The Arizona Wildcats’ defense will have a new look in 2016, from the top down.
Coach Rich Rodriguez on Monday dismissed two longtime assistants: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Jeff Casteel and defensive line coach Bill Kirelawich. Arizona had one of the worst defenses in the nation this season, and has been trending downward on that side of the ball.
Since the Wildcats’ season ended Dec. 19 with a 45-37 victory in the New Mexico Bowl, Rodriguez has changed three-quarters of his defensive staff. Rodriguez hired from within in promoting Jahmile Addae to cornerbacks coach, and is expected to act quickly to replace Casteel and Kirelawich.
Rodriguez will attend this week’s American Football Coaches Association Convention in San Antonio, where he is expected to meet with potential job candidates. The convention runs from Sunday through Wednesday.
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It’s in Arizona’s best interest to move fast to finalize the defensive staff. National Signing Day is Feb. 3, and the Wildcats’ spring practices are scheduled to begin two days later. One potential holdup is that university jobs, per school policy, must be posted for at least 10 workdays before any hirings can be announced.
Rodriguez was not available for comment Monday. Casteel declined comment, and Kirelawich did not return a message from the Star.
At least two coaches with Tucson ties are said to be interested in the defensive line position. One is Osia Lewis, the defensive line coach at San Diego State, which went 11-3 this season. Lewis attended Tucson High.
The other is Ricky Hunley, the former All-America linebacker at the UA. Hunley played and coached in the NFL, and has spent the past two seasons as the defensive line coach at Memphis, which just hired a new head coach and is in the process of making staff changes.
Another UA graduate with an expansive coaching résumé, Clancy Pendergast, is expected to be available after the San Francisco 49ers fired coach Jim Tomsula. Pendergast coached the 49ers’ linebackers this season, and has extensive experience in the Pac-12, including serving as the defensive coordinator for Cal and USC. The latter is reportedly interested in rehiring Pendergast for its coordinator opening.
Other UA products who could be on Rodriguez’s radar include Chuck Cecil and Joe Salave’a. Cecil is the St. Louis Rams’ senior defensive assistant. Salave’a is Washington State’s defensive line coach. He recently signed a two-year contract extension with WSU.
The dismissals of Casteel and Kirelawich stunned current UA players and recruits.
Second-year defensive lineman Marcus Griffin woke up to the news, and — like many of his teammates — wondered whether the 3-3-5 scheme will be replaced with something else.
He tweeted, “Coach Casteel and Coach Kirlav were two good guys. They will be missed.”
And later, “4-3?”
Veteran defensive lineman Sani Fuimaono tweeted, “I’ve learned so much about the game from Kirlav! I see the game differently because of him! It definitely won’t be the same!”
Arizona lost one verbal commitment for the class of 2016 on Monday as a result of the staff changes. Junior college linebacker Kapri Doucet, who committed to the UA last week, has reopened his recruitment.
Casteel had been the lead recruiter for Doucet, who earned NJCAA first-team All-America honors at Lackawanna (Pa.) College last season.
“That’s who I was going to be playing for,” Doucet told the Star. “That was my position coach. I had built a very good relationship with him. That was somebody I was going to invest my future in.”
Doucet said he still will consider Arizona, but the odds of the UA landing him have dropped precipitously. Doucet received an offer from Oklahoma later Monday.
Another ’16 linebacker, Kahi Neves of Salt Lake City, told the Star he’s “still 100 percent committed to Arizona.” Neves is expected to enroll at the UA this month.
Rodriguez went way back with Casteel and Kirelawich. Both were part of his staffs at West Virginia and joined him in Tucson after he became Arizona’s coach in late 2011.
The Wildcats’ defense regressed over the past three seasons. Arizona ranked 62nd in the nation in 2013, 103rd in 2014 and 114th this past season in total defense. In terms of points allowed, the Wildcats fell from 39th to 78th to 107th.
Casteel was the 33rd-highest-paid assistant coach in the country in 2015, according to USA Today’s database, earning $670,500. Kirelawich made $268,900. The database only includes coaches at public schools.
How much the coaches were to blame for Arizona’s defensive woes is impossible to quantify.
The Wildcats also suffered numerous injuries in 2015, losing multiple middle linebackers, including star Scooby Wright for the majority of the season.
Wright returned for the Wildcats’ New Mexico Bowl win over New Mexico, but flaws in the defense were still apparent: The UA allowed 37 points and 522 yards to a Mountain West Conference team that went 7-5 in the regular season.
