Rodriguez leads Wildcats into new era

Rich Rodriguez chose the University of Arizona as much as
the University of Arizona chose Rich Rodriguez.

The former West Virginia and Michigan coach, who is about
to begin his first season in charge of the Wildcats, said
he wasn’t going to return to coaching at just any place,
and decided to return to the sideline after a year in the
television studio because he viewed this as the right
opportunity.

“I’m ready to get back,” he said at the Pac-12’s media day
at Universal Studios in Los Angeles Tuesday.

Rodriguez may find his first season back a bit
challenging, as he takes over a team that won just four
games last season and is currently working to learn a new
offense and defense.

Oh yeah, the season begins September 1.

“We’ve got to do our jobs as coaches, our players have got
to do their jobs, and I think it’s going to be a
collective effort to a place where we can win
championships and compete for championships each and every
year,” the coach said. “And we can do that at UofA.”

That’s the goal, though it is certainly not the
expectation in 2012.

The Wildcats were picked by the media to finish fourth in the
Pac-12 South, and after losing QB Nick Foles, WR Juron
Criner and DB Trevin Wade to the NFL, don’t exactly have
the look of a team ready to big things.

But the one thing they do have going for them is QB Matt
Scott, a fifth-year senior who redshirted last season so
he could be the starter now.

“It was real tough for me to sit on the sideline and watch
the team play,” Scott said. “I feel like I wasn’t really
contributing to the team’s success — as little success as
we had.”

The QB said it was a real humbling experience to not get
on the field last year, but the move worked out pretty
well for Rodriguez and the Wildcats, as the coach can turn
to a player who has legitimate experience.

“Best decision that coaching staff ever made,” Rodriguez
quipped. “Redshirt Matt Scott last year, we’re fortunate
he’s here with us.”

Indeed.

Scott is the type of dual-threat quarterback that thrives
in Rodriguez’s offense, though he admits the hope is Scott
will not be running as much as others have in this system
due to the lack of depth behind him.

“We’ll do what it takes to win ballgames, and I know
Matt’s willing to do that,” Rodriguez said. “We’ll protect
him more because he’s the only guy that’s got any
experience, but at the same time we’ve got to run our
system.”

That system is what drew the Wildcats to Rodriguez, and if
it works, the school could experience an unprecedented
level of success.

But that will likely have to wait a bit.

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