Arizona Football Recruiting is going to need to take patience

We’re just months until the start of the regular season, and with Arizona Football recruiting starting slow, we just need a little more patience.

For those that have been following so far, it’s been a slow start to the 2020 recruiting cycle for the Arizona Football team. Currently, the team has just four commits in the class.

However, don’t worry, it’s June 22 and National signing day isn’t until February 5… there’s plenty of time left!

Arizona Wildcats

It is important to note, that this staff is approaching recruiting a bit differently than what previous head coach Rich Rodriguez did.

I understand that some may be chuckling at that last statement as they sit perched up on their proverbial high horse, with the team currently ranking 89th nationally in the recruiting rankings according to 247Sports.

Slow down though! It’s way early in the recruiting process, and with just those four commits, the ranking is reflective of the limited amount of players thus far.

As stated earlier, one stark difference to note between RR and head coach Kevin Sumlin’s recruiting styles, is that around this time in 2015 for instance (as part of the 2016 class), the Wildcats already had five commits, with about another four guys that would commit over the next two months… that’s a lot of players in a short period of time.

RR’s ‘M.O.’ when it came to recruiting was to start fast, and find the OKG’s that wanted to commit first.

Nothing completely wrong with that, however, with that approach, it has led to some challenges that have honestly put Arizona in a somewhat difficult spot personnel wise. There are still some players left over that may not quite fit Sumlin’s system.

More importantly to note, is that there has been a lack of NFL-level talent at Arizona these past few years, look no further than the limited draft picks since 2012.

So what challenges does the Arizona Football team face when it comes to recruiting? In short, logistically there is a lot for Arizona to overcome.

For one, aside from a short period of success in the early-to-mid 90s, the Wildcats lack any sort of football tradition. Secondly, they’re not even in the Top Half of the Pac-12 Conference in terms of success. Schools like Washington, USC, UCLA, Oregon, etc. all have a richer history and very marketable programs.

Stop rolling your eyes thinking “well, we get top basketball recruits to come to Tucson…” yes we do, but remember Lute Olson was a big reason for building that tradition. Arizona is sustainable to the point it sells itself in basketball. Football? Not so much.

Need proof? Who are our most notable football players playing professionally? Gronk is now retired, there’s Nick Foles, then who? Will Parks?

That’s not a slight to him by any means, but if you’re selling you’re program to a 16-to-18-year-old kid, having tangible evidence to NFL development and success, helps make that sales pitch a stronger one.

Beyond all that, Arizona’s facilities are good, but not great. In the ever evolving world of college athletics, among schools, it’s become a facilities arms race.

At this point, I would rate Arizona’s facilities as competitive to most other programs, but compared to the Clemson’s, the Alabama’s, the Texas A&M’s and the Oregon’s of college athletics, we come up short.

So realistically speaking, with little tradition, minimal tangible success and above average facilities, why would anyone expect the Wildcats to recruit at an extremely high level?

I’m a HUGE Wildcat fan, almost to a fault, but even I can tamper expectations.

In short, winning solves all and when even the best players in your state/ city are leaving town altogether, is that a recruiting problem, or is it a program perception problem? Heck, even the top players in the state aren’t even going to ASU!

I know I’ve rambled here, but in essence what I’m trying to say is, changing the perception of the program, changing our style of recruiting, changing the culture of the program, etc. all takes patience, and we as fans need to understand that.

What this staff has shown so far, is that they’re taking a more strategic and methodical approach in their style of recruiting, and perhaps it could pay off.

Generally, the higher rated players in each class take a little longer to decide, and that’s where Arizona needs to be patient. If you’re a coach, just recruit your butt off and hope like heck you can get a couple of those really talented players down the road.

For now, let’s hang tight, let’s see how this staff continues to build out this, as well as other, future recruiting classes! Bias aside, I have faith this staff can find some players!

At Zona Zealots, we’re excited for the upcoming football season, and can’t wait to see what our future has in store for us! As always, Bear Down, Arizona!