Former Arizona quarterback B.J. Denker, nicknamed “Vanilla Vick” during his Wildcat career because of his dual-threat ability similar to Michael Vick, will make a return to Southern Arizona along with many other locals on Scottsdale Saguaro’s coaching staff when the Sabercats visit Salpointe on Friday night.
Denker is the new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for first-year Saguaro coach Darius Kelly, who is a former standout defensive back at Buena and Pima College who went on to play at Syracuse. Kelly coached at Catalina Foothills in 2019 and the COVID-shortened season of 2020.
“Anytime I can get back down to Tucson, I feel lucky,” Denker mentioned to AllSportsTucson.com via a text message. “It’s fun to see how much the (Arizona) campus and facilities have changed since my time (2012 and 2013, Rich Rodriguez’s first two seasons with the Wildcats).
“I was down there for the 7-on-7 tournament this past summer and it always feels like home when I’m back. I wish U of A played a home game this week so I could stay for the weekend. As for Salpointe, they are a very well-coached team and they are very tough on defense. We are going to have our hands full.”
Kelly is leading an overhaul of the traditionally strong program after Jason Mohns resigned after the 2022 season to join Arizona State’s staff and Zak Hill left following last season to become an administrator at ALA-Gilbert North.
Saguaro is 1-7 and rated No. 25 among 6A programs heading into the 7 p.m. game Friday against No. 10 Salpointe (5-2) at Ed Doherty Stadium.
The Sabercats defeated Salpointe at Doherty Stadium in the 6A semifinals last November before winning the state championship over Mesa Red Mountain.
Sahuarita graduate Derek McClure (who went on to play at Pima College) is Saguaro’s offensive line coach.
Another former Pima College standout lineman Keith Brigham, who played at Memphis, is the personal trainer and defensive line specialist for the Sabercats. He lived in Tucson briefly and worked with local linemen at Jets Sports Training before moving to Scottsdale last year.
Former Arizona receiver Terrence Miller is Saguaro’s tight ends and wide receivers coach.
“Terrence has been a teammate and a friend for a long time,” Denker said. “It’s always great to have someone on the staff who you can trust and have that type of bond and history with.
“And Darius is such a passionate coach who cares about his players and the school. He’s been working his ass off ever since he got the job and his dedication and work ethic are super impressive to witness.”
After his Arizona career, Denker was an offensive graduate assistant at Texas A&M before rejoining Rodriguez as an offensive analyst in 2017 (which turned out to be Rodriguez’s last season at Arizona).
A transfer from Cerritos College in Norwalk, Calif., Denker was the second-string quarterback during Rodriguez’s first season in Tucson and the starter a year later. In his two-year career, he racked up 1,023 yards and 14 touchdowns as a runner, while passing for 2,775 yards and 19 touchdowns. He completed 62 percent of his career passes and threw only eight interceptions on 418 attempts.
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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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