Arizona Football DC Don Brown to leave Wildcats for UMass

After spending just one season in Tucson, Arizona Football will have to replace defensive coordinator Don Brown as he leaves for UMass. 

Fresh off a tough loss to Washington State, Arizona Football was delivered more bad news this weekend, as it was announced that Defensive Coordinator Don Brown would likely be leaving the Wildcats for UMass.

Already for about the past week or so, it was rumored that Brown was in contention for the head coaching vacancy there, but on Monday afternoon it was officially confirmed as he was announced as the next head coach for the Minutemen.

The move is a bit shocking considering Brown, aka Dr. Blitz,  spent just one season in Tucson as the Wildcats’ defensive coordinator, and the decision was also announced six days before the Wildcats’ final game of the season against ASU. The timing is less-than-stellar, however, Brown will be closer to family.

Now 66, Don deserves quite a bit of credit for improving the Wildcats’ defense this year as the team improved in almost every major statistical defensive category. And while the numbers weren’t super impressive, the results only leave fans with the longing question of what could have been if he stayed for another year or two.

With Don Brown taking the head coaching job at UMass, Jedd Fisch will need to make an important hire for Arizona Football.

In case you didn’t know this, the next coaching hire for Arizona is a big one! The Wildcats will soon have their fourth defensive coordinator in as many years, and more than anything, Arizona needs stability in a bad way, and this hire could impact the trajectory of Fisch at Arizona.

The Wildcats could go a couple of ways here with this hire. They can either promote someone internally, or they could go after someone with a bit more prominence and notoriety. Personally, I hope is that it is the latter.

Either way, this hire is an important one for Fisch and the Wildcats, and hopefully, they find someone that is going to help keep this class together and fit with the personnel we are looking to bring in.