Versatile Arizona freshman TE Trevor Wood fills need on defensive line
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Trevor Wood has found a new position for the Arizona Wildcats -- defensive end. It's not like he hasn't played the position before as UA looks to add athletic bodies to a position in need of help.
"He's a big, athletic guy," Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez said. "He's got a great future. He's playing as a freshman, which is a good thing. He's still learning and gaining strength. He's going to play a lot of football for us."
Against University of Texas-San Antonio on Thursday (Fox Sports 1, 5 p.m.), it might come as a defensive end.
Wood was recruited as a tight end out of Scottsdale Chaparral High School and will continue to practice there as well, but the need is greater on defense. Reggie Gilbert has been hobbled with a foot injury and is listed as probable for this week after missing the opener. Meanwhile, Arizona used a tight end only 40 percent of the time in last week's opener, and that time was divided among sophomore Josh Kern, senior Blair Tushaus and Wood, a 6-foot-5, 251-pounder.
Wood, one of the prizes of Arizona's 2014 recruiting class, says he's happy to contribute wherever needed.
Rich Rodriguez predicts a bright future for Trevor Wood at Arizona.
"It's gone great," Wood said recently. "I've loved every second of it."
Arizona hasn't used a tight end much in Rodriguez's two seasons, but it has some varied options in Wood, Kern and Tushaus, who walked-on this summer from BYU. Wood fits the prototypical tight end mold.
"I came into this program knowing I had offensive geniuses and the best coaches," Wood said. "You now coach Rich Rod can use a player in any way (possible). They tend to put players where they will be successful at."
If there was a player made-to-order for the University of Arizona, it should be Wood, who followed a long line of family members to the school. His father, Dave, played for Arizona in the early 1980s. Uncle Brent played at UA in the mid-1980s. His mom, Jan, is an Arizona grad. His brother, Carter, is a redshirt junior center on the team. And his older sister, Taylor, graduated from UA in May.
"I've been coming to games here at least since the first grade," Wood said. "Ever since I moved (to Arizona and the Phoenix area) my parents have taken us to UA games."
Still, it wasn't totally automatic. He had offers from all the big schools, including Alabama, Oregon and Oklahoma.
"I always knew I've loved Arizona, but I tried to push that aside," he said. "I wanted to make the best decision for myself ... when it came down to it I said, 'Who am I going to be playing with? Who am I going to be playing for? And who is going to get to watch me play?' "
Then it hit him; Arizona was the perfect fit.
"I'll probably have 20 family members at every (home) game," he said. "If I would have gone somewhere else, my parents would gone to one game one weekend and another on another weekend. Still, deep down I've always had a passion for Arizona."
Wood then turned around and pointed to where his family used to have season tickets, on the east side. They've since moved to the newer, north side of the stadium.
So the decision to attend UA was fairly easy, getting reassurance from others in the program -- including his brother; former Chaparral coach Charlie Ragle, who is now Arizona's tight ends coach, and former Chaparral players DaVonte' Neal and Connor Brewer.
"I have a very good relationship with Coach Ragle, so I trust everything he says," Wood said.
Then he added: "It's cool to be playing for people you know and people you know care about you and want the best for you."
Notable
Arizona released its injury report and reported senior running back Terris Jones-Grigsby and starting guard Jacob Alsadek as questionable for Thursday's game with ankle injuries. Linebacker Derrick Turituri is out with a concussion
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