FRISCO, Texas – In 2024, Arizona’s two biggest college football programs took different trajectories.
Arizona State, picked to finish last in the preseason media poll, trekked onward and found itself hoisting the Big 12 Championship trophy by season’s end, marking a historic and heroic campaign.
The Arizona Wildcats, on the other hand, entered the season building off a strong 2023 with surprising standouts and hope for the future. The Wildcats received votes in that same preseason poll to win the conference, despite a new coach in the driver’s seat.
Arizona couldn’t sniff those expectations in 2024. Injuries, new schemes and an overall lack of consistent play plagued the Wildcats to a 4-8 finish.
“Transition is hard,” coach Brent Brennan said. “There’s a lot of things that I could have done better as the head football coach, as the leader of the program. I have a better understanding now of what that looks like and exactly which way we’re going to do it.”
Brennan wasn’t dealt the best hand in his first year in Tucson. In the chain reaction that followed Nick Saban’s retirement from coaching, former Arizona coach Jedd Fisch left for old Pac-12 foe Washington. Two days later, in mid-January, the Wildcats hired Brennan away from San Jose State. With how the college football calendar is constructed, many top recruits had already signed, and the first transfer portal window had closed.
That left Arizona in survival mode. By hiring a new coach, the program couldn’t do much to bring players into Tucson; only attempt to sway its current players to stay.
Brennan succeeded in that regard, keeping quarterback Noah Fifita and wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan in red and blue, among others. But that couldn’t stop the avalanche of a season ahead, something Brennan is determined to avoid this go-round.
“Obviously, last fall is unacceptable for our staff, our program, and our university, and we’ve been busy fixing that ever since,” Brennan said at Big 12 Media Days.
The Wildcats attacked the portal this time, adding several players who figure to be valuable assets this season. Many of those additions are skill players to surround Fifita, whose best friend and top target, McMillan, was selected eighth overall by the Carolina Panthers in April’s NFL Draft.
After breaking out from a second-string role to Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year in 2023, Fifita had a down year in 2024. He threw for 2,958 yards and just 18 touchdowns to 12 interceptions, which led all Big 12 quarterbacks. Brennan acknowledged the whirlwind changes around the program that hurt the quarterback’s performance, but expects a return to stardom this season.
“I think the step back from Noah Fifita is my fault, not his,” Brennan said. “We didn’t do a good enough job running the football (last season) and we didn’t do a good enough job protecting him. We’ve made some moves in the direction of making that better. When we get to December, everybody in the conference, maybe everybody in America, is going to be talking about Noah Fifita.”
Part of the change that should benefit Fifita is new offensive coordinator Seth Doege. Doege, a former Big 12 quarterback at Texas Tech from 2008-12, spent last season at Marshall in the same role. He brings an up-tempo offense to Tucson that excels on the ground and is efficient in the passing game. Doege’s Thundering Herd followed that plan last year and scored 31.8 points per game. He will hope to do the same after the Wildcats finished 114th in scoring offense last year under Dino Babers. With a big arm like Fifita under center, Doege could be afforded to open up the offense downfield more this season if Arizona can establish a presence in the rushing game.
“Coach Doege is one-of-a-kind in so many ways, the best offensive mind I’ve been around,” Fifita said. “From a mentality standpoint, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a coach, outside of my dad, that has the mindset and belief that he has. That’s definitely trickled down to the players, and that’s why we walk around with a confidence that we can be the best offense in the country.”
Fifita doubled down on that claim at Big 12 Media Days, raising some eyebrows that should have Wildcats fans excited for the product on the field in Tucson this fall.
“In my opinion, we have guys at every position that could make us the best offense in the country,” Fifita said.
Among those guys in the receiving room are former Oregon and Washington State transfer Kris Hutson, New Mexico transfer Luke Wysong and Kansas State transfer Tre Spivey III. Hutson figures to be the biggest pass catcher added to Fifita’s arsenal this season. Entering his sixth season of college ball, he spent his first four years with the Ducks before transferring and catching 54 passes for 683 yards and two touchdowns in his lone season with the Cougars.
“There’s a lot of change,” Brennan said. “But there’s also a good influx of what we consider high-level talent guys that have played a lot of college football and have really good experience that I think are going to contribute greatly to what we’re trying to do.”
Redshirt senior defensive back Dalton Johnson echoed his second-year coach’s sentiment, citing a better version of change this year compared to last.
“This year is different,” Johnson said. “It’s a whole new clean slate. We’ve got guys that are bought in. I think that’s a big thing in college football. The amount of guys that you have brought in to really buy into your culture.”
College football doesn’t have an exact science in terms of how to build a roster and become a contender. But Brennan seems to have a good mix of homegrown talent and transfers at key positions. In year two, he hopes the team can make a jump, similar to their rivals in Tempe, back to the top of the food chain.
“I think the consistency of our coaching staff, our leadership, and the team knowing what my expectations are and how we’re going to do things going forward,” Brennan said. “It’s a lot cleaner right now than it was a year ago. I’m optimistic about how this season is going to go.”
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