Arizona wants some more help behind middle linebacker Colin Schooler who played a team-high 846 defensive snaps in the 2018 season. Schooler led the team in tackles and is vital to the success of the defense, but he also played the final game of last season on the same week he lost 12 pounds due to an illness.

He probably shouldn't have been on the field that week against Arizona State, but the Wildcats didn't have many options behind him. Now the UA coaching staff is hoping it does after moving safety Day Day Coleman over to middle linebacker to work with Schooler. The plan right now is to have Coleman ready to go for the season so that he can give Schooler a much-needed break.

The move from safety to linebacker is not an uncommon one especially at Arizona. It's one of those moves that has led to success for the Wildcats. Paul Magloire and Marquis Flowers both made the move in the last several years for the Wildcats and both ended up getting an opportunity to play in the NFL.

There is a precedent there and right now Arizona is hopeful the move with Coleman can lead to another success story on the defensive side of the ball.

"We've got some safeties and he's played a little bit last year before he got hurt," Kevin Sumlin said this week of his redshirt freshman linebacker. "He was really effective. And, also, it changes when you get to be 222 pounds like he is right now. ... He's shown us on special teams his ability to play and do that. Depth at linebacker is a big deal.

"He'll be a great special teams player for like he was last year, but we also need to be able to get Schooler off the field some more. ... If we can get him to come along now we've got an athletic rotation that's physical and big enough to play in this league."

Coming out of high school there were certainly programs that thought Coleman was a great fit at linebacker, and for defensive coordinator Marcel Yates the transition and decision has been a natural one that could make an important impact on depth with the linebacker unit in turn giving the defense more flexibility as a whole.

"It just happened naturally with the kid getting bigger and faster," Yates said this week. "We just felt like we needed a two-deep at that spot. For the last two years Schooler has played a lot of snaps, so with the season being as long as it is and being how much we play you need to have a strong two-deep."

Schooler has welcomed the addition of Coleman to the linebacker room not only for the extra rest it will bring to the junior middle linebacker but for what the former safety can teach him about what goes on in the secondary of the UA defense as well.

"I like Day Day," Schooler said. "Day Day is a lot of fun to be with. He's fun to work with, too. He's always wanting to learn. He's always in the film room, on the chalkboard getting extra work in. He played safety so he knows a lot about coverages, so he's talking to me about what the safeties are taught and what they're looking at and their keys.

"So, it works hand in hand. I teach him some stuff and he teaches me some stuff, too."

Coleman played in Arizona's first three games during his freshman season in 2018 and showed a knack for making tackles with 11 tackles in those three games played. However, he injured his knee in the win over Southern Utah early in the year forcing the Wildcats to shut him down and cutting Coleman's first season short.

Now, the Dallas native will get his opportunity to play an important role for the UA defense in 2019.