(TUCSON, AZ) The Tucson Sugar Skulls are pleased to announce that Arizona Wildcats football legend Chuck Cecil, will serve as color commentator for television broadcasts of Sugar Skulls home games. A former NFL defensive coordinator and Pro Bowl player, Cecil will continue to assist the University of Arizona football program as a senior defensive analyst.
All home games will be televised locally on The CW, KWBA, Channel 58, with KGUN news anchor Pat Parris handling the play-by-play. The Sugar Skulls opened their Indoor Football League season last Sunday with a 65-44 victory over the San Diego Strike Force. They play their first-ever home game this Sunday, March 10, at 3 p.m. against the Bismarck Bucks at the Tucson Arena.
Due to a longstanding commitment, Cecil will join the first broadcast mid-game, but will be available for the six remaining home games and any playoff games the Sugar Skulls might host.
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“Chuck’s 30-plus years of football expertise as a coach and player speaks for itself,” said Sugar Skulls Owner Kevin Guy. “From day one it has been our priority to make the Sugar Skulls a real hometown team, and with Chuck’s passion for Tucson and his support of its people and local businesses, we couldn’t be prouder to have someone with his character connected to our organization.”
Cecil has broadcast experience having served as a color commentator for Arizona football telecasts on Fox Sports Net alongside the late Dave Sitton in the late 1990s, and for ESPN in 2011, before joining the St. Louis Rams.
“Talking about Tucson, football and our community alongside Pat, and Kevin had me at hello,” said Cecil. “I needed to get the a-okay from UA and Coach Sumlin and away we go. It’s exciting to have football in the spring and I hope all of Tucson comes out or tunes in to support the Sugar Skulls exciting action on the field – and not so much me in the booth.”
In 2017, Cecil returned to the University of Arizona, as the senior defensive football analyst for the Wildcats. He has worked alongside two coaching staffs to help Arizona become more successful on and off of the field.As an NFL coach, Cecil rose through the ranks working as a defensive coach for 15 seasons to become a defensive coordinator with the Tennessee Titans and the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams. He played seven years in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and Houston Oilers.
In Tucson, he is regarded as one of the best players in Arizona Wildcats history. He was a consensus All-American in his final year at Arizona in 1987 and was also named Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year when he set the conference record for career interceptions. He was a two-time Academic All-American and was named to the National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame in 2009.
He is married to Carrie Gerlach Cecil and they have a daughter, Charli, 14, along with foster children and three dogs, Wilbur, Zeus and Daisy. For more information on Chuck Cecil visit: www.chuckcecil.com.
Parris is a native Tucsonan who graduated from Sabino High School and was a state track champion, and later an All-American in track at Drake University. He joined KGUN in 2016 and anchors the news at 5, 6 and 10. He has more than 30 years of broadcasting experience and has won four Regional Emmy Awards for broadcasting excellence.
Parris has an extensive background in sports broadcasting calling college basketball and football. He also broadcast games for the Iowa Barnstormers in the mid-90s when future NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner was with the team.
Courtesy of the Tucson Sugar Skulls Media Office
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