On Sunday night, Arizona football fired defensive coordinator Marcel Yates after Arizona allowed 133 points in the previous three games to Washington, USC and Stanford.
Chuck Cecil, a defensive analyst, is set to take over for Yates. Cecil, a former walk-on turned All-American defensive back for the Wildcats looks to bring a new set of physicality to this Arizona team.
Arizona also has fired linebackers’ coach John Rushing. Rushing coached the safeties last year, and was then moved to linebackers this year.
Yates was in his third season with Arizona, and second under Head Coach Kevin Sumlin. After a poor performance in the season opener against Hawai’i, losing 38-45, the defense played particularly well for four straight weeks, leading to four straight wins. After the 27-51 loss to Washington, however, the defense has struggled, as they’ve allowed at least 35 points per game, and also allowed 469.9 yards a game, ranked No. 118 nationally.
Cecil brings to the table an impressive resume, since he’s coached for the Tennessee Titans as defensive coordinator in 2009 and 2010, as well as co-coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams. He also played in the NFL for 15 years as well.
Arizona football plays the Oregon State Beavers this weekend at home at 1:30 p.m. at Arizona Stadium.
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