As we continue to look ahead to the upcoming football season we will today focus on a group that has been impacted more than most when it comes to departures. Arizona's safety group has come under plenty of scrutiny over the years and has been a focal point for some of the defense's biggest struggles in recent seasons. The group has gone through plenty of coaching changes and will do so once again this year in addition to a changing scheme that will bring different responsibilities for the unit. Change is the theme of the offseason for the UA safety group that will have to lean on some new faces to make up for key losses.

Another coaching staff change on the defensive side of the ball in addition to a scheme change meant movement for the safety group this offseason. The decisions by Arizona safeties to leave the program started soon after the season and continued into the spring and early summer. Players such as Scottie Young Jr. Xavier Bell, Troy Young and Chacho Ulloa all decided to leave the program and enter the transfer portal to find a new home where they will finish their college careers.

All four of those players contributed to the Wildcats over the course of their careers with Scottie Young Jr. being a starter for most of his time in Tucson. Yes, the move to the 3-4 scheme under new coordinator Paul Rhoads means the Wildcats will need fewer safeties on the field than they did in the 3-3-5 or 4-2-5 defenses that dominated the last decade, but now UA has gone from having too many safeties to potentially not enough.

The changes mean the Wildcats will have to lean on players who will have bigger roles than ever before and it could mean movement in the secondary under new position coach Greg Burns who is taking over for Demetrice Martin after his decision to leave UA for Colorado this spring.

Burns will be in charge of the entire defensive back unit, as Martin was, and his task will be to make the most of what he has available to him at the safety spot.