Offensive lineman Edgar Burrola returning to Arizona in 2021 after being suspended in 2020

A coaching change means a fresh start for the players and Edgar Burrola plans to take advantage of that, announcing Saturday that he is back with the Arizona Wildcats.

The redshirt junior offensive lineman was suspended for the 2020 season after violating the program’s COVID-19 protocol four times. (You can read his account of those violations here.)

At the time, then-UA head coach Kevin Sumlin told the Daily Star that “if you’re not going to pay attention to the protocol, wear a mask, all that other stuff, we just can’t have you around.”

Aside from disagreeing with the program’s COVID protocols, Burrola also said he did not trust the UA medical staff, which he said misdiagnosed a shoulder injury he suffered in 2019 when he started six games at right tackle.

“They said I had a bone bruise,” he said in an interview with KVOA’s David Kelly. “This happened week three or week four, I believe. And then I played on it the whole season. And so what ended up happening was I had to go get my own MRI, and the MRI said I had a separated AC joint, a torn labrum, tendinosis in my shoulder and fluid in my shoulder. And the staff did not care to look this deep into my injury, so I ended up playing on a really bad shoulder.”

Eventually Burrola had surgery in Las Vegas, his hometown, without Arizona’s approval.

“I asked the school if they could reimburse me for the surgery, but they said our doctor didn’t approve it, so no,” Burrola said.

Now that Burrola is back in the fold, he adds much-needed depth along the offensive line. The Wildcats really struggled at right tackle in 2020, especially in pass protection. They allowed 18 sacks in five games, the most in the Pac-12.