Arizona safeties coach Brett Arce took time from a busy Thursday evening to catch some NFL preseason action, where several of his former pupils were notching their first reps as professionals.
The debuts of Dalton Johnson and Treydan Stukes of the Las Vegas Raiders and Genesis Smith of the Los Angeles Chargers brought Arce much delight. All three developed into NFL Draft picks under his tutelage.
“I was so proud of those guys,” Arce said. “And then just to see the reaction of all their teammates. Everybody’s cheering when they’re making the plays.”
Their presence in the NFL is also a reminder of how much talent Arizona needs to replace at the safety position. The Wildcats’ safeties room this summer is full of new faces, including several transfer portal additions.
Arizona returns two players at the position in senior Johno Price and sophomore Dajon Hinton, who is recovering from a knee injury he suffered in the Holiday Bowl. Joining the group are Matai Tagoa’i (USC), Lee Molette (UConn), Daylen Austin (Oregon) and Cam Chappa (Northern Colorado). Former walk-on Quinn Olson is also expected to see significant playing time.
“It’s been a revolving door, just trying to mix and match guys,” Arce said.
Arce said he’s been rotating guys around during training camp as the coaching staff develops trust with each player.
“Can I trust them to not have mental errors and do all the little things that Coach (Danny Gonzales) and the defenses asks?” Arce said.
Of the newcomers, Tagoa’i might have the highest ceiling as a former four-star recruit who played linebacker in his one season at USC. The 6-foot-4 Tagoa’i played some safety at San Clemente High School in Southern California.
Tagoa’i has spent the summer adjusting to his position by focusing on pre-snap alerts, motions and eye control. Much of his studying has come from watching film of Johnson, Stukes and Smith at Arizona.
“He’s definitely trying to preach to us that that’s what it looks like to get to the next level,” Tagoa’i said. “We watch their stuff dang near every day.”
Whereas Tagoa’i is getting up to speed at the safety position, experience is no issue for Molette, the UConn transfer. The redshirt senior appeared in 38 games during his career with the Huskies.
Arce calls him the “Swiss army knife” on the unit.
“He knows all the positions, so that’s a comforting thing for me. And it gives him more opportunity get on the field,” Arce said. “He’s really shown and taken steps forward this fall camp, making plays, being in the right spot, showing up in the run game.”
Chappa is another newcomer who Arce and the coaching staff envision having a big impact. Chappa earned First team All-Big Sky honors last season at Northern Colorado, leading the conference with 63 solo tackles.
Having so many newcomers at one position has helped players pick up on what they need to improve on by watching others go about their drills.
“It’s definitely helpful having these new faces because when we’re in the process of learning everything, Arce has been preaching to us about versatility and playing all three spots (at safety),” Tagoa’i said. “It’s beneficial for me because I’m watching everybody — not just the reps I get on the field but the mental reps everybody else is getting as well.”
For Arce, the amount of teaching that goes into integrating a new crop of players comes with a learning curve. That’s fine, he said, as long as players are giving maximum effort.
“There’s some growing pains through that, and that’s okay,” Arce said. “That’s what I tell those guys. You’re going to make mistakes. There’s going to be some growing pains, as long as we’re going 100 miles an hour, we can correct and coach off those growing pains.”
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