Cody Ippolito has heard the comments from his peers, the fans and the public. And, yes, they haven't been pretty. And, yes, it got old.

“That we sucked,” Ipplito said of the voices taking about Arizona's defense. “That basically, we sucked. That's it.”

He had no true comeback other than to say “that's your opinion” but the proof was in the numbers and they weren't good. Arizona was 10th in the Pac-12 in defense and 114th in the nation. Icy numbers in the desert don't play well or look very good.

“That's the reality,” he admitted.

The defense, apparently, rested.

But that was then and this is now with what is a totally revamped coach group and with a scheme that is very likely to be something other than a 3-3-5 stack defense. That's gone, but not long forgotten.

Now he says, “watch this year. There is nothing we can do about the past.”

It's not there yet and it might take time because all things new “it's a work in progress” as Rich Rodriguez said.

But like Ippolito and many others have said they aren't going to be stuck in the past and “overwhelmed with people telling me that we're not as good. Our team doesn't care what other people think. We will move on.”