By
Maxx Wolfson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
From the moment the gun sounded after the Wildcats' 30-17 loss to Arizona State, eliminating any chance of the UA football team advancing to a bowl game, those close to the program knew some things had to change.
Not only was Dick Tomey - the winningest coach in UA history - forced to resign but also for the first time in five seasons Arizona would not have a clear-cut favorite at quarterback coming into the 2001 season.
Things were not looking too bright for the only Pacific 10 Conference team to never compete in the Rose Bowl.
Enter John Mackovic.
Mackovic, 57, three seasons removed from coaching college football at Texas, has brought a new sense of urgency to the UA program.
"(Mackovic's) game plan, and I say this because these are words that he has used, are to go to and win the Rose Bowl," UA athletic director Jim Livengood said the day Mackovic was hired.
Mackovic, hired last December, replaced all but four of the assistant coaches under Tomey. Only offensive line coach Charlie Dickey, wide receivers/recruiting coordinator Rob Ianello and defensive line coach Marty Long remained. He also named long-time secondary coach Duane Akina as defensive coordinator. But Akina later took the special teams job at Texas, which opened the door for former UA defensive coordinator Larry Mac Duff, who replaced Akina in March.
Mackovic, a former ESPN analyst and coach at three colleges and one NFL team, has brought a pro-style passing attack to a UA offense that lacked consistency last season.
Despite struggling during spring practice in 2001, the offense will have a totally new look.
Junior Jason Johnson, who has the most experience of the seven quarterback candidates - he threw four passes in 2000 - has emerged as the early favorite to replace Ortege Jenkins.
That should be good news for Arizona because in 2000, the offense was a main cause of the second half collapse.
A lot of that blame was put on Jenkins, who failed to live up to expectations.
"I feel bad for him," said junior Peter Hansen. "He's been used to playing with older guys his whole career. Our whole offense (was) about as young as you're going to get. It was definitely tough for him. If it wasn't one thing, it was another."
The collapse was only further highlighted by the team's blazing start.
After the first six games, the Wildcats were making some noise in a conference once dominated by teams like UCLA and USC.
After a 31-15 crushing of the Trojans in Los Angeles and then a triple overtime 53-47 victory over Washington State at home, the Wildcats were 5-1.
Just as quickly as UA saw itself on top of the Pac-10, the momentum turned equally as fast for the worst.
Arizona went from being the No. 20 team in the nation on Oct. 9 to lose its next five games.
"The end of the season is like an open wound - we can't close it," Hansen said. "Our record didn't even display the kind of team we were."
The breakdown led to the removal of Tomey and the second-consecutive season the Wildcats failed to make a bowl game.
Now, the microscope falls on Mackovic. Arizona hasn't been to a bowl game since 1998. The changes are in place, and Wildcat fans are watching.
