When Brent Brennan appeared at Big 12 Football Media Days a year ago he was just a few months removed from taking the job at Arizona. He was also in the middle of a transition that he fully admits did not go as planned.
“I would say we learned a lot in our first year in Arizona,” Brennan said Wednesday at his second conference media outing. “The biggest thing maybe I learned is it just, transition is challenging. Transition is hard. And there’s lots of things that I could have done better as the head football coach, as the leader of the program. I have a little bit better, not a little bit, I have a better understanding now of what that looks like and exactly which way we’re going to do it.”
Arizona, which was picked to finish fifth in its first Big 12 season, instead tied for 13th and went 4-8 overall, a drop of six wins from 2023. There’s no preseason poll for this year but if there were it’s likely the Wildcats would have been projected near the bottom.
The UA was one of four schools not to have a player on the Big 12’s preseason all-conference team despite returning quarterback Noah Fifita and several defensive starters. But Brennan said his program can take some inspiration from ASU, which in 2024 was picked to finish last and ended up representing the conference in the College Football Playoff.
“The Team Up North, they just proved that you can go start at the bottom and find a way to finish at the top,” Brennan said. “And I think that that’s what makes (the Big 12) an exciting brand of football. I think this is the deepest conference in college football. I really believe that. In some of the other conferences, I think you have some people that are kind of always at the top of the food chain.”
Below is what Brennan, Fifita and defensive backs Dalton Johnson and Genesis Smith said Wednesday during interviews on ESPN2 and press conferences held at The Star in Frisco, Texas:
Brennan on the difference between now and a year ago: “I think it’s night and day. One of the challenges when we first got there is the portal created by Jedd’s departure. So you have, like, a 30-day portal there, then you’re getting ready for spring practice, then you got another portal period in the spring practice. And so I felt like we spent the first six months on the job kissing everyone’s ass, asking them to stay. It was just a horrible foundation for what we’re trying to get done there. The second year, we just feel much more stable in it. I think because of that, a lot of the players have chosen to stay, our retention has been high, and then also kind of the acquisition of new talent’s been really positive. So we’re in a great spot. I love that.”
On what makes him optimistic about 2025: “I think it starts with the decisions we make with the coaching staff. I think our new defensive coordinator, Danny Gonzales, I’m really excited about his process with our team so far. I’m excited about Seth Doege and our offense, just kind of the aggressive, explosive offense that we want to play. And I’m also excited about Craig Naivar and what he’s doing with our kicking game. I think it starts with them. But then I also think about Noah Fifita being a year older, a year more mature. 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. And I think it’s a lot cleaner right now than it was a year ago. And I’m optimistic about how this season’s going to go.”
On having a clearer plan entering the offseason: “When we came back from Christmas break, we started with really simple, fundamental thought. The guys we want to be at the University of Arizona, that are tough and believe in this program and really, truly want to be here. And so the idea that we’re going to chase guys in and out of the portal every year …I just don’t think that gives you a chance to build the kind of connected, committed football team we want to build at U of A.”
On Tucson: “It’s a special place, and I think it’s got an opportunity to be incredible for college football. We have a fan base and a city that’s kind of baked into this like, we’re it, right? The University of Arizona and the city of Tucson is it. And so we have this incredible fan base that we need to do the best job of engaging, then put a product on the field they’re excited to come watch.”
On having more depth at receiver: “One of the things that I felt like we were missing a year ago, I felt like we were missing some people on the other side of T-Mac, like we needed to have more we needed more speed, and I think we’ve added that in the offseason. We’ve added five guys that run 10.6, 10.5, 10.4. T-Mac was incredibly productive, what a great player, what a great human being, and we’re so excited for what he’s going to do in the NFL, but I’m excited to see what this receiver group does as a collective in the Seth Doege offense.”
On Doege: “From the moment I met him, when he came and spent some time with us, I was just really impressed with the energy he brought. He had incredible juice, which I’m looking for high energy guys, that’s a big part of who I am, and I need to work with guys that can feed off each other that way. But then also, when we started talking about the football we started talking about what we were trying to build at Arizona, I also thought it was interesting to hear an Air Raid guy talk about ‘last year at Marshall we found some real success running the ball.’ And I had never heard an Air Raid guy talk that way. In my mind I was like, okay, how do you win games late in the season? You got to be able to run the football, right? And so talking to Doege and talking about the championship run they went on last year at Marshall, like his ability or his willingness to adapt the scheme to fit the personnel is what really solidified it.”
On the key to success in college football today: “As I look at the kind of changing landscape of college football, it’s going to be how do we build a more connected, a more committed team? How are we tougher than the people we play? I really think that’s going to be the kind of the separating factor in college football going forward, because everybody has some variation of NIL or rev share. Okay, how do we build the best team we can the University of Arizona? And I think we’ve had really good momentum in recruiting this offseason. It started with the portal, coming out of the season, and then kind of moving into spring practice. So I love where we’re at. And I think that this team is poised to do something really cool. And I think when you be around our team, be around the players, spend some time talking to them, their belief in each other, their belief in our process, is what really stands out.”
On being able to compete for the Big 12 title: “I think if you’re not playing in this conference looking to play for the conference championship, like you’re full of it and you’re cheating your team. I mean, that should be the goal every year. And I think what The School Up North did last year, you got to respect it. I think it’s really plain and simple. Our fans might not like to hear me say that, but I can respect it, because what they did was hard to do. That’s what we’re trying to do. And so, as we look at what they did or what other teams would do, that’s one of the things I love about the Big 12, is I do think anyone has a chance to win it.”
On Fifita’s rough 2024: “I think that the step back for Noah Fifita is my fault, not his. We didn’t do a good enough job running the football. We didn’t do a good enough job protectin him, which I think we’ve done. We’ve made some moves in the direction of making that better right now. I think when we get to December, everybody in the conference, maybe everybody in America, is going to be talking about, when you watch how he delivers the football, he’s one of the cleanest throwers I’ve ever seen, and I’m excited to see what he’s going to do in this Seth Doege offense. This is the perfect fit for him, and it’s his time to shine.”
On Fifita’s offseason: “Just seeing him attack his process of development. I think Coach Doege has been critical for him, and I think in defense of Noah Fifta, I think I look back to last year, we didn’t run the ball well enough like they did the year before, and we didn’t just protect him well enough. And I think those things are simple. And I think what we talked about earlier, not having enough people opposite T-Mac to kind of offset that coverage and people pushing so much to him impacted that. But I believe in (Fifita), and I know our fan base does too, and you’re going to see exciting things from him and Coach Doege. I look forward to watching him. I know he’s a fun guy to watch when he’s on.”
Fifita on bouncing back from 2024: “I have two years (starting) under my belt now, so using that experience, and then using Coach Doege. He’s super experienced, he’s super smart, one of the best offensive minds I’ve ever been around. So just kind of learn from him, building that relationship with him, trying to be the smartest, most prepared player on the field, and then try to become more of a threat with my legs as well.”
On picking Doege’s brain about playing in the Big 12: “We talked about it, and we’ve built a fantastic relationship from the moment he got on campus. That’s a big reason I wanted to stay t Arizona was a play for him. Like I said, he’s probably the best I’ve ever seen from an offensive standpoint, but he’s a fantastic person, and we’ll hang out in this office all the time and just talk stories. So I’ve heard a lot of stories about his playing days. He knows the Big 12 in and out, played in it, and now he’s coaching in it. So we’re definitely going to lean on that leadership, lean on that experience.”
On his offseason: “My offseason has been been hectic. We have a lot of goals, a lot of expectations that we have for me individually, but more importantly, for our team that we’re trying to live up to this season. This is where you build the foundation. This is where you build the brotherhood, build the love that that gets you through the season. And that’s what we’re we’re aiming towards.”
Johnson on dealing with the coaching change a year ago: “I would definitely say a switch up. A new coaching staff comes in, they have their techniques and their ways of doing things, and it’s kind of blindsided. But we decided to stay, bought in to Coach B, and the season didn’t go the way we wanted it to. But we got a redemption season coming up, so it’ll be alright.”
On Danny Gonzales’ scheme: “There’s a few different things that we do, maybe some more games up front, and little different disguises and looks in the back end. He keeps it new and fresh each week.”
Smith on why he withdrew from the portal: “Just the brotherhood we have going on. It’s been the same since we got here, never wavered in the wins or losses. Same love, same attention detail daily.”
On Gonzales becoming defensive coordinator: “It’s been great. He’s definitely changed some attitudes around the building, really emphasized the Redline for us, which is effort, execution, accountability, and just pushing that standard daily. And I feel like that just elevated us as a whole, the whole defense and the whole team.”
On his ability to force turnovers: “Just growing up playing with my brothers, backyard football, that’s just what it seems to be out there, just always trying to get the ball.”