Arizona Lurking Around Talented Three-Star Prospect
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Arizona wanted to get back on the right track after an underwhelming first season under Brent Brennan where the team finished 4-8 and missed a bowl game despite preseason high expectations.
Brennan went out and mixed things up on his coaching staff with the hiring of Seth Doege as the offensive coordinator. Then, he promoted Danny Gonzales to the defensive coordinating role after serving one season as the linebackers coach.
Plus, Brennan brought in Joe Salave’a as the defensive line coach, Josh Miller as the tight ends coach, Josh Bringuel as the linebackers coach and Craig Naivar as the special teams coordinator.
During the Wildcats’ bye-week following the 23-17 win over Kansas State, the coaching staff hit the road on the recruiting trail in California, Texas, Utah, Washington, Hawaii and in Arizona. Not only were they looking at uncommitted recruits but they were also touching base with targets that might flip as we get closer to signing day.
Now, we are seeing offers being announced from the players the Wildcats were able to go and see. Plus, players that have reopened their recruitment with the firings of head coaches across the country that couldn’t survive a slow start to the season.
— Josiah Vilmael 2026 3⭐️ DB (@josiahVilmael) September 28, 2025
One of the coaching changes came from Big 12 foe Oklahoma State, which fired long time head coach Mike Gundy, who saw his team lose 11 of their last 12 games dating back to the previous season.
Now, OSU has seen recruits decommit and reopen their recruitment. Arizona recently offered one of the Cowboys’ recent decommits in three-star cornerback Josiah Vilmael.
Vilmael is a 6-foot-1, 185-pound defensive back from Richmond, Texas where he goes to Fort Bend Travis High School. He has drawn interest from Arizona State, Baylor, Iowa, Kansas State and Maryland.
One thing this coaching staff loves and tries to recruit are multi-sport athletes that are able display their athletic abilities in a multitude of ways.
Vimael is one of those recruits that plays multiple sports and competes in track and field where he has run wind-aided times of 10.66 and 21.57 in the 100 and 200.
Also, Vimael has posted wind-legal times of 10.88 and 21.93 in Spring 2025. Plus, recorded sophomore-best times of 10.84 and 22.42 in the 100 and 200 in the Spring of 2024.
National Signing Day is 65 days away and right now the Wildcats have 20 commits for the 2026 class. However, the staff and Brennan will be trying to add to the class as we get closer to the signing date.
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Troy Hutchison grew up attending Arizona athletic events, which gave him a unique perspective and knowledge of the athletic department's rich history. He attended UA and began covering the Wildcats in 2018. As the Arizona Wildcats Beat Writer on SI, he is set to deliver wall-to-wall coverage to give fans an in-depth perspective.
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