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TUCSON, Ariz. -- While Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez recounted his plan for last Friday night -- drive upstate with offensive line coach Jim Michalczik to watch their sons lead Catalina Foothills High against powerful Desert Edge -- his daughter Raquel, a sophomore cheerleader at Arizona, walked into his office and wryly observed that mom and dad were planing to convert her old room into a "bar." This interaction revealed more about the State of Rich Rod at Arizona than the questions and answers that would follow. The tight-knit Rodriguez family is comfortably entrenched in Tucson, where it is tracking from appreciated toward revered. In his third season, Rodriguez led Arizona to 10 wins, the Pac-12 South Division crown and a final No. 19 ranking. He also established his "hard edge" culture, where players perhaps lacking recruiting pedigree beat their more touted opponents due to will and conditioning and wily scheme. Along the way, he's been consistently amusing to fans and reporters, whether that's about blowing gaskets at practice, holding court at Pac-12 media days or making movies, such as this and this. After his abortive three-year tenure at Michigan, Rodriguez has rebuilt his image while rebuilding the Wildcats. Now the question is how far he can take the program in the rugged Pac-12 and whether his eye might wander again. When several major programs fired coaches last year, most notably Florida, more than a few folks wonder if Rodriguez's name might bounce around a bit. “If [coaches] say they don’t pay attention, they are lying to you. Everybody pays attention a little bit," Rodriguez said of the firings and hirings. “I’ve kind of been there, done that with the West Virginia-Michigan thing so I’ve probably got a little bit different perspective. I think before you leap anywhere you’ve got to kick the tires and vet the process.” While that seems to leave the door cracked, Rodriguez spends a lot of time talking about what he likes about his experience at Arizona, though he drops into the conversation his desire to build an indoor facility in a town where inclement weather is an issue perhaps four days a year. “It’s been refreshing to have a sense of we like what we see and let’s grow this thing together," he said. “I’ve purposely tried to enjoy the building process more. With the staff I’ve had and players buying in from the day I got here, that’s helped me -- us as a staff -- enjoy the building process more. There wasn’t a sense of entitlement. There wasn’t a, 'We know how to do this. This is the way you need to do things.' It was how can we build this together and enjoy the process. That’s been refreshing.” As in: Compared to Michigan. What Rodriguez has for the first time at Arizona heading into 2015 is a returning starter at quarterback, and Anu Solomon has been notably sharp this preseason after a strong debut as a redshirt freshman. During a scrimmage last weekend, he not only was on point, he was consistently making downfield connections with a deep crew of receivers. If a couple of holes on the offensive line, most notably at center, can be adequately filled, the Wildcats offense has a chance to rank among the best in the conference and nation. As for moving up a couple of clicks in the national rankings and again competing for a Pac-12 title, which starts with emerging from a brutal South Division, much depends on a defense that will surround the nation's most decorated defender, linebacker Scooby Wright, with a no-name supporting cast. Coordinator Jeff Casteel has worked wonders with Wright leading his 3-3-5 scheme, but the Wildcats still need a talent upgrade on the defensive line and lack an A-list pass rusher, other than Wright. While Rodriguez often snarks about five-star recruits, he also admits he'd like to lure in a few more. He's upgraded recruiting -- the Wildcats have been ranked 39th, 23rd and 39th in the nation over the past three classes by ESPN Recruiting -- and it's notable that last year's class ranked one spot ahead of Michigan. It's also notable that his 2013 class included a two-star recruit named "Philip Wright." “We don’t have a brand name, per say, like a Michigan, USC or Florida," Rodriguez said. "But that doesn’t mean you can’t win it all. It just means you have a couple of obstacles to overcome to do it.” Unlike his counterpart Todd Graham at rival Arizona State, Rodriguez doesn't often talk about winning the national championship, but the above quote was provided when asked about doing just that. Can he win one at Arizona, and if he can't, might he be tempted again by a program that has a proven brand name? Rodriguez understands the question, but he's instead going to focus on the present, which is entirely about preseason position battles and the opener against UTSA. “Everybody says, ‘How happy are you?’” Rodriguez said. “My happiness is based on winning. Just ask my family. I’m a miserable slob to be around when we lose. I’m a pretty good guy to be around when we win.”
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