Arizona football notes: On Colin Schooler's gains, RhettRod's role, Khalil Tate and LeBron

LOS ANGELES — Near the end of a long afternoon of interviews, Arizona linebacker Colin Schooler approached Wildcats coach Kevin Sumlin to shake hands and say goodbye. Schooler’s Pac-12 Media Day obligations finally were over, and he headed toward the exit of the media village at the Hollywood & Highland complex.

“He looks good,” Sumlin said as Schooler walked away.

The sophomore said he feels great. Listed at 226 pounds last season, Schooler said his weight is now in the 235-240 range. He has bulked up to prepare for the rigors of the coming season, when he will be tasked with quarterbacking what should be a much-improved UA defense.

Schooler credited Brian Johnson, Arizona’s new director of strength and conditioning for football, with helping him add muscle to his 6-foot frame.

“There hasn’t been one easy day with Coach B,” Schooler said. “Everything we do is to the max. It’s shown. As a team, I feel like we’ve gotten a lot bigger than we were last year. … He’s getting us right.”

Arizona continues to work toward developing strength and depth. The Wildcats began last season rotating their linebackers, but by year’s end, Schooler and Tony Fields II – both true freshmen – were playing almost every defensive snap. Did Schooler play too much last year?

“If you ask me, no,” he said. “I love playing football. I don’t want to come out for any reason.”

Schooler did acknowledge the possibility of wear and tear from overuse. The hope is that Arizona will have more options that defensive coordinator Marcel Yates – who’s now coaching the linebackers – can trust to give Schooler and Fields an occasional breather.

The coaches moved Troy Young from safety to linebacker in the spring, and Schooler said he made significant progress. Sophomore Anthony Pandy should have an expanded role this year. Freshman Issaiah Johnson joins a group that also includes redshirt sophomore Jacob Colacion.

As for Schooler, he’s seeking growth in areas other than his body. He’s determined to be a more vocal leader this season.

“I felt like last year I led by example and was too quiet,” Schooler said. “That’s not enough at this level and my position.”

Schooler spent part of the offseason watching film of himself from last year. Quarterback Khalil Tate did as well. Both said they were on the lookout for mistakes or negative plays from which to learn.

“Early on I was timid,” Schooler said. “You could see as the year progressed I relaxed a little bit more, trusted my keys, trusted my coaching, trusted the players around me.”

Schooler ended up leading the Wildcats with 13.5 tackles for losses and was named the Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year.

One of the candidates to be Tate’s backup just so happens to be the son of the coach whom Arizona fired in January.

Despite the removal of his father, Rich Rodriguez, Rhett Rodriguez decided to remain on the UA football team. It seems like a potentially awkward situation. It isn’t, according to Sumlin.

“I sat down and talked to Rhett probably the second week I was here,” Sumlin said. “He wants to play football. He wanted to stay. It hasn’t been an issue at all. He’s just trying to compete and win a spot.

“Rita (Rich’s wife and Rhett’s mom) has been to practice. It’s no different. He’s a player on the team, and he approaches it that way.

“So it’s not weird.”

Rodriguez is one of four possibilities to win the No. 2 job behind Tate. The others are redshirt freshman K’Hari Lane and incoming freshmen Kevin Doyle and Jamarye Joiner.

Tate grew up in L.A., and he’s a huge Lakers fan. He was understandably thrilled when they signed LeBron James, who was among many to give Tate a social-media shoutout after his record-setting performance at Colorado last year.

“It’s great,” Tate said. “We had a few down years. We’re a championship contender now.”

James’ arrival has been met with disapproval by some Lakers diehards, who have expressed their displeasure by vandalizing murals depicting him in a Lakers uniform. Tate understands where they’re coming from, although he doesn’t agree with their stance.

“People always compare Kobe (Bryant) and LeBron,” Tate said. “Then LeBron comes to the Lakers, which nobody would have ever thought.

“Some fans are just kind of disappointed in the situation. I think when the season starts up and we start winning games, they’ll forget all about it.”

Sumlin said he’s pleased with the program’s recruiting thus far, even though the UA wasn’t able to host a camp this summer because of the ongoing construction at Arizona Stadium.

The Wildcats have eight verbal commitments. Sumlin described the staff’s approach as “deliberate,” in part because Arizona is expected to have a relatively small class in 2019. Sumlin wouldn’t specify its projected size, but the Wildcats have only eight scholarship seniors on their roster. The inability of two members of the 2018 class, Adam Plant Jr. and Jhevon Hill, to get into school does open up two additional slots for ’19.

Sumlin said the staff is evaluating 2020 and ’21 recruits right now and working on getting them on campus.

“I like where we are right now,” he said. “The response has been great.”

UA athletic director Dave Heeke said the school has sold about 4,500 new season tickets for 2018 – and that was before the announcement that Arizona Stadium would sell beer and wine. He added that the renewal rate from last year is “in the 90 percent range.”

“We have surpassed last year’s overall season-ticket number, and we expect that to continue to rise,” Heeke said. “We have seen a lot of people who previously held season tickets come back. We forecast really strong attendance numbers.”

Heeke said he senses “energy and enthusiasm” from the fan base with Sumlin on board as coach and Tate in the conversation for the Heisman Trophy. Whether that leads to a sellout of the Sept. 1 opener against BYU remains to be seen.

“Our goal is to have a capacity crowd,” Heeke said. “That’s one of our target games to fill the stadium. We need to move the needle. We need to have larger crowds.

“My feel is, Tucson and beyond is pretty excited about our football program. I’m pretty excited to see how they respond.”

• Sumlin said he and his staff considered holding part of training camp at an off-campus location but couldn’t find the right fit. It’s something they will look into in the future. The Wildcats have two 70-yard grass fields available, plus Arizona Stadium and Bear Down Field. Starting next year, they also will have use of the new indoor sports center. This year’s camp begins next Friday.
• Former Cardinals offensive coordinator Harold Goodwin is serving as a staff analyst for Sumlin. Goodwin has been linked to the offensive line job with the Minnesota Vikings, a position that came open after the recent death of Tony Sparano.