Pac-12: Mike Stoops out as Arizona Coach

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After slipping to a 1-5 record so far in 2011, and an overall 1-10 in their last 11 games dating back to October of last year, Arizona has finally fired head coach Mike Stoops.

Stoops came over from Oklahoma, where he had been the defensive coordinator under his brother Bob Stoops, head coach of the Sooners.

Upon arriving in Tuscon in 2004, Stoops was tasked with resuscitating the Arizona Wildcats out of the dumpster and back into national relevance. It took him four years to bring them to their first bowl game since 1998. He followed that with two more bowl appearances.

In a tribute to his efforts, here are the top ten players of the Mike Stoops era.

10) Nick Folk

He is No. 10 on the list only because he's a kicker, but everyone in Tucson wishes they could have him in the red and blue right about now.

Nick Folk was one of Mike Stoops's best kickers. That's saying an awful lot considering Stoops is renowned for having a justifiable lack of trust in kickers.

Folk's best year in Arizona was in 2006 when he made seven out of 11 field goals. 

In the NFL, Folk has posted a field goal percentage of 79.5, with his career long coming from 56 yards.

9) Trevin Wade

Trevin Wade is one of two current Arizona Wildcats on this list.

Wade has 11 interceptions so far in his career but looks to have peaked in his sophomore year, with nine of them coming from his first two years.

8) Cam Nelson

Cam Nelson was the captain in 2009 when the Arizona Wildcats took their Rose Bowl hopes all the way until their 11th game of the season, when they ran up against Oregon.  

Cam posted 186 career tackles during his time with the Wildcats. He has remained within the program as Coordinator of Operations.

7) Brooks Reed

Brooks Reed was the fiercest figure to play on the Arizona defensive line in a long time.

In his four years, he accumulated 114 tackles, including 25 for a loss and 17 sacks. He was drafted in the second round by the Houston Texans, and is being converted to outside linebacker.

6) Ricky Elmore

Ricky Elmore is a future play maker in the Green Bay Packers' organization.

While with Arizona, he led the then-Pac 10 in sacks. He posted a total of 24.5 sacks in his two years as a starter for the Wildcats.

5) Willie Tuitama

Willie Tuitama was recruited by Mike Stoops in time for the 2005 season.

He was the starter during all four years and in his senior year, he won the Vegas Bowl by beating No. 16 BYU. Willie is on top of the record books with 9,211 career passing yards.

4) Nick Foles

Nick Foles is likely to surpass Willie Tuitama's total in passing yards and he would have done it in only three seasons.

His completion percentage last year was 67.1 percent and this year it's 71.5 percent in the first six games.

He is rated this highly because he could finally be Arizona's NFL representative at quarterback. The Wildcats had great position players in the NFL have never sent a quarterback to the league. Until now.

3) Mike Thomas

Mike Thomas is the best receiver in the Mike Stoops era.

He was Tuitama's main target for four years where the two connected for 3,231 yards and 22 touchdowns. He is in his third season with the Jacksonville Jaguars and has wasted little time becoming the franchise wide receiver. He already has over 1,000 receiving yards in his first two seasons with the club.

2) Rob Gronkowski

Rob Gronkowski may have only played two years in Arizona, but the big tight end scored 16 touchdowns and helped make Willie Tuitama Arizona's top passer.

In the NFL, he is one of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's top targets. He caught 10 touchdowns in his rookie year and has five touchdowns already in 2011. He could be the next Tony Gonzalez.

1) Antoine Cason

Antoine Cason is Mike Stoops' prized player.

He was around for the entire rebuilding process in Arizona and its a shame that he wasn't able to play one more year. He had 15 career interceptions and returned three of them for touchdowns.

In his senior year he won the Jim Thorpe Award as being the best defensive back in the country.

Cason currently has eight interceptions in his four years with the San Diego Chargers and has finally secured the starting job for himself alongside longtime Chargers corner Quentin Jammer.