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RANCHO RESORT
MAINTANANCE POSITION

Mike Stoops built his reputation by retooling and tweaking cranky defenses.

His latest task will be a complete reconstruction, beginning with today's first spring practice.

The Arizona Wildcats football team must replace eight starters from last year's team, including Thorpe Award winner Antoine Cason and All-Pac-10 linebacker Spencer Larsen.

Stoops hopes to have a few fixtures in place by the April 12 spring game, although he admittedly will not have all the answers. The Wildcats will look to a handful of returning lettermen, redshirt freshmen and midseason transfers to boost a unit that sagged last season.

"We don't have guys to rely on, and that's OK — as long as we play well as a team," Stoops said. "We have to be a good team and rely on each other, probably more so now than ever."

Stoops is hopeful Arizona can overcome its lack of star power with a workmanlike devotion to his three tenets of defense: attitude, effort and preparation. Last year's team struggled with all and finished with a 5-7 record.

"That's a big part of it on defense, playing hard," Stoops said. "I think we lost our way a little bit, and we have to get back to our grass roots as a defense, learning how to play hard every time we get on the field."

Here are some prospects and plot lines to watch as the Cats tune up (see more inside):

● "Hammertime!": Stoops reached into Arizona's past — and scored some major PR points — by hiring former safety Jeff Hammerschmidt as the new special teams coach. "Hammer" was a fan-favorite during his playing days; he will bring the same passion to coaching.

● Big fellas: Arizona corralled three junior college offensive linemen totaling 1,005 pounds during the off-season. Phil Garcia, Mike Diaz and Herman Hall should all compete for playing time this fall.

● No. 5: Starting tailback Nicolas Grigsby will take the field with a new jersey number after wearing No. 23 as true freshman. Grigsby idolized former Reggie Bush when he was at USC: Now they will wear the same number.

● QB Bryson Beirne: Starter Willie Tuitama calls Beirne his "little brother," and not just because the two look amazingly alike. Beirne has impressed coaches with his physical gifts and mental toughness. He will get some attention in camp before the summer arrival of Matt Scott.

● DE D'Aundre Reed: Reed struggled with injuries and inconsistency as a redshirt freshman in 2007. He has the size and power to be an all-conference player.

● FS Brandon Tatum. Many of his teammates believe Tatum, a former starter, is the Wildcats' biggest hitter. He will need to deliver a few blows if he hopes to unseat Nate Ness at free safety.

The NCAA allows each team to practice 15 times during the spring in preparation for the upcoming season.

Arizona will practice four times before Thursday, then take 10 days off for spring break. Practices resume March 24. The Wildcats' spring game is 1:30 p.m. on April 12 at Arizona Stadium.