Three Arizona Wildcats defensive players who worked closely with Marcel Yates used some variation of the same word to describe their reaction to his dismissal:
They were shocked.
“It kind of came out of nowhere,” junior safety Scottie Young Jr. said Tuesday.
UA coach Kevin Sumlin on Sunday fired Yates with four games to go in his fourth season as defensive coordinator. Linebackers coach John Rushing also was let go.
The changes came after Arizona lost 41-31 at Stanford on Saturday. It was the Wildcats’ third consecutive defeat and the third straight game in which they allowed 41 or more points.