Broncos Will Parks attributes his success in the NFL to Rich Rodriguez

For Arizona Football player and now NFL player Will Parks shares his thoughts on his college coach, the Pac-12 and some standout Wildcats from this season.

Zona Zealots recently caught up with Broncos safety Will Parks, a former Arizona Football player, and he told us there were four reasons why Head Coach Rich Rodriguez was one of his best coaches. Parks explained to us what he took away from Rodriguez, and the different facets of his relationship with his former college coach. If you listen to Coach Rod talk to the media, these themes exist today.

“He taught me a whole lot, a whole lot,” explained Parks, “That’s my guy man, he’s one of the best coaches I’ve ever played for.”

Arizona Wildcats Football

Rodriguez has molded this young safety into someone we all can be proud of, he’s your Wildcat, Listening to him talk about his relationship with and what he has learned from Rodriguez gives you a better sense of why the players commit to play for Coach Rodriguez and why they usually never give up. Parks explained four things he learned from Rodriguez.

ONE: How to practice

PARKS: The first thing he taught me was how to practice. The first thing when I met him, you know he prides himself in you know in having his players in top notch condition. He prides himself in his players playing hard, and he prides himself on when his players are playing smart.

Smart, discipline, hard, physical hard nose football and that’s the number one thing I took to the NFL.

TWO: How to establish yourself as a leader

PARKS: That’s not an easy thing to do. Obviously being a young player in the defense, second-year, a lot of guys will say, ‘Oh yeah, your just a second-year player,’ you really don’t have that much say so. Well, I’m a second-year player but I also will help the guys next to me and they have helped me tremendously. So I think that’s probably the second thing I took from him as far as leadership.

https://twitter.com/PhillyWill11/status/533052909143875584

THREE: Love of the game of football

PARKS: The third thing I took from the man is just his love for the game man, his passion for it. His mentality every day when he comes to work. You know he wants to get better every day as a coach.

And as a player, I want to get better every day as a player. And that’s not just on the field. That’s in the film room and all the things that are necessary. Working out, extra workouts, he always talks about going the extra 10% and dominating. Dominating in everything you do. Everything that has to do with football you dominate to the best of your ability and when the games on the line.

https://twitter.com/PhillyWill11/status/436689492657709056

FOUR: Run to the ball

PARKS: Oh, and always running to the ball, that’s his number one thing. Like, ‘get to the ball,’ and if you get to the ball nine times out of ten something’s going to happen. And it might not happen there, but in a key moment, during the season or during a play, if you run to the ball, you can make something happen. It’s all the little things that make a difference.

Who has impressed Parks on the Arizona Football team this season?

Parks is impressed by a few of the Wildcats this season, namely Scottie Young and Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles.

PARKS: I like the little Scottie dude man! I like him, I like him a lot. He kinda reminds me of me back there in that slot just being aggressive and making plays before the ball actually reaches the line of scrimmage. I saw one of his plays were he attacked a guy when they threw a bubble screen against Houston. I saw him attacking a guy and he got a TSL by knocking the blocker to the ball carrier. And those are the kind of plays I made back at Arizona.

He’s just gotta knack for being around the ball, I like Scottie.

And of course, Demetrius Flannigan [-Fowles]. I played with him my senior year, he was a freshman before I came to the Broncos. I was fortunate enough to play around a great group of guys. And I can’t wait them guys unload.

A lot of people probably say Arizona won’t make it far but deep down inside I know Arizona has a lot of young guys who can make a difference for that team. And that’s not saying for just next year, that’s saying for this year.

On the Pac-12 being the best division in NCAA Football

PARKS: It’s the Pac-12. The Pac-12 is one of the best conferences if not THE BEST conference in the country. I know played in it, but every week every team is getting better and better. Every team is good. You know there’s not one dominant team in the Pac-12 anymore. Like you have the SEC were you have Alabama, and that’s all you hear about and in the ACC it’s Clemson and Florida State but in the Pac-12 you hear about every team!

NOTE: Will is correct at least for this week. According to the Pac-12’s This Week in Pac-12 Football email, “Four Pac-12 teams are ranked in both the AP and Coaches polls. WASHINGTON (6/5), WASHINGTON STATE (11/11), USC (14/15), and UTAH (20/18). No other conference has more teams ranked among the Top 20.”

Rich Rodriguez admires Parks as well.

Upon hearing the news that Parks had an excellent Sunday on Oct. 1, Rodriguez was very happy about it. “Oh, I didn’t see that! That’s great,” said Rich Rod, “I was a Will Parks fan certainly while he played here, and I thought after his senior year that somebody in the league is going to find a real gem in Will Parks because I just thought he was a really good player and a lot of people weren’t talking about. That’s great to hear!”

Rodriguez on recruiting Parks, “Even though they may not have all the stars, what we looked at, I remember watching those guys on film, both of them Scooby and Will for example, and like God, ‘these guys are really really good players’ and you almost afraid that once we draw attention to ’em by offering, somebody else is going to see that too and they are going to and we are going to have a battle on our hands — Those players, they were talented when they got here but they worked extremely hard to enhance their game every year. They got better every year and they continued to work. And one other attribute I think is that they truly love the game. I mean love, love it, and love preparing for it and that’s why they keep getting better!”

Must Read: More on Arizona Football from ZZ's..

It is important to understand why our football players commit to play for Rich Rodriguez. It’s also just as important to understand that Coach Rod does produce NFL caliber talent. Think about that next time you want to type and angry post. In other news Scooby Wright III got called up to the Arizona Cardinals!