Rich Rodriguez's usual routine on national signing day is to sit by the fax machine and wait for the commitments to roll in.
This year, the Arizona coach was able to hand-deliver one commitment himself.
Rodriguez joined his family with son Rhett to sign a national letter of intent at a ceremony at nearby Catalina Foothills High School on Wednesday, leaving the Wildcats coach with the easiest signing of his career.
"I've seen it from the other side, way on the other side, standing by a fax machine," Rich Rodriguez said. "I'm not worried about faxing this one. I'll just carry it to the office in a few minutes."
Rhett Rodriguez is a three-star quarterback who was expected to be one of two quarterbacks in Arizona's 2017 class. When four-star prospect Braxton Burmeister signed with Oregon, that left the younger Rodriguez as the only signal caller in the class.
The 6-foot-1 dual-threat quarterback says he knows about 90 percent of Arizona's offense already and will be one of three scholarship quarterbacks after Anu Solomon opted to transfer.
"I wouldn't sign anybody or bring anybody into the program if I didn't think they could contribute and play," Rich Rodriguez said.
Other things to know about Arizona's recruiting class:
Top 25 Class: No
Best in class: RB Nathan Tilford. A four-star running back from Ontario, California, is the highest-rated player in the class - 17th nationally at his position by the 247Sports composite - and is already enrolled at Arizona, giving him a head start for his freshman season.
Best of the rest: DT Sione Taufahema. Arizona needed some heft up front on defense and at 6-1, 310 pounds the junior college transfer will certainly give them that.
Late addition: My-King Johnson. The defensive end from Tempe committed to UCLA in early January, but flipped after an in-home visit by Rodriguez last month. He gives the Wildcats a superb pass rusher and a nice in-state get for Rodriguez.
One that got away: Burmeister.
How they'll fit in: Arizona has been one of the Pac-12's worst defensive teams under Rodriguez, but could start to move the needle a little with this class. The 23-player class includes 15 on defense, with six of those being linebackers.
___
For the full list: www.arizonawildcats.com
___
More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
(Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
