To get ready for the upcoming Arizona football season, All Sports Tucson offers a countdown, which will include history notes and a look ahead to the season — a good way to keep Arizona football on the mind in the summer months leading up to fall camp in early August and then kickoff against New Mexico on Aug. 31 in the start of the Brent Brennan era.
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS PREVIOUS DAYS IN THE COUNTDOWN
A LOOK BACK — NO. 69 JOHN BRISCOE
With it being the 69th day until kickoff between the Lobos and Wildcats, the best player to wear No. 69 for Arizona is versatile John Briscoe, who played center, defensive tackle and linebacker at Arizona from 1962 to 1964. He was elected the WAC lineman of the year in 1964 while playing on both sides of the ball. He was drafted by the Cleveland Browns of the AFL as a defensive tackle before his senior season (as was the case back then). Briscoe, who hailed from the small mining town of Indianola, Pa., passed away in February 2018 at 75 years old. He worked for both U.S. Steel and Ryerson Steel. Once retired living at Concord, Calif., he worked as an usher at San Francisco 49ers and San Francisco Giants games. Symbolic of their grit, the two-way players at Arizona during his senior season were called the “Briscoe’s Buccaneers.” Briscoe was a captain of the 1964 team that went 6-3-1 under coach Jim LaRue.
NO. 69 IN 2024
No current players are listed as wearing No. 69.
NOTE
Arizona junior cornerback Tacario Davis has gotten a lot of love this offseason from Pro Football Focus.
Arizona CB Tacario Davis in Man Coverage in 2023:
16 Times Targeted
3 Catches Allowed
7 Pass Breakups
89.0 Coverage Grade pic.twitter.com/3Em5onRSLb— PFF College (@PFF_College) June 21, 2024
THEY SAID IT
Defensive Lineman @tresmiith! pic.twitter.com/iuSwy3k7M5
— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) June 21, 2024
“I used to go by Cosmo3K and three was for ‘Tre.’ It was kind of like Andre 3000 and Cosmo was the first dog I’ve ever had. It was just interesting to me. But now I’m just Tre.” — Tre Smith, a music producer, is a redshirt junior defensive lineman transfer from San Jose State who attended Red Mountain High School in Mesa (Class of 2020).
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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. He became an educator in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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