Can Stoops Keep Heat Up on Pac-10?

Mike Stoops was on the proverbial hot seat before last season. After all, his Arizona Wildcats bumbled to a 17-29 mark in his first four seasons in Tucson. Fans were impatient and the pressure was beating on Stoops like the unrelenting desert sun. Stoops, whose brother Bob is the head coach at Oklahoma, finally found on-field success in 2008, leading UA to a 31-21 Las Vegas Bowl victory over favored Brigham Young, securing his job and giving the once downtrodden a program a boost.

Arizona has a chance to consistently compete with the second tier teams in the Pac-10 -- there is one top-tier team, USC -- and perhaps challenge the Trojans with some consistent recruiting classes fueled by the bowl win.
So life begins without four-year starting quarterback Willie Tuitama, stellar receiver Mike Thomas and offensive tackle Eben Britton, who has already made headlines by vowing to make all other 29 NFL teams pay for falling the second round. He was taken 39th overall by Jacksonville.

"That's what all programs do [bounce back]," Stoops said this week. "And I tell you one thing, that tells you we're getting a lot better players and developing players a lot better at a faster rate. So what it tells you is we're recruiting better players coming out of high school. And that's what helps your program develop. And that's a good thing. That tells you how far we've come. That's never happened here at Arizona that I could recall or recollected that we've had a guy go that early to jump into the NFL. It just shows the improvement in our program."

The Wildcats' most pressing concern is at quarterback, where Tuitama departed as the school's all-time leader in passing yards, touchdowns and completions. There is only inexperience behind him in sophomores Matt Scott and Nick Foles, a Michigan State transfer. Stoops mentioned both when discussing the position but Scott, who threw 11 passes as a freshman, is listed first on the summer depth chart.

"Obviously they are not going to have the experience but that just comes from playing," the coach said. "And that's something they will have to gain and adjust to as we go but I feel very good about our quarterback position, obviously that's the most vital. But I feel like Matt and Nick both give us a chance to win at the highest level."

The Wildcats' best NFL prospect is massive but athletic junior tight end Rob Gronkowski, who caught 47 passes for 10 touchdowns and a 14.3-yard average despite missing three games. He was a one-man machine against Oregon last November, catching 12 passes for 143 yards.

"Robby, just his physical dimensions make him a tough matchup with people because he's 6-6, 6-7, 270 pounds and runs a 4.7 (40-yard dash)," Stoops said. "There are just not guys who can do those type of things physically. And he's a great blocker."

Arizona appears ready to take that critical next step in the Pac-10 with a solid recruiting class that focused mostly on out-of-state players. Stoops doesn't anticipate a recruiting spike from last year's success until 2010. A soft early schedule with home games against Central Michigan and Northern Arizona prep the Wildcats for a season-defining three-game road swing at Iowa, Oregon State and Washington.

The final four games will determine whether the Wildcats are bowling or spending the winter in the desert. They ended the season with Cal, Oregon, Arizona State and USC.

"Obviously USC, they've been head and shoulders above the rest of us,' Stoops said. "They're consistency at playing at that level after losing as much talent as they do, I think that's a compliment to Pete (Carroll) and his staff because they do a great job of coaching and developing. It all starts with them."

The Wildcats seek to become a national factor and perennially compete with Oregon, Cal and Oregon State until USC can be dethroned.

"I think Oregon and Cal have really good teams coming back, it looks like to me," Stoops said. "And (Oregon State's) Mike Riley probably is the most underrated coach in the country. I think this is critical for our development of our program to take the next step, that we back up last year with another positive experience this year."