By Anthony Gimino
FOXSportsArizona.com
TUCSON -- The Mike Stoops era started with a victory over Northern Arizona. Then came seven consecutive losses.
It was 2004, and nobody was faulting Stoops for the slow start. In fact, it wasn't really a slow start. Not compared with what had happened a year earlier, when Arizona had to fire coach John Mackovic five games into his third season.
Stoops was navigating through the toxic waste, losing games but, step by step, making the Wildcats more competitive, trudging toward respectability. In the past decade, there have been quick fixes at places like Alabama, USC and Florida -- established problems with talented players just waiting for the right coach -- but Arizona was neither established nor talented.
As an assistant, Stoops had helped his brother, Bob, win a national title at Oklahoma in 2000 in their second season of rebuilding. At Arizona, Mike had to learn patience, which did not come naturally.
The losses kept coming, and Stoops hit his lowest point nearly three years ago to the day. His record stood at 14 games under .500 -- 14-28. His fourth Arizona team was only 2-6, and the Wildcats were losing at Washington by 15 points early in the fourth quarter on Oct. 27. 2007.
Stoops' job security was the program's only topic.
And then Arizona rallied.
A long kick return by Mike Thomas. A touchdown pass from Willie Tuitama. A Washington turnover. Another score. Another stop. Another TD pass from Tuitama. An interception by Antoine Cason.
It was an improbable 48-41 victory -- the team's only fourth-quarter comeback under Stoops at that point -- and it started a three-game winning streak, capped by a home win over No. 2 Oregon.
Stoops hasn't slowed down since then. The past three calendar years have easily been the school's best stretch since the late 1990s. Stoops can -- for the first time since his second game at Arizona -- get back to .500 with a win Saturday at UCLA.
"I'm just glad I'm still here," he said with a chuckle this week, asked what it meant to him to have a chance to get back to even.
"That's it. I'm happy. I'm happy that we're improving in our consistency. All that has improved. It's so much easier. Our culture is so different now than it was, and that is what you have to have to have success. I like the discipline and toughness within our program. Right now, it just takes years to develop that."
The wins and losses are the most tangible signs of progress -- Stoops has never had fewer conference victories than he had the season before -- but the point totals tell the story, too.
In 2003, Arizona was outscored by an average of 20.7 points per game. Here is how the Cats have done in each season since:
2004: minus-10.1
2005: minus-3.5
2006: minus-3.0
2007: plus-1.2
2008: plus-15.3
2009: plus-3.5
2010: plus-19.7
Before beating Washington in 2007, Stoops had won 33.3 percent of his games. Since then, he is 25-12 (67.6) to improve to 39-40 overall.
Only two Pac-10 teams have a better record over their past 37 games -- USC and Oregon.
That Washington game is a clear line of demarcation in Stoops' career, but he didn't necessarily identify it as a turning point.
"I don't think about it that much," he said. "They've all been big games, and they're all important. There have been some that probably stick out more than others in changing the dynamics of your program. I don't reminisce on it a lot. If you do, you're going to get run over.
"You've got to keep moving forward. That's what I've always believed. You don't have time to reflect a whole lot. If you do, the next game, the next season, is going to get you."
Stoops is now far ahead of the posse, but he has had loads of help.
He recently said the most important person in any program is the strength coach, and he has had one of the best -- Corey Edmond -- for the duration of his Arizona tenure.
He has had standout assistants such as linebackers coach and first year co-defensive coordinator Tim Kish, who also has been with Stoops from the start and is one of the team's ace recruiters.
Without the ability to sell sparkling facilities (in the works), Stoops and his staff have had to rely on a keen eye for talent. Top players such as receiver Juron Criner, cornerback Trevin Wade and defensive tackle Justin Washington, to mention a few, were merely two-star recruits on at least one of the major recruiting services.
And Stoops has been smart with new hires, not simply relying on comfortable old pals. He didn't know Frank Scelfo at all before bringing him in for an interview last winter to be the new quarterbacks coach.
"I do a lot of things that are feel and instincts," Stoops said.
"Once I met Frank, he was the last guy I interviewed. I was ready to hire somebody else, and this became available. I said, 'Sure, let's bring him in.' I was in no hurry, and once I met him, I knew his personality was perfect for what we needed for our quarterbacks, and his knowledge and his confidence were impressive."
Scelfo gets the credit for improving Nick Foles' footwork and accuracy while remaking the throwing motion of backup Matt Scott. Both have earned Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Week honors this season.
Arizona is completing 75.2 percent of its passes, the best mark in the country.
More importantly, at 6-1 on the season and ranked 15th, Arizona is in position to go even higher under Stoops.
"You know what, I just look at this as two different sections of program," Kish said.
"Having been all those years with Mike, you had those first three years when you were trying to find your way and change the culture of the program itself and trying to teach winning attitude and that type of thing.
"From year four on, I think it's a whole different ballgame."
