TUCSON, Ariz. – If leadership and consistency were the themes of Day 1, developing depth took center stage on Tuesday as the Arizona football team completed its second 90-minute workout of the spring practice season.

The Wildcats have had an unusually young roster the last two seasons, especially on the defensive side of the ball, which has made piecing together a true two-deep difficult at times for defensive coordinator Marcel Yates.

But now in his fourth year, Yates can see the signs of an arduous rebuilding task paying off. When he arrived in 2016, Arizona was not only stretched thin in overall numbers on defense, but also in talent. His priority after that initial season centered on improving the size, length and speed of the UA defenders in what would need to be a well-calculated three-year development plan.

His first class of defenders arrived in the summer of 2017 and immediately upgraded the talent. Players like Colin Schooler, Tony Fields II and Kylan Wilborn all garnered various Freshman All-American honors while helping the Wildcats to the Foster Farms Bowl.

However, change awaited that young group when Kevin Sumlin came on board last January.

"We're still in the process of development with this football team," Yates told reporters after Tuesday's practice. "We had so many freshmen play two years ago. Then they went through that sophomore year. They had changes as far as a coaching staff, you get a regime in here and so they learn that. Now they know it; they know exactly what Coach Sumlin wants."

Sumlin, who had Yates on staff as a co-coordinator at Texas A&M in 2012 and 2013, arrived in Tucson and retained Yates, who was eager to see through his plan to rebuild the UA defense. The talent upgrade continued in the next class with players like Christian Young and McKenzie Barnes playing as true freshmen in 2018, along with other young players like Day Day Coleman, who redshirted.

Arizona showed improvement on the field in 2018, with scoring, yards per game allowed and yards per play allowed all dropping to their lowest points since 2014. Still, a lack of depth challenged the Wildcats throughout the season.

That's where Yates expects the Wildcat defense to improve the most heading into the 2019 season. The talent has been upgraded across the board and depth is building at most positions.

One example of the depth building is cross-training players at multiple positions, especially in the secondary. Yates has first-hand knowledge of that process as he's coaching all three safety positions. A year ago, he coached linebackers.

"The thought process to cross-train is to build depth," Yates explained. "If one guy gets hurt, you can interchange guys. And then number two, so you can interchange guys and have your five best on the field at all times."

Getting the best players on the field is another key to the defensive development. To that point, a few players have changed positions, including Coleman. Moving Coleman from safety, where the Wildcats have strong numbers, to linebacker balances out the talent on defense.

"It happened naturally with the kid getting bigger, faster," Yates said of Coleman's position change. "We felt like we needed a two-deep at that [Mike linebacker] spot. For the past two years, Schooler has played a lot of snaps. With the season being as long as it is, you need to have a strong two-deep."

It's only two days into spring practice, but Yates' plan is being implemented and executed by a much older, talented and deeper defensive unit.

"The main thing is we need every group to keep getting better, keep working every day," Yates concluded.

Schooler Assuming Vocal Role

Junior linebacker Colin Schooler has been the top playmaker on Arizona's defense, but one of his personal points of emphasis this spring is to improve as a vocal leader on the team.

"I feel like it's my part pick up myself and get out of my comfort zone more and be more vocal," Schooler said Tuesday.

As a sophomore, Schooler was named a second team All-Conference selection by the Associated Press. He led all Power 5 players with 1.79 tackles for loss per game in 2018, and his career tally of 35 TFLs is only five shy of the Top 10 chart in program history.

Looking to Leadership

In his post-practice interviews with local reporters, Yates echoed Sumlin's Monday statements on the importance of leadership in the program.

"Like Coach [Sumlin] said, the key for this football team is leadership and consistency," Yates explained.

Yates hopes the leadership will fill a void the team had a season ago, especially when facing adversity like in road games.

"At home I thought we played well, I thought we competed at home. But we were a totally different football team on the road."

Arizona will play six road games in 2019, including the season opener at Hawai'i on Aug. 24. It will be the first time the Wildcats have opened a season with a true road game since 2010 (defeated Toledo, 41-2).
 

Follow Spring Football

Fans can follow the Wildcats throughout spring practices online at www.arizonawildcats.com and via social media on Twitter (@ArizonaFBall), Instagram (@ArizonaFootball) and Facebook (@ArizonaFootball).
 

2019 Arizona Football Tickets & Wildcat Club Renewals

Football season tickets and Wildcat Club membership (including men's basketball priority seating) renewals are underway. The deadline to renew is May 1st. New season tickets are also now available. To renew or purchase your season tickets you visit arizonawildcats.com/FB or call 520-621-CATS (2287) and secure your seats today.