As one of the most feared offenses in the nation last season, the Arizona football team and its fans got used to watching video game-like stats get put up almost every weekend due to the high-paced spread offense run by former head coach Rich Rodriguez.
Rodriguez is now gone, but the spread offense Arizona flashed last year is still as healthy as ever. As Kevin Sumlin takes over the headset, Arizona fans won’t have to worry about things looking much different on the offensive side of the ball. The return of pre-season Heisman trophy hopeful Khalil Tate, and a familiar offensive coach, will help keep the offensive continuity intact.
Inside wide receiver coach Theron Aych is the lone hold over from the Rodriguez era and was retained by Sumlin due to his extensive recruiting ties in Texas from his previous tenure at UTEP. Aych is looking to make use of his and Sumlin’s footprint in the Lone Star State after the previous regime practically ignored it.
“Coach Sumlin’s familiarity with the state of Texas has certainly helped us continue to rally the troops there,” Aych said. “We’re going to plant a flag in Texas and make sure there’s a presence there. We started to do that a little bit the previous season. We’re continuing to touch more guys. It’s certainly helped develop those relationships with the high school coaches and players. Hopefully, we’ll see a bunch of those at the spring game.”
Aych is also an important, and recognizable, voice for a position that only loses one starter from its group last year. Familiarity during a time of change and complete restructuring of a football program is worth its weight in gold as Sumlin and Noel Mazzone install their offense, which is an offense that gave Nick Saban his biggest headaches during his time at Alabama. Aych is playing a crucial role as a cog in the machine, making sure everything is going smoothly and according to plan.
“He’s a real hands-on coach,” Aych said. “He’s very involved in what we’re doing. He’s coaching the positions. It’s been a lot of fun for the players getting a chance to [know him] not only as a manager but on the field directly. For us, you’ve heard guys say there’s no egos on the staff. It’s a real fun group to be with.”
As the Wildcats not only look to figure out who they are on the field, they are also preparing for the future by recruiting off it. Aych is a crucial piece of the puzzle that may be able to take Arizona to the next level by the little things he does for the program.
Texas has long been an area Arizona football has failed to tap into, and Sumlin looks to change that with Aych as the catalyst for that transformation.
As mid-level Texas football programs like mire around in the muck of mediocrity, Arizona has the best opportunity its had in a while to be able to take advantage of the football factory that is Texas high school football, which produces hundreds of college football players on a yearly basis.
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