The Arizona football team could be the most publicized 2-10 team in the nation.
In the last month, the Wildcats have been featured in two national sports magazines. Head coach Mike Stoops was featured in a multiple-page story in the most recent issue of ESPN The Magazine and in this week's Sports Illustrated. There was also a two-page picture of Arizona players stretching before their Spring Game and a brief story about the Wildcats' coaching change.
Stoops said he enjoyed the national exposure for the program but hopes focus shifts from him to the success of next season's team.
"I believe if we get out and win early, we will get more and more exposure," Stoops said. "I think people in a lot of different entities are very excited about our possibilities here."
Here's the kicker
A big worry remaining from last season is the performance of the kicking game. The Wildcats' field goal unit was 2-for-11 last season at field goal attempts and didn't make one in the team's final seven games.
Stoops jokingly said he wanted the criticisms to stop after kicker Nic Folk was 2-for-2 in the Spring Game, including a 52-yarder to close out the contest.
"We've got a 2-for-2 streak going," Stoops said with a smile. "I don't want to hear any of that stuff that we haven't made a kick in seven games."
Wildcats absent from draft
For the second time in the last three years, no Wildcat players were selected in the NFL draft.
Former running back Clarence Farmer was the most likely candidate to be selected, but after a poor scout combine, he fell to the ranks of the free agent market.
Former receiver Andrae Thurman, who spent last season at Southern Oregon after failing to meet academic requirements at Arizona, will also have to go the free agent route.
Cornerback Michael Jolivette and linebacker Joe Siofele are the only other two former Wildcats who are expected to get invites to summer camps.
Trio of former Mike Stoops pupils drafted
Though the Wildcats didn't have any players taken in this weekend's NFL draft, the new coaching staff had plenty of draft-day connections.
Oklahoma, where Stoops was a defensive coordinator until last season, had three players taken in the first three rounds. Defensive tackle Tommie Harris went 14th overall to the Chicago Bears, linebacker Teddy Lehman was taken in the second round by the Detroit Lions and cornerback Derrick Straight went in the third round to the New York Jets.
Brother Mark Stoops also had several former players go early on draft day. Mark, who coached the defensive secondary at Miami last season, saw six Hurricanes picked in the first round. Safety Sean Taylor was taken fifth overall by the Washington Redskins and cornerback Alfonso Marshall was picked up by the Chicago Bears in the seventh round.
Defense wasn't the only side of the ball that had Arizona ties.
New UA offensive coordinator Mike Canales saw his former quarterback, North Carolina State's Phillip Rivers, go No. 4 overall to the New York Giants before being traded to the San Diego Chargers for Mississippi QB Eli Manning. Rivers played under Canales during his sophomore and junior years with the Wolfpack.