Only 6 days to Arizona 🏈 Kickoff #6 is Chuck Cecil 🚨 SIX DAYS 🚨

[GoCatZ]

Chuck Cecil, the author of arguably the greatest play in school history — the 106-yard interception return against Rose Bowl-bound Arizona State in 1986 (see video below) — was one of the most-feared hitters in conference history.

His senior season — 136 tackles, nine interceptions, 12 pass break-ups — hardly could have been better.

His story line was as good as his stats. Belying the violence of his hits, he was a self-described "geeky student" who wanted to go Stanford. But when the Cardinal declined to offer a scholarship late in the recruiting process, Cecil turned to UA, which had run out of full rides. So, Cecil walked on, weighing 148 pounds.

Cecil became a rock star in Tucson, known as the "Heat-Seeking Missile." He moved into the starting lineup as a redshirt sophomore in 1985, when he had already become "the heart" of the defense, coach Larry Smith said at the time.

Cecil intercepted four passes in a 1987 game against Stanford, and said he could have doubled that total.


"After the game, watching film, I was very disappointed because I really, truly should have had no less than six easily," he said in 2009. "Two were blatant drops. I could have had upwards of eight if I had done what I was supposed to do and made a reasonable play.

"And, possibly, if I had done something special, nine."

His 392 tackles rank seventh in school history, and he was a two-time first-team academic All-American.

Cecil polished his legacy with his performances against Arizona State. He clinched the 1985 win with an interception in the final minute. He forced a fumble at the UA 1-yard line to halt an ASU first-quarter drive and had the epic interception return in the 1986 victory. He intercepted a pass late in the first half that led to a field goal and recovered a muffed punt snap with 13 seconds left to set up the tying field goal in 1987.

"When a lot of people think of Arizona football and they think about excellence, they think of Chuck Cecil," said Dick Tomey, who coached Cecil during his senior season.

Duane Akina, UA's secondary coach in 1987, has coached three Jim Thorpe Award winners and 28 defensive backs who played in the NFL. He said this about Cecil in 2009:

"I would say Chuck had the most dynamic personality of anybody I've coached. He probably affected his teammates more than any player I've had. That is true leadership. I have never coached another like him who could carry the classroom to the field and who was so damn tough."

[GoCatZ]