WSR Gridiron Report

Great idea, RBob1. A little unusual for these parts. He he

As for his first recruiting class, I am not really concerned about the rankings because the guys that rank HS players by and large haven't coached a down of football in their lives. Tomey got some guys that no one had on their radar screen, some diamonds in the rough, guys that liked to hit, overlooked players like Rob Waldrop, Keith Smith, who probably wouldn't be recruited to play QB today or even then because he was too short, and a host of other unknowns. He ended up being making Arizona the 2nd winningest program in the Pac 10 in the nineties with a bunch of castoffs and only a few 4 star players. There is a lot more to football than stars.

This team has some players with talent that were discovered in the second half of the season, and with all the disruption of last year, and a new coach everything is an unknown. If they play hard and look like they know what they're doing on both sides of the ball, I'll be satisfied. With a coach of this stature, the new facilities finally in place, Arizona should be in position to compete for a Pac 12 title in two more seasons.

The comparison is perfectly valid on the field. Next year it won't matter where they were last year or where they are from, just how ready they are to play.
I am excited about the early commits for the next class.... Can't wait to see them start contributing... In 2014-2015.

It's going to be a roller coaster of a season, which is why I wrote this article in the first place. Thanks so much for all the input, gang. Bear Down on that one.

I could see Arizona winning games we should lose and losing games we should win this season, which will keep things exciting. It's never easy for a new coach to work with a former coach's athletes, especially considering how dramatic the coaching philosophies and schemes will be under Rich Rod compared to Stoops.

In a way I won't be surprised by anything this year, but that's not to see Wildcat fans won't have both good and bad surprises. One thing that would help is Arizona's "luck" changing under Rich Rod. We can all debate the good, bad and ugly of the Stoops Era, but one thing we can all agree on was that Arizona had BAD LUCK under Stoops.

Many very good comments here, and many good points made.
It's so hard for a football couch-potato to separate their real football knowledge (whatever level it might be) from their emotions. The tendency upon a bad game is to react- the coach is a jerk, the QB should be hanged, the etc.... But the truth is always a lot different, and I think (maybe I'm hoping) that our Arizona fans are understanding enough that we can put aside some of the knee-jerk trash of the past.

Gary and Steve as others, are perfectly correct- we should really take the good with the bad this year and at least most of next; because we are going to be up and down, we may blow a 20-point lead, we may come back on someone when we're down by 20, we may blow someone out that we have no rational right to blow out, and we could lose to almost anyone. The roller-coaster will definitely run regularly with our team. It happens to every rebuilding team on the way up.

I know it's the monsoon, I know I'm getting the itch, I know the new turf has been laid down in the stadium, and I know we're getting closer. :)

Bermuda is quite a bit different than cool grass varieties in that it grows best in hot, humid conditions, which is right now in Tucson. And the warm nights help Bermuda thrive.

The monsoons will certainly help as it will inject a lot of nitrogen into the rain, helping it green up nicely.

That is crazy if they get eight wins that is over exceeding. USC WASH STANFORD OREGON AND OKLA ST. Are all loses unless something crazy happens that would mean games we should be in we would win seven games and there are at least one or two that you don't win. I am thinking 5-6 is a good number and would be huge I would not be surprised if it is less wins. Come three years in we should be rolling. I say offensively they will average about 28-30 points a game for the season but with the defense I don't think they will be able to stop the top teams. I eight I would go crazy six and a bowl I would be happy anything lower not surprised with the lack of defensive players.

5-7 ..... Not acceptable. Ever, under any circumstances. HOWEVER, you will not hear me complain about the coaches unless they make obvious blunders that cost us games. It's only fair to give them a chance, and even 1 year is not enough, they need 3 or 4.

My frustration is at the apparent lack of big time recruits, which I assumed with RR wold be a given. I was wrong and I think it's a legit concern that the second or third best coach in the league lands a last place class.

Posted from Auberge de Pouterpre ( the inn in Belgium owned by Chimay)!

One of the more intelligent posts I've read on the subject. Well said!

I do still believe Rich Rod can be a good coach. The terrible roster he inherited at Michigan also had much to do with his failures. The fan base has to be united behind a coach and at Michigan that never happened. The first season, 3-9 absolutely killed the recruiting of top talent and made it look like Michigan would be much worse but the roster was just terrible that year. Rich Rod will thrive in a place where he has to work his way from the bottom up. He does recruit good kids as evident of how they accepted the new coach, Brady Hoke and how many of them were contributors on last seasons 11-2 team. Nothing says more about the players than how they respond to a new coach stepping in. When Rich Rod arrived the players attitudes were terrible and there was a mass attrition and entitlement mentality. I blame the prior coaching staff for those problems. Walking into a program used to winning with a depleted roster full of division 2 talent and a fan base expecting immediate improvement is a death sentence for any coach. This job in Arizona is a good fit.

Blue, thanks for the clarification of the roster inherited by RR.

After all that was essentially the team that was waxed, at home, by Appalachian State, the previous season.