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Rich Rodriguez shows in videos released yesterday by GOAZCATS.com that he truly is simply one of the guys — one of the Sports Guys — as he joined the cast of the show devoted to Arizona sports.
Anthony Gimino, Steve Rivera and Matt Moreno spent about a half-hour of film time discussing Arizona football and just life in general with the personable coach.
From the start of the show, on the first of two videos published, Rodriguez shows his personality by mentioning he is not fond of sushi (the show was taped at Mr. An’s restaurant in Tucson) and he jokes about Gimino’s question of using a chalkboard to diagram the Wildcats’ new defense under first-year defensive coordinator Marcel Yates.
“Do they still use chalkboards?” Rodriguez quipped.
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Sports Guys: Arizona's Rich Rodriguez is our guest
Pt 1: https://t.co/yVw7QUNNi9
Pt 2: https://t.co/SFKONpm1yv pic.twitter.com/15B8apZrL2
— GOAZCATS.com (@GOAZCATScom) April 21, 2016
Good stuff MT @AGWildcatReport: RichRod talks politics (kind of), idolizing Lynn Swann, his tweet game, more: https://t.co/6ITzpmNU5p
— WildcatUniverse.com (@Scott_Terrell) April 21, 2016
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Rodriguez touched on recruiting and the quarterback competition with incumbent starter Anu Solomon and challengers Brandon Dawkins and Khalil Tate.
“Even though he’s an established starter, I’m going to make him feel uncomfortable in August camp,” Rodriguez said of the position battle involving Solomon. “And then I want him to be comfortable in the game. That’s always been our strategy but now it’s an open competition everywhere and that’s elevating both the guys (Solomon and Dawkins especially) that are competing for it.”
In terms of revamping the defense, one that ranked No. 114 nationally allowing 466.8 yards a game last year, Rodriguez said, “I’m not sure we’re going to be as deep as I’d like to be this fall, but we’re going to force the depth. We’ve got to play more people if nothing else to get more guys ready … that means there will be a lot of young guys getting out there.”
Rodriguez hits home about his 2016 team: “If nothing else they (the fans) will get entertained and I think it’s going to be a really, really fun team to watch.”
In the second video, the Sports Guys and Rodriguez let loose, talking about which college coaches would make the best president, Rodriguez’s aspirations growing up in West Virginia, his love for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pittsburgh Pirates, his four-sport days in high school, his ability to dance and his favorite movie.
Rodriguez touches on the subject of Twitter, a form of social media he does not always use.
“If you think I can improve my Twitter game, give me some advice,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez is an advocate for eliminating restrictions on tweeting and text messaging prospects, but he is most vocal about doing away with the signing date in early February. He will propose getting rid of the signing date when the coaches committee, which he is part of, meets in two weeks.
“The Signing Day circus of guys pulling out hats and announcing their thing jumping out of airplanes and having some big production … I mean it’s just going to get worse,” Rodriguez said.
Keep an eye out for more Sports Guys shows at GOAZCATS.com, especially during the football and basketball seasons for keen insight in both programs.
ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon.
