Arizona Football struggles go deeper than surface level
It’s easy to just scratch the surface in attempting to explain or assess the issues that have caused a losing skid for the Arizona Football team.
The Arizona Football program has two weeks to figure out how to beat arguably the two best teams in the Pac-12. It is doable, but the coaching staff, players and fans will need to dig deeper for reasons for why the team has hit a skid past which quarterback should be playing.
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It doesn’t seem fair to either quarterback this season. Blaming either quarterback is just plain surface level evaluation and they are always the easiest target. Grant Gunnell had to forego his redshirt for what? Because Coach Kevin Sumlin thought a quarterback would change everything. But that is unfair to Grant.
He could have gotten great experience in the max number of games allowed. However, what does it say to Grant that his coaches pulled Khalil Tate out in the third series in each of the last few games? That there is no loyalty or patience for him to get into a groove, just like Tate.
Do you honestly think that Gunnell and Tate did not share notes on the sidelines? That each learned from the other? That would be another surface-level assessment. Of course, they talk and share notes. If Tate goes in and he gets sacked twice by one player in three plays, then the coaching staff and quarterbacks along with the O-Line make adjustments after a three-and-out, doesn’t Tate get the opportunity to try to capitalize on the adjustment, rather than stoke the fire for fans and media to just blame the QB.
As for Tate, it seems his coaches never really had his back coming into the season and were prepared to throw Gunnell or Rhett Rodriguez into the fire if their offensive scheme wasn’t working. How does one go from a player that the entire country is talking about, that other Pac-12 coaches were challenged to come up with a strategy to beat Arizona, and flourished under Rich Rodriguez? Heck, they still talk about Tate this season, as did Stanford head coach David Shaw did during the Stanford game.
What do other coaches see that folks in Tucson don’t? They know what’s possible and they have seen it with their own eyes and have had to plan for it. But where Arizona has fallen short is actually capitalizing and properly using their weapon.
After the OSU loss, we spoke to a few Wildcats fans on Facebook and Twitter and one of the most interesting conversations we had was with long-time fan J Isaac Trippe. We got his permission to share our conversation with you as another voice who actually coaches football and feels like a number of other notable former players and current media outside of Tucson we have also spoken too. Trippe was a long-time season ticket holder but did not re-up this season.
The first thing Isaac wanted us to know is that he is “One of the few that is completely for Tate and when I say there is an issue between Tate and Mazzone that is not a dig at Tate. In my opinion, Mazzone is a [stubborn] coach.” Isaac agreed with me that it looks like Mazzone puts in different plays and players for Gunnell and Tate, “I have said time and time again he is not putting in the plays that complement Tate’s skills. He is also hell-bent on making or wanting Tate to be a pocket passer. Which if done properly you can develop him into a dynamic player that can be an option/RPO as well as be a pocket passer but you can’t force it.” He cited this reason for why he thinks Tate may be frustrated.
As far as not using the tight end position he agrees the coaches haven’t properly used the TE’s (Note: TE Jake Peters just entered the transfer portol) and it’s “Stupid.” Tate’s style of play has always been complemented by the TE position, it gives the dynamic athlete an outlet if his receivers are not open. When Tate connected with Bryce Wolma, it was a beautiful thing and we don’t think we saw it again in the game although the Pac-12 announcers thought it was a great play. These two players have great chemistry and we feel this should be capitalized on.
Trippe also feels that the WR’s may not be trying hard enough to get open and that “It is also on the coaching staff, there is no excuse and the receivers need to fight and get open.” He is angry that the staff came in having Tate, appropriately a Heisman candidate, “And this staff has ruined it for him [at Arizona and with fans]. People saying we don’t have talent is BS and saying Tate is garbage is BS as well.”
Trippe pointed out that most offensive coordinators start with a 10-play script. They base it off what they see in film, what the opposing defense runs and what the tendencies are. The script is also to set things up for adjustments. “With that said, going back to the Washington game, the first four or so series in that game with going three-and-out several times, equaled the scripted plays and not one of those from what I saw benefited Tate’s skills. They sold Tate short and the offense as a whole.”
Trippe went into more depth:
"“When Mazzone did start calling run option and RPO plays, Tate did what Tate does and started moving the offense and scoring. I am 100% against Mazzone’s [strategy] and Sumlin for letting it happen. My comments about Tate and his body language in total are not against Tate but saying there is a glaring problem obvious frustration and it’s all goes back to the coaching staff. It does not matter what system Mazzone wants to run but if he was a good coach he would tweak his system to complement Tate and the rest of the team’s talent and would adjust his playing also.”"
On the USC game:
"“Speaking of past games and selling Tate out I was so pissed after halftime during the USC game. Cause the reporter asked Sumlin about adjustments and he said well for one they are blitzing every second down and coming off the edge. And what happens the first series back on second down SC blitzes and they vacate the RB instead of keeping him in to help protect. And that continued throughout the second half.”"
Needless to say, this is one of the big reasons Trippe did not buy season tickets this season. Mind you this is a fan who has a Block /A\ tattoo on his upper right arm. “I have had season tickets since the late ’90s and all this BS with this coaching staff I won’t renew and it’s getting to the point I struggle to watch it on TV.” He is tired of the constant “We’re rebuilding” excuse and the fans buying into the constant rebuilding.
In fact, we went into depth on why or how Rich Rodriguez was better for an athlete such as Tate, he wishes the coaches would have just expanded the prior regime’s offense and not have replaced it completely:
"My whole offense got designed spread option no-huddle all signals cause of him. I have my flavor. And I do some multiple offense multiple formations so to speak but all around RR and I’m bought in. I learned more from him and watching than you could imagine and want more. But it is what it is. I never got the full sit down just the fan experience quick chat. But I cherish that."
Listen to Rodriguez talk about his players, including his quarterbacks prior to the 2017 season (Shereen Rayan and Michael Lev interview and not, Rich is a funny guy):