Arizona safety Dalton Johnson's patience, 'all-in' mindset have paid off for expected starter

The Arizona Wildcats safety inked his national letter of intent just four days after Kevin Sumlin and the coaching staff that recruited him to the UA were fired in December 2020.

After Arizona’s 1-11 season in '21, the Wildcats had a massive influx of talent, especially on offense. Then Arizona went 5-7 in Year 2 under Fisch, and more new players were added to the roster, resulting in more players leaving the program as well. Sumlin-recruited players are now an endangered species on Arizona’s roster.

Johnson spent last season understudying fellow Texas product and strong safety Christian Young, who is preparing for the NFL draft. Young originally signed to play for the Rich Rodriguez staff at the UA. Then Rodriguez was fired and replaced with Sumlin. If there was anyone who could provide sound advice about adversity in college football, it was Young.

The addition of longtime defensive coach and Dick Tomey’s former top assistant, Duane Akina, as a senior defensive analyst has bolstered the secondary's progress this spring. Akina has preached versatility since returning to Arizona's staff 23 years since Tomey was dismissed at the UA. “Coach Riley's building something special, and everybody around the country, obviously, they can see that,” Singer said. “The team was great last year, and then bringing in just a few missing pieces just to make your team better than where we were.”

Extra points• Super Bowl winner and Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, whose son Brennan Carroll is the Wildcats’ offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, attended Arizona’s practice on Saturday, along with Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor; both of them spoke to the team. Fisch was a quarterbacks coach under Carroll for the Seahawks in 2010. Taylor, who coached with Fisch with the Los Angeles Rams, was the keynote speaker for the final day of Arizona’s “Be a P.R.

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