Ellerson returning to UA football

Rich Ellerson Arizona Daily Wildcat

Ellerson was the head coach at Southern Utah last year, finishing with a 4-7 record in his only season there. He previously served as outside linebackers coach for the UA and then as both defensive line and special teams coach for three years.

"This is his fourth time with me. He's one of the brightest coaches out there," UA head coach Dick Tomey said. "A lot of his ideas were incorporated into our (current) defensive scheme."

Ellerson does not mind going from being a head coach to an assistant again.

"I've got a long background with both Tucson and with the existing program. I'm very happy to be back," he said.

Ellerson replaces long-time defensive coordinator Larry Mac Duff, who accepted the role of special teams coach with the New York Giants last week.

Mac Duff was considered the primary architect of the famed "Desert Swarm" defense, but Tomey feels that Ellerson is the man that could resurrect the once-feared Arizona defensive game.

"He's one of the only guys in the country that could replace him (Mac Duff)," Tomey said.

Under both Mac Duff and Ellerson the Wildcats' run defense finished either first or second in the country for three consecutive years from 1992-94. They were also ranked second in total defense twice.

"There's a great deal of consistency in the program," Ellerson said. "I'm not planning to (change the system). There's always a way to change the bath water, but not the baby in it."

Ellerson's coaching career has taken him to multiple time zones and even another country.

He graduated from Tucson's Salpointe Catholic High School and then went to the University of Hawaii, where he played center and linebacker from 1973-76 under Tomey, who was then the Rainbows' coach.

He became an assistant coach at Hawaii from 1981-83, and then spent three years as an assistant coach in the Canadian Football League with the British Columbia Lions and the Calgary Stampeders. He then returned to Hawaii as defensive coordinator and helpe d the Rainbows to their first Division I postseason appearance in the Aloha Bowl in 1988.

In January of 1992 he was reunited with Tomey in Tucson.

Ellerson plans to meet with players and coaches over the next few weeks to discuss the what will or will not be changed for next season.