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. 53 BOB WINDISCH
With it being the 53rd day until kickoff between the Lobos and Wildcats, the best player to wear No. 53 for Arizona is offensive guard Bob Windisch, who started in a three-year span from 1973-75 when the Wildcats went 26-7 under Jim Young. When he was a senior in 1975, when the Wildcats went 9-2, Windisch was one of only two offensive linemen (tackle Bill Segal was the other) who made Young’s “Bear Down Club” for outstanding total performance. He was one of QB Bruce Hill’s top blockers on an offense that featured future Super Bowl receiver “T” Bell of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He also cleared room for Arizona’s famous “1-2-3” backfield that included Hill (who wore No. 1) and running backs Willie Hamilton (No. 2) and Jim Upchurch (No. 3) in 1973 and 1974. Windisch, who was 6-foot-2 and 240 pounds as senior, hailed from Casa Grande High School. Windisch, retired at 70 in Tempe, went on to own his own construction company after his playing career. Longtime TV announcer Roger Twibell also wore No. 53 for Arizona in 1970 until knee problems cut his career short. He ended his college education at Kansas. His sportscasting career started in 1972 at KGUN-TV.
NO. 53 IN 2024 — DT CHRISTIAN MADOSKI
Madoski, 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds, is a walk-on who was a standout at Glendale Mountain Ridge High School. He redshirted last season. He appeared in 28 games over three seasons on varsity at Mountain Ridge. He made 121 total tackles (49 solo, 72 assists), averaging 4.3 tackles per game and 13.0 tackles for loss.. He posted 10.0 sacks for a loss of 36 yards, averaging 0.4 sacks per game, and 16 hurries.
NOTE
Arizona stuck with primarily the same uniform and helmet look under Jedd Fisch the previous three years but it looks like the Wildcats will make at least one change under Brennan — going to a metallic red facemask worn during the Rich Rodriguez years.
— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) July 9, 2024
Former Arizona receiver Shun Brown, now the offensive coordinator at NCAA Division II Lane College in Tennessee, posted this tweet in response to the development:
https://t.co/JrWYg6dK6R pic.twitter.com/6eXsH5dVn1
— COACH SHUN B (@ShunBrown06) July 9, 2024
THEY SAID IT
Brent Brennan kept Arizona's team together; can the Wildcats win the Big 12? Brennan joins the show | Class of 2025 Fong Bombs from @SWiltfong_ https://t.co/wnar4R2ZOW
— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) July 9, 2024
“You’re going to have to beat good people if you want to be a real good team, so we have a lot of work to do.” — Brennan about Arizona’s early stretch of the schedule in which it plays at Kansas State, Utah and BYU with a home game against Texas Tech after playing the Utes.
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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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