With Arizona promoting Danny Gonzales to defensive coordinator, it left the linebacker coaching job open. It was filled by Josh Bringuel, who used to play for Gonzales back at San Diego State.
“One of his elite traits is being able to relate to his players and relate to his coaches, he’s a great person,” Bringuel said on Gonzales.
Bringuel may not have had a lustrous career as a player—injuries limited his time on the field from 2016-19—but he knew that he wanted to be a coach from the beginning.
“I always was a decent athlete, but I was always elitely focused on the schematics of it,” Bringuel said. “I mean, coaches are great teachers, so I always knew I either wanted to coach at this level if I got the opportunity.”
During spring practices, Bringuel has been instilling the mindset of dominant contact into his linebacker room. He wants his players to be physically dominant.
“We run to the ball and we are going to strike people,” Bringuel said. “We’re going to strike people. We’re going to play with violence.”
For some players it’s hard to put trust into their coaches, but since Bringuel has literally played in this system, his linebackers have been able to buy into what he has been coaching.
“I think that that’s one way that I’ve been able to build trust,” Bringuel said. “I’ve been exactly in your shoes, I’ve run that exact Blitz, I’ve played that exact coverage.”
One of those players that has bought into the system and coaching is junior linebacker Taye Brown. Last season, Brown 69 tackles, one forced fumble, and a fumble recovery as a sophomore.
Brown is a guy that Bringuel wants to let it loose and play with that dominant contact mindset that has been repeated at all spring practices.
“For him, one of the things that we talked about was playing with that consistent, dominant contact, because he’s a big, strong, physical guy, and needs to let it loose,” Bringuel said.
Having a coach that brings as much passion as Bringuel does is something that Brown values and respects. For him it’s easy to play for a coach like that.
“He’s just a great coach, he comes out with a lot of energy,” Brown said. “You see him running around out there, chasing us to run to the ball. He’s huge on that, running to the ball. Just playing with effort, playing with dominant contact,”
The guy who will more than likely be playing alongside Brown come fall camp is senior and Texas State transfer Max Harris.
Being able to play at a school like Arizona is something that Harris has worked his whole career for and does not take the opportunity lightly. The ‘Bear Down Brotherhood’ is also something that Harris was drawn to when choosing where to transfer to.
“Ever since I was a little kid I just wanted to challenge myself to play at the power four level.” Harris said. “The opportunity that Tucson brought me, the brotherhood that they brought me and offered me open arms, that’s what brought me.”
When it comes to the linebacker group as a whole, Harris acknowledges that his playing style might be different from the rest of the group. It’s something he appreciates about the group.
“I love the fact that we bring a lot of different things, we’re really dynamic, we all bring something different,” Harris said.
Something that the defense might bring come fall is the possibility of playing with three linebackers at a time. This is something that both Harris and Brown are looking forward to.
“I’m really, really excited for three linebacker set because I feel like we got some some dudes at linebacker this year,” Brown said. “I feel like we could, we should all be out there on the field, coach G says it a lot.”
One thing that Brown, Harris and the rest of the linebackers group has brought from day one of spring ball is intentional preparedness.
This has allowed for Bringuel to ingrain the mindset he wants into his linebackers.
“They were ready to go,” Bringuel said. “They are really intentional with how much they care and they want to be great. As a coach, that’s all you can ask for. Guys that come intentional every day put forth that effort, and they do a phenomenal job of taking coaching points.”
Spring ball wraps up tomorrow when Arizona puts on its spring showcase.
However, this is going to need to be a ‘no days off’ offseason for the Wildcats if they want to improve on their 2024 campaign.