Former New Mexico RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt leaves Arizona, commits to Ole Miss (2024)

Jacory Croskey-Merritt will be taking his talents down south to Oxford, Mississippi, instead of Tucson after the New Mexico transfer running back announced his commitment to Ole Miss on his Instagram account Friday afternoon.

Croskey-Merritt announced his commitment to the Rebels the day after the Arizona Wildcats hosted former Oregon State running back Damien Martinez, who is one of the top offensive players available in the transfer portal, for an official visit. Martinez attended Arizona’s spring football practice on Tuesday.

The 5-11, 204-pound Croskey-Merritt was one of Arizona’s top additions through the transfer portal after the UA hired head coach Brent Brennan. Croskey-Merritt was one of two running backs to sign with the Wildcats on National Signing Day in February, along with former San Jose State standout Quali Conley, who is with the team for the spring; Croskey-Merritt’s plan was to join the team in June.

Croskey-Merritt, a Montgomery, Alabama, native, played four seasons at Alabama State before his lone season at New Mexico in 2023, where he rushed for 1,190 yards — which ranked 23rd in college football — and 17 touchdowns. Croskey-Merritt averaged 6.3 yards per carry last season. Croskey-Merritt’s 17 rushing touchdowns ranked fifth nationally; he finished with 18 total touchdowns.

Croskey-Merritt ended the year with a 92.7 offensive grade on Pro Football Focus, which was eighth-best nationally. Arizona running backs coach Alonzo Carter said Croskey-Merritt is “a big-play football player, he’s a do-it-all (player), he can catch the ball, run the ball, block — he does it all.”

The former New Mexico star was expected to be among the leaders of Arizona’s running backs room that is replacing three valuable players between NFL-bound Michael Wiley, DJ Williams and Jonah Coleman, who followed former UA head coach Jedd Fisch and his staff to Washington. Croskey-Merritt, Conley, third-year running back Rayshon Luke, redshirt freshman Brandon Johnson and early enrollee Jordan Washington were the expected scholarship running backs for the Wildcats in 2024.

With Croskey-Merritt leaving Arizona, the Wildcats are in position to add Martinez and potentially keep the other running backs from transferring.

Martinez had 355 carries for 2,167 yards and 16 touchdowns in the last two seasons for the Beavers; he averaged 6.1 yards per carry. The 6-0, 232-pound Martinez was a two-time All-Pac-12 selection and a Doak Walker Award semifinalist at OSU.

Martinez is also visiting Mississippi State, Tennessee, Kentucky and Miami this month.

“Arizona definitely set the tone for the rest of my visits,” Martinez told Athlon Sports. “They’re definitely a contender, or else I wouldn’t waste this visit, but it’s more and better than I expected.”

Martinez also told Athlon Sports that Arizona’s offensive firepower between quarterback Noah Fifita, wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan and others is “the most explosive offense I’ve seen after watching practice.”

“Adding me to the mix ... it would be crazy,” Martinez said.

Martinez’s upcoming decision for his final college destination is “for me to prove I’m the No. 1 back in” the 2025 NFL Draft.

“Money is the last thing I want to talk about, because this move is to set me up for the big money in the league,” Martinez said.

NCAA approves coach-to-player communication

The NCAA oversight committee approved coach-to-player helmet communication in games for the upcoming season on Friday. The committee also approved adding a two-minute warning near the end of the second and fourth quarters. Coaches are also permitted to use tablets in the coaching booth and on the field during games.

The latest additions to college football are all concepts in the NFL. Teams also have the option to signal plays.

Starting this season, each team can have one player on the field with a helmet that’s able to hear coaches; that helmet will be marked with a green decal on the back. The communication from the player to coach will be turned off when the ball is snapped or when there are 15 seconds left on the play clock.

Arizona is in “the early, early, early stages” of coach-to-player communication, Brennan said last week.

“It’s coming, so we have to adapt to it,” Brennan said. “There’s some infrastructure stuff you have to do to the stadium in order to do it. There’s always a start-up to that and it just takes time. I’m not freaking out that we’re not firing on all cylinders in that space yet. ... We’ve got all of fall camp, 25 practices. I’m not feeling any sense of urgency in that one piece.”

Norton visits Texas

Former Arizona defensive tackle Bill Norton, who left the program days before the transfer portal opened, took an official visit to Texas on Friday. Ex-Wildcats defensive tackle Tiaoalii Savea transferred to Texas to join former UA defensive coordinator Johnny Nansen, who is the Longhorns’ co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.

Norton, a 6-6, 325-pounder from Memphis, transferred to Arizona last spring following four seasons at Georgia, where he held a minimal role for the Bulldogs. At Arizona, Norton recorded 32 tackles, 2.5 stops for loss, three pass deflections and two forced fumbles. Norton’s size and gap-filling presence bolstered Arizona’s rushing defense that finished 25th nationally in 2023.

Entering his final year of eligibility, Norton opted to return to Arizona despite the Wildcats’ previous coaching staff leaving for Washington; Norton announced his return on his social media accounts in February, and practiced with the new coaching staff through two-plus weeks this spring.

“The situation we’re in — and everyone in college football is in — is so interesting and so rare,” Brennan said. “We’re all kind of going through it for the first time. I hope everyone stays. I really do. But I think we have a great group of young people here that really care about each other. It really matters to them. People are going to make their own decisions. Those decisions are ones we’re going to have to respect.”

Extra points

Arizona finishes Week 4 of spring practice Saturday morning at 10:20 a.m. at Arizona Stadium.

After missing Tuesday’s practice, cornerback Tacario Davis, wide receiver AJ Jones and linebacker Jacob Manu returned on Thursday. Offensive linemen Raymond Pulido and Matthew Lado remained sidelined for undisclosed reasons. Manu missed the last week of practices with a hand injury and wore a red jersey at practice on Thursday, signifying limited reps due to injury.

With Pulido out, Rhino Tapa’atoutai started at left tackle once again, with Northwestern transfer Alexander Doost as the backup. Phoenix-area native Doost took reps at right guard and right tackle before Thursday.

Junior defensive back Will Uhrich entered the transfer portal on Thursday. The junior from Burlingame, California, played in 19 games as a special teams contributor over the last two seasons.