Eric Sorenson
Well, that sure didn’t take long.
To say former ArizonaVarsity.com intern and Boulder Creek High alum Andrew Morgan has fast-tracked his way into the college football world would be an understatement.
The 21-year-old, who recently served as Idaho’s Assistant Director of Football Recruiting, was hired last weekend as Arizona’s Recruiting Operations Coordinator.
His fast success in the industry certainly isn’t by accident.
Morgan, an Arizona alum, who served as a recruiting assistant under Jedd Fisch, and current head coach Brent Brennan, sat down with the “Zone Read” to talk about his return to the Old Pueblo, high school recruiting in Arizona, the ever-changing landscape in college football, and much more.
When did you first know you wanted to get into this line of work? “That dates back to probably the last time we spoke (laughing). When I was in high school working for Arizona Varsity, I thought I was going to be a journalist. I really didn’t know that this existed, and this was a possibility as an undergrad student.
I had the opportunity to go to Arizona and intern there for three years. I loved every second of that but it wasn’t until they reached out to me that I knew that this was even a possibility. That’s kind of how it started.
“When I got to Arizona, I was super naive to the process and what it looked like from this side. You grow up watching the NFL Draft and the NFL Combine and seeing what it looks like on an NFL stage, but it really looks a lot different on a college stage. I had no clue what that looked like at all (laughing). I was quickly exposed to a lot of things at once. I saw every piece of the recruiting calendar. Saw what Pro Days look like and what game days looked like…I was helping at a very basic level, what I was doing day-to-day. It was just a lot of baseline film [evaluations] and creating recruiting cut-ups.
“You kind of think of it as the ground floor, and then you send it up the elevator.”
What are going to be your main priorities and workflow at UofA? Will you be working under Fletcher Kelly? “Yes, I’ll be working under him. I loved working for Fletch in 2024. He got there under Brennan and hit the ground running. I’m really excited to be back with [Kelly]. He’s really good. He’s probably the best evaluator I’ve been around – just in terms of scouting. He’s a big reason why Arizona is doing so well right now, in terms of being able to flip the roster from last year to this year.”
How did you end up at Idaho? “I had an opportunity there, and I will forever be grateful to Coach Ford [Idaho head coach Thomas Ford]. I met Coach Ford at the PXU Showcase right after COVID – spring of ’21, I think. Coach Ford walked up to me, tapped me on the shoulder. I knew exactly who he was and he, of course, had no clue who I was, but asked me about a couple of kids on the field that day. We ended up talking the entire time and just stayed in touch from there.
“I then got the call after he got the head job at Idaho. That’s how that happened…I still care about Idaho. I want them to win a lot of football games. I loved that place.”
Grateful for the 2025 ITE crew. This group challenged me in ways I’ve never been challenged before. Love y’all. pic.twitter.com/ik73Q9KYnG
— Andrew Morgan (@AJMorganFB) December 8, 2025
*Editor’s note: Ford was previously Idaho’s special teams coordinator and running backs coach before getting the head coaching job in December of 2024.
Home. 🐻⬇️
— Andrew Morgan (@AJMorganFB) December 13, 2025
Was the goal always to come back to UofA? “It was not my plan at all, really. But I did miss Tucson. There’s some really good people here, and it’s really cool to be able to be back around those guys. Some of my best friends are here.”
I think we could all see when you were interning for Arizona Varsity that you would be fast-tracking up some pretty steep mountains in the industry. With that being said, if we would have told you then you’d be where you are today at age 21, would you have believed it? “No. I wouldn’t have believed it at all (laughing). I think a couple of years ago I realized I wasn’t sure if there was another career path for me. At Arizona the first time I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m not sure what I’d do without football.’ At the time, that was kind of a scary place to be.
“But, at the same time, there’s nothing I’d rather be doing. I say all the time: ‘I get to do this.’ I wake up every morning and watch football. That’s a pretty awesome job and I’m not sure how much better it can get. I will never lose sight of that and I will always be grateful for the opportunities that I have. I definitely didn’t think I’d be in this position at all.
Source: Andrew Morgan will be Arizona’s new Recruiting Operations Coordinator, a role that includes scouting. He comes from Idaho, where he helped lure a top FCS class in his first year there. He’s an Arizona graduate who worked in football there as an undergraduate. pic.twitter.com/azbQ7AWfwg
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 13, 2025
“Also, it’s not the end of the road for me. I want to win. There’s nothing more than I want than to win football games and help us do that.”
Your dad, Kyle, has been doing this scouting thing for quite some time. Do you consider him a mentor, a peer, or maybe, both? “(laughing) He jokes that he’s just waiting for me to hire him someday. I always say, ‘No, no – we’re not doing that.’ But I will say, that is absolutely the dream, and we’ve said it the entire time: someday, we’ll be in the same building together, and that will be really cool.
Proud of you kid.
Dream it then go and build it.Can you believe you GET to do this?! https://t.co/mceKYNgL1m pic.twitter.com/PxO6Zf8ZmA
— Kyle Morgan CATAPULT Southwest Area Scout (@KyleMorgan_XOS) December 13, 2025
“It was really cool, when he was at ASU in 2017-18, that was kind of my first exposure to it…that’s kind of how he got his start, as well. I enjoyed just being in the building and being around it. I learned from some people that are still around and are at UofA. Bobby Wade was in that building. Danny Gonzales was in that building. That’s unreal now.
“I still lean on guys like Danny and Bobby Wade everyday for advice. There’s so much to learn from them. That’s been a cool byproduct of my dad being around this [career], as well.”
Tucson restaurant you missed most when you were living in Moscow, Idaho? “Ohhh. I’ll have one chain, and one non-chain.
“I did miss In-N-Out. I think there’s one In-N-Out in Idaho. It’s in Boise which was five-and-a-half hours away so, never made it there.
“Non-chain, there’s this small taco truck across the street from where I lived for two of the three years I was in Tucson the first time. That place was awesome. I missed authentic Mexican food. That was the number one thing. Nothing compares to Tucson Mexican food. I would say that’s what I missed the most. It’s gotta be a hole in the wall and you don’t even know what it’s called. Those are the best places.”
Open-ended question here – what are your initial steps when you start evaluating a player? “It really comes down to a frame assessment and then evaluating athleticism.
“There a position-specific critical factors that you’re looking for and traits that you’re looking for but, at the end of the day, height, weight and speed is a great way to start. And then, you kind of go from there.
The Factory. #15of22 #IYKYK https://t.co/9QMhjgtyhy
— Andrew Morgan (@AJMorganFB) November 30, 2025
“I really look at body type and frame composition first. Ideally, you get to see a kid in person but you can still get a pretty good feel on tape. How they move, How they’re built. What’s their weight distrubution like. What type of length do they have.
“Really, you just start at 30,000 feet and then slowly zoom in from there.”
We’ve seen the college game evolve so much in the recent past with NIL, the transfer portal, etc. Do you see that evolution continuing and the game changing even more? “I don’t think there will ever be an end to that. I think if you try to run from it, you’re going to be out of college football pretty fast. You have to embrace it.
“I wish there was a [Collective Bargaining Agreement] and some guard rails put in place. I think that will happen in time. I think that has to happen in time. But I also recognize, if you don’t embrace each change, you’re going to get left behind. You have to learn to adapt on the fly and figure out how to make things work.
“I think it’s a good thing that players can get paid. Now, the market is obviuosly a very evolving thing. Things change every day in terms of what that looks like…I do generally like the direction college football is going.”
Last question – do you feel that Arizona is a Top 10 state for high school football? “100 percent. The amount of power house programs in this state rival the Ohio’s, Georgia’s, and Florida’s of the world. If you were trot out Basha against a top team in the country, they’re going to compete.
“The coaching and the pipeline of development in Arizona is the reason that this state is so good. There are so many coaches in this state who are the best of the best.
“There’s talent at all levels and now you’re seeing kids in Arizona who have lived and breathed football their entire lives and you’re seeing the results of that. You wake up on draft day and you’re seeing kids from Arizona getting drafted. That’s so cool to me.”
