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Riley Wilson - AZ - "Is going to be a household name in Tucson by end of the season", say his coach

M

mthoopsfan

Well-known member

Article in SI.com​

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"Arizona Transfer Riley Wilson Comes Full Circle Against Hawaii​

University of Arizona transfer linebacker Riley Wilson will see his career take a 360 degree turn when the Wildcats take on Hawaii in the season opener; Wilson started his college career with the Rainbows.​

Arizona Wildcats linebacker Riley Wilson was a pretty hot commodity coming out of Montana. Arizona defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales reached out to various people in the coaching industry that he knew to gather information on Wilson.

Wilson's head coach at Montana was Bobby Hauck. Hauck coached with Gonzales at San Diego State. The two hooked up and traded notes. Hauck told Gonzales that Wilson was a transfer kid that was worth fighting for.

“I had someone I really trust in this business validate him before I ever talked to him, so it made it simple,” Gonzales said to tucson.com.

Wilson said Gonzales' recruiting tactics were as aggressive as his defensive prowess."

Wilson “is a tough sucker and he’s got great leadership skills,” Gonzales said.

Wilson signed with Arizona in December. He has lived up to the hype. He is as good as Hauck said he was.

“Riley Wilson is going to be a household name in Tucson by the end of the season,” Gonzales said. “He’s got some dynamic things he can do both on and off the football and he’s smart. I’ve yelled at him four or five times over the last two days about not running into somebody because we’re not even in pads. It’s great to have to slow him down.”

https://www.si.com/college/arizona/...ales-riley-wilson-san-diego-state-bobby-hauck
 
Riley Wilson is one of the best at what he does that I have seen at Montana in the last 50 years. He was great here. The Griz were lucky to have him on their roster. I project he will flourish playing FB at the next levels as long as his health & lack of injury holds out
 
SoCal Surfer said:
Riley Wilson is one of the best at what he does that I have seen at Montana in the last 50 years. He was great here. The Griz were lucky to have him on their roster. I project he will flourish playing FB at the next levels as long as his health & lack of injury holds out
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He was not in the same league as Biermann. It's funny that these guys think they are going to leave and suddenly get noticed.
 
HikeGlacier said:
He was not in the same league as Biermann. It's funny that these guys think they are going to leave and suddenly get noticed.
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He's already been noticed by his new coach, staff and teammates. Do you read before you post? And Colter says Wilson got a nice chunk of NIL at AZ.

“Riley Wilson is going to be a household name in Tucson by the end of the season,” Gonzales said. “He’s got some dynamic things he can do both on and off the football and he’s smart."
 
mthoopsfan said:
He's already been noticed by his new coach, staff and teammates. Do you read before you post? And Colter says Wilson got a nice chunk of NIL at AZ.

“Riley Wilson is going to be a household name in Tucson by the end of the season,” Gonzales said. “He’s got some dynamic things he can do both on and off the football and he’s smart."
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Hasn't played a down yet and was not dominant in the Big Sky. Perhaps with better coaching, he'll improve. He went backwards last year.
 
This is from Wilson's Arizona roster bio: "Rated the No. 3 overall edge rusher in the FCS 2026 draft class by Pro Football Focus with an 83.5 overall grade entering the season... Was named the No. 6 best linebacker in the FCS"

"Riley Wilson, who played three seasons at Hawaii and two at Montana before transferring to Arizona during the offseason, has the second-highest Pro Football Focus grade among returning linebackers in the Big XII. Wilson was a Football Championship Subdivision All-American at Montana in 2024.

Wilson received an 86.7 grade from Pro Football Focus during the 2024 season. Austin Romaine of Kansas State is the only returning Big XII LB in 2025 who received a higher PFF grade. Wilson had 83 tackles, 11.5 for loss, 4.5 sacks and two passes defended for Montana in 2024."

zonazealots.com

Riley Wilson PFF 2nd highest-graded Big XII returning linebacker

Montana transfer Riley Wilson has the second-best graded returning linebackers in the Big XII in 2025.
zonazealots.com zonazealots.com
 
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HikeGlacier said:
He was not in the same league as Biermann. It's funny that these guys think they are going to leave and suddenly get noticed.
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Since Kroy Biermann is no longer in football, he is in no one else's league.
I don't see anyone on here comparing Riley Wilson to anyone, all I see is well wishes on seeking an opportunity to improve and play at the next level.
Doug Betters (RIP) was a good player we had that left and went to Nevada-Reno. He is still pretty respected around here. He contributed to building Washington-Grizzly Stadium and even Joe Robbie, owner of the Dolphins who Betters played for, made a contribution that he would not have otherwise.
There is a long list of guys like this who played here and then went somewhere else, some for not good reasons, others for very good ones.
I see nothing to lead me to believe Riley Wilson went to Arizona for any other reason than to improve himself. Yet you want to hate that.
 
mthoopsfan said:
He went forward from UM and is doing very well. I suppose you think you know more than the AZ coach. You don’t understand football nor know anything about Griz football. One dumb comment after another other.
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He went forward. He was the second All-Big Sky two years in a row. I'm guessing the UA coach thinks that with better coaching, he'll meet his expectations.
 
Griz in Texas said:
Since Kroy Biermann is no longer in football, he is in no one else's league.
I don't see anyone on here comparing Riley Wilson to anyone, all I see is well wishes on seeking an opportunity to improve and play at the next level.
Doug Betters (RIP) was a good player we had that left and went to Nevada-Reno. He is still pretty respected around here. He contributed to building Washington-Grizzly Stadium and even Joe Robbie, owner of the Dolphins who Betters played for, made a contribution that he would not have otherwise.
There is a long list of guys like this who played here and then went somewhere else, some for not good reasons, others for very good ones.
I see nothing to lead me to believe Riley Wilson went to Arizona for any other reason than to improve himself. Yet you want to hate that.
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I agree with you that he wanted to get better coaching.
 
Griz in Texas said:
Since Kroy Biermann is no longer in football, he is in no one else's league.
I don't see anyone on here comparing Riley Wilson to anyone, all I see is well wishes on seeking an opportunity to improve and play at the next level.
Doug Betters (RIP) was a good player we had that left and went to Nevada-Reno. He is still pretty respected around here. He contributed to building Washington-Grizzly Stadium and even Joe Robbie, owner of the Dolphins who Betters played for, made a contribution that he would not have otherwise.
There is a long list of guys like this who played here and then went somewhere else, some for not good reasons, others for very good ones.
I see nothing to lead me to believe Riley Wilson went to Arizona for any other reason than to improve himself. Yet you want to hate that.
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There is virtually no defensive player in the history of UM that stacks up to Biermann.
 
HikeGlacier said:
He went forward. He was the second All-Big Sky two years in a row. I'm guessing the UA coach thinks that with better coaching, he'll meet his expectations.
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Look at the other stats he achieved. See what's in his AZ bio. He certainly didn't go backward. The team and the D did. Wilson has more speed and more desire than most players. I know him fairly well. I hope he does well. From what the AZ coach said in the interview, he believes Bobby is a terrific coach. Hauck is: "University of Montana head coach Bobby Hauck will lead the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) in 2025 as president of the organization." That position isn't given to bad coaches or coaches who aren't very well-respected.
 
HikeGlacier said:
There is virtually no defensive player in the history of UM that stacks up to Biermann.
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Virtually there's not? So, what you're saying is in reality there is.
That discussion is too subjective to reach a conclusion where everyone here could ever agree. Particularly someone like you that wants to make such comments. I doubt the Arizona staff would say what they are saying about him if he wasn't well coached at Montana.
 
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