Brian Chacon figures he’ll be an engineer, a businessman or both in a few years. Ask Chacon about his favorite classes, and he talks upper-division
physics.
For now, however, the UA junior’s routine is brilliantly basic: Squat, snap
and block. Chacon, 20, will open the season as the Arizona Wildcats’ designated “short-snapper.” The walk-on will handle field goals and PATs for a special teams unit that figures to be under intense scrutiny after missed kicks cost the team at least one win in 2010.
The 6-foot-4-inch, 280-pound Chacon said he’s ready for the challenge – even though it comes with last season’s baggage. “I’m excited,” he said. “I’m ready to take on the responsibilities. This is where they need me.”
Here’s a look at the UA’s new snapper, where he came from and why Chacon’s teammates and coaches believe he’ll be a success this fall:
* How he got here: Chacon was a highly touted offensive lineman and 4.3 GPA student at Long Beach (Calif.) Cypress High School when fate – or at least a good connection – intervened. Chacon’s favorite teacher, Dana Ursich, went to college with UA defensive ends coach and special teams coordinator Jeff Hammerschmidt’s wife, Felicity.
Knowing that Chacon was looking for a school, Ursich brought the player and coach together. “She said, ‘My best friend’s husband is the special teams coach at Arizona,’” Chacon said. “She called, I sent my film and here I am.” Chacon was accepted to the UA in 2009 and awarded a partial academic scholarship. While Chacon doesn’t credit the Hammerschmidt connection alone for his decision, he said it helped to have a familiar face in Tucson.
* A bad break: Chacon joined the team as a walk-on with hopes of both
snapping and playing the offensive line. Within a few months, however,
doctors diagnosed him with a broken bone in his right hand. The kicker:
Chacon’s injury was two years old. “I broke it my junior year of high school, I guess, but I didn’t know it was broken until I came here and they started feeling around,” he said. “I had surgery that October, so I couldn’t really snap. I was just playing the O-line with the cast on.”
* Opportunity knocks: A healthy Chacon spent the 2010 season as a backup to true freshman Chase Gorham before being named first-string “short snapper” during spring drills. Chacon’s size makes him ideally suited to snap on field goals and PATs, where defensive players often try to rush up the middle to get blocks.
Chacon has done “a great, great job,” Hammerschmidt said. “He was the best one in the spring, the best one coming out of the spring and the best one so far this fall,” he said.
* A departure: Gorham left the UA two weeks ago for what coach Mike Stoops said were personal reasons. Though the departure won’t likely affect
Chacon’s playing time – David Highberger will likely handle punts – it will
change his daily routine. As the team’s only scholarship player at snapper,
Gorham was a practice leader. “Chase was always right there over my shoulder,” Chacon said. “If I messed up, he was always there to tell me to put the ball where it needed to be.”
* Inked up: Chacon is easy to recognize, sporting a full-color tattoo that
spans his right calf. The ink, which took a year to complete, is a tribute
to Chacon’s cultural heritage: His mother is the daughter of Dutch
immigrants, while his father’s family hails from Mexico. The tattoo includes
images of wooden shoes, a windmill, the Statue of Liberty and an eagle.
* Ready to play: Chacon jokes that he gets asked about the UA’s special
teams all the time. Every request gets the same response. “I tell them we’re working hard every day,” he said. With Chacon, it’s more than lip service. He organized voluntary offseason workouts for the snappers, and has been a leader so far in training camp.
Chacon is “a great student, a team guy and a do-whatever-it-takes guy,”
Hammerschmidt said. “If he had to chop his leg off to help the team, he would,” Hammerschmidt said. “He’s awesome.”