Arizona Wildcats coach Rich Rodriguez said his team will participate in “the most unconventional spring practice in college football this year” – and not just because the UA’s spring practice starts in winter.

The fact that spring ball begins Feb. 5 is unusual in and of itself, and we’ll circle back to the pros and cons of that in a bit. What Rodriguez was referring to was the type of work he plans to get done.

In short: The Wildcats will spend most of their time doing individual drills – fundamentals and techniques, blocking and tackling. They will spend just a fraction of their time doing “team” drills – i.e., running plays.

“I might not even have a spring game,” Rodriguez said, although an open-to-the-public scrimmage is scheduled for Friday, March 4.

He described team drills as “the most overrated part of spring football” and individual work as “critical.”

“I haven’t finished all the spring schedules yet, but we’ll have a practice where we do no team periods at all,” Rodriguez said. “It’ll be all fundamental work for two hours.”

The impetus for this philosophical shift? In part, it’s what Rodriguez believes in.