have always thought a lot of him, so hopefully he’ll make the most of this opportunity.
Devaughn Cooper highlights from Under the Radar in 2015, Narbonne High School.
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Welcome back Coop! Glad you decided to rejoin your team, we have been waiting for two years to see you catch your first pass. Bear Down!