Opinion: Defensive Coordinators Arizona Football should consider

With the Arizona Football program in the midst of their off-season, here are a few Defensive Coordinators we feel the Wildcats should consider.

With the 2019 Arizona Football season over, the off-season is officially in full swing with the Wildcats looking to round out their staff and recruiting class.

If there were to ever be an incredibly important off-season for Kevin Sumlin and the Wildcats, it’s this one. It also may just be the most important off-season of Sumlin’s career thus far.

Arizona Wildcats

So why the doom and gloom? Well to put it bluntly, the program is coming off back-to-back losing seasons and the current recruiting class is far from finished, which also ranks 62nd in the nation.

To also reiterate the obvious, Arizona’s defense has been atrocious to put it lightly these past few years, and following the teams’ loss to Stanford, Sumlin and Arizona parted ways with then defensive coordinator Marcel Yates as well as a few other coordinators.

So perhaps the biggest challenge for Arizona this off-season not necessarily be just in recruiting, but instead looking for numerous replacements, and more importantly a defensive coordinator that can hopefully turn this group around and quickly.

However the challenge will be on for Sumlin and Arizona to find the right guys.

Nonetheless, if we were Sumlin and Arizona, these are just a few guys we would love to see the program consider.

School/ Previous School: Texas

Years at Previous Destination: 2017 – 2019

Why they’re a good fit: Other than him now looking for a job (FYI Todd was recently let go at Texas), Orlando is a fine coordinator with great recruiting ties to the state of Texas.

With the Longhorns, his group struggled this season, but they have been solid otherwise, finishing 67th last season in their overall defensive ranking, and 41st in 2017. Before then, he also had some solid groups while at the University of Houston.

Perhaps a place like Arizona is exactly the change and challenge he needs, and there’s no doubt his recruiting pedigree could help potentially help the Wildcats as well. Because of those things, he should be a serious candidate for Arizona!

School/ Previous School: Arizona

Years at Previous Destination: 2018 – Present

Why they’re a good fit: Seems obvious. The guy was a legend at Arizona as a player, he has an NFL Coaching Pedigree, and already has experience with this defensive group having stepped in to take over a group in the midst of a messy situation this past season.

I know some may have some doubts following the season, but let’s be realistic here, Chuck Cecil wasn’t able to perform miracle work over the course of about five weeks. He also had very little time to make much of an impact, nor did he really get to change much schematically.

What Cecil did was essentially put a band-aid on this group, and we did some some improvements as the season went on, albeit minimal.

We think he’s a good fit based on his experience, and we could see him bring a sort of toughness and fiestiness that’s desperately needed for this defense.

School/ Previous School: Oregon

Years at Previous Destination: 2017 – Present

Why they’re a good fit: He has a solid college coaching pedigree having made stops at Washington State, Arizona and San Jose State. Joe is of course a Wildcat alum (a huge plus to us fans) and has deep recruiting ties in the territories in which the Wildcats typically recruit.

At Oregon, he’s helped the Ducks into becoming a very solid defensive team, as this group currently ranks No. 24 overall defense this year. That is certainly a huge improvement from the teams’ 55th overall ranking last season.

While it’s hard to say if there is legitimate interest here, I know this is a pick many fans would love to see, and bringing Joe would be a great hire for Arizona, and would do wonders to hopefully turn this defense around!

School/ Previous School: USF

Years at Previous Destination: 2017 – 2019

Why they’re a good fit: Other than the fact he’s available, Charlie Strong is a big name in coaching. He found success while at Louisville, moved on to Texas before being fired from the Longhorns and then moving over to USF before being fired yet again.

He’s had some struggles coaching of late, but I still feel like the man can coach, plus he not only has the coaching pedigree behind him to back it up, he also has a rather solid recruiting background.

Over the years, he’s put together some competitive defenses, and if there’s anything the guy knows how to do and do well, it’s implement a defense predicated on toughness and discipline.

He had some great groups at Florida, and while at Texas, the Longhorns has strong defenses that were able to apply pressure on opposing quarterbacks! That’s exactly what Arizona needs right now!

School/ Previous School: Arizona State… yuck

Years at Previous Destination: 2018 – Present

Why they’re a good fit: We know this selection may be more of a long shot, just because Antonio Pierce doesn’t have a ton of college coaching experience yet, but so far he’s been doing a fantastic job.

This year, Pierce was a part of a group that currently 65th in the country, and is 24th in rushing defense, surrendering just 116.8 yards per game.

Since joining ASU, he’s been a heck of a recruiter, perhaps in relation to his ties while as a high school coach at the perennially talented Poly High School in Southern California.

Seeing our former Wildcat succeed at ASU is tough to watch, so why not take the chance in giving this man a raise and promotion while having him come back to Arizona and hopefully getting things turned around here.

School/ Previous School: Alabama-Birmingham

Years at Previous Destination: 2014 – Present

Why they’re a good fit: Kind of the unknown here, David Reeves is coach I happen to like a lot. He’s been a terrific fit at UAB, where he was originally hired on as a defensive line coach for the Blazers.

Reeves was a part of the revival of the program and has done a tremendous job in doing so! Since being promoted to defensive coordinator, this group went from 41st overall in 2017, to 9th overall in 2018 and is 5th overall this season.

Oh, and from 2017 to now, the team is a combined 28-11! That’s an impressive stretch!

Again, I don’t know if Arizona would have any interest or if coach Reeves would even consider Arizona, but with a proven track record like that, would love to see what he could do here in Tucson!

Anyways, these are just candidate I feel the Wildcats should consider! Anyone else you feel would be a great fit? As always, Bear Down, Arizona!