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. 14 HEATH BRAY
With it being the 14th day until kickoff between the Lobos and Wildcats, an inspirational player who wore No. 14 for Arizona was Heath Bray, who played linebacker, defensive back and quarterback for Arizona from 1989-92. Bray, whose 55th birthday is Wednesday, sadly passed away on March 30 following a heart attack. The Lumberton, N.C., native emerged as a standout athlete in Monroe and Cherryville, N.C., earning honors in various sports and garnering recruiting attention as a talented quarterback. By his junior season at Arizona, playing under Dick Tomey, Bray, affectionately known as “Crash” by his teammates, became a fiery leader of the “Desert Swarm” defense. After his Arizona career, Bray coached in college before becoming a managing partner at WealthTrust Financial Advisors. Bray’s son Mason is a walk-on quarterback at Arizona who led Scottsdale Saguaro to the 6A state championship last season. A Heath Bray Endowment Fund has been set up at Arizona.
Thanks, Heath Bray: Remembering a memorable Wildcat by Anthony Gimino on GoPhnx.Com:
NO. 14 IN 2024 — QB MASON BRAY, WR REX HAYNES & LB STACY BEY
Mason, 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds, was a multi-sport athlete in high school (like his dad) who played quarterback for Saguaro’s football team and point guard/shooting guard for the basketball team. He completed 230 of 323 passes for 2,897 yards and 26 touchdowns during his high school career. Completed 71.2 percent of his passes while averaging 181.1 yards per game and 14.4 completions per game. Passed for 25 touchdowns during his senior season.
Haynes, 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds, is in his fourth year in the program after winning a state championship with San Diego Cathedral Catholic High School in the 2021 season. His dad Mike Haynes, a first-round NFL draft pick out of Arizona State in 1976, played for the Oakland Raiders and the New England Patriots and is in the NFL Hall of Fame. Rex was selected to the Pac-12 Fall Academic Honor Roll last year.
Bey, 6-foot-1 and 201 pounds, is a freshman who was a 3-star athlete that played running back and linebacker at Rancho Cucamonga (Calif.) High School. He eceived offers from San Diego State, Colorado, Colorado State, Florida State, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisville, Nevada, and Washington. He made 59 total tackles last season as a senior and also rushed for 185 yards on 28 carries and four touchdowns.
NOTE
New Arizona cornerbacks coach Courtney “Chip” Viney, only 35, came with Brennan from San Jose State. He is learning from the sage Duane Akina (the Wildcats’ defensive coordinator) as much as his players. Viney spent two seasons at San Jose State after having various roles at Oklahoma over two tenures. The most recent stint was from 2018 through 2021 when he served in recruiting and team defense analyst roles. For the 2021 season, he was the director of player development and scouting analyst. The Fresno, Calif., native also spent 2013 through 2016 at Oklahoma as a graduate assistant working with cornerbacks his first three seasons and was the Sooners’ 2016 special teams analyst. In between his two tenures at Oklahoma, Viney was at the University of Nevada in 2017 coaching cornerbacks. Viney, 35, played cornerback at UCLA from 2008-10 before completing his career at New Mexico State in 2011.
THEY SAID IT
“You should come shadow him (Akina). I’m serious, come spend some time. It is awesome just to be around someone that has coached as long as he’s coached. The amount of time he’s been tenured at specific places like Arizona, Texas and Stanford, and the knowledge of the game, the in-depth part of the game … there’s the fundamental and technical part of the game that he’s preaching and coaching and teaching every day. (Akina is) really big on the IQ part of the game. It’s been awesome. It’s been awesome to learn from him and work alongside of him. I realize as a young coach how fortunate I am to be around someone that’s coached the position I played, coached the position that I teach and just learn from it. That’s been the best part of it. I’d say between himself and (“stars” defensive backs) coach (Bret) Arce, and me, man, we’ve got something special going on. I’m hoping we can put it on full display this fall.” — Viney
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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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