The commitment UA Football needed

Most college basketball and football fans have seen the story before: a new coach comes into a program selling hope and a vision. And many times this pitch works in the recruiting world. For one cycle. Then a precipitous fall off.

Arizona fans have seen this up close with multiple coaching staffs.

But from the beginning, Jedd Fisch promised nobody would outwork his staff in this area. So far so good.

If there were any concerns that after his historic 2022 recruiting haul Fisch would fall into that one successful cycle category, that skepticism was greatly alleviated by the commitment earlier this week of 2023 4-star Colorado Springs Vista Ridge quarterback, Brayden Dorman.

Tall and nimble enough with a cannon arm, Dorman is the prototype at the position.

His commitment is bigger than just on the field impact, however.

In college football, everything revolves around the quarterback position. And not just on the field. But off it as well.

It’s certainly not a coincidence that the commitment of 2022 signal caller Noah Fifita led to the avalanche of 4 star California high school commitments to Arizona.

It’s impossible to expect Dorman’s impact to yield the same kind of future haul that Fifita’s did, but it does cross off a major recruit category while also signaling that 2023 is going to be another grand haul for Fisch and company.

“We are very happy with the class we just brought in,” said UA Athletic Director, Dave Heeke. “But it’s imperative we follow that up with another strong one. That’s what the great programs do and after a while you start looking at your two deep and realizing that there’s a lot of talent across the board.”

So what is the next step for Arizona recruiting?
Well, it would make sense for the coaching staff to continue to mine Southern California, which it will, but the next step will be to successfully recruit the elite in-state high schools in Phoenix like Chandler, Chandler Hamilton and Sahuaro.

Getting into these schools is never easy but with the momentum that Arizona has and the absolute dumpster fire that is Arizona State Football it is certainly possible.

From a positional recruiting perspective, expect this staff to go heavy on both sides of the line and gear up for more playmakers on defense.

Unlike in the past, these goals are no longer out of the realm. They are very much a possibility. Expect a strong 2023 recruiting class.