Cecil came to Tucson in 1983 a 6-0, 148, walk-on safety from La Mesa, CA. He graduated 5 years later as the #2 player in Arizona Wildcat history (according to some guy named Anthony Gimino who I came across on the worldwide interwebs), the star of the greatest play in school history, and 1 of 2 players in school history to be a 3 time Academic All-American. Oh, and he also ended up in the College Football Hall of Fame. Not bad for a too skinny walk-on.
Here are some of excerpts from Gimino's article linked above:
Honors, accomplishments at UA: Consensus All-American in 1987. … Second-team All-American in 1986 by the Sporting News. … His 21 career interceptions rank first in school and Pac-12 history. … Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year in 1987. … Two-time first-team all-conference selection and a second-team pick as a sophomore. … Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2009.
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 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.”
Cecil perfected his vicious, hard hitting style once he got to the NFL. People noticed! He played 8 years in the NFL primarily for Green Bay where he was an All-Pro in 1992. He finished his career with 16 interceptions and an undetermined number of players who can't remember when Cecil hit them. But every Wildcat fan remembers (or has been told about) Cecil's most famous play.
Chuck is starting his 2nd year as Arizona's defensive backs coach. He is as passionate about coaching as he was about playing football.