A Big 12 Coach of the Year Snub for Brent Brennan
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Arizona experienced one of the biggest turnarounds in the country this season. From flipping a 4-8 record to 9-3 a year later, the Wildcats are one of the fastest rising programs in the nation.
In a way, it was a return to form for the Wildcats. In 2023, after a 10-3 season with a victory over Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl, the Wildcats had tons of momentum and looked as if they would be a force moving into the Big 12.
Then, Jedd Fisch unceremoniously departed for Washington, pulling recruits and players with him, leaving Arizona in disarray for 2024. By now, you know the story. But, Brent Brennan got the time he needed to settle in, establish his team and his culture, and the Wildcats took back the Territorial Cup to reclaim the state of Arizona and send a message to the conference for next season.
Still, Arizona's rise this season flew under the radar. It took a long time for the Wildcats to break into the AP Poll, and they only appeared in the College Football Playoff rankings just before taking down Arizona State to finish the regular season.
The Wildcats don't need the recognition to continue to grow, but wouldn't it be nice to get some anyway?
Brennan's Case For Big 12 Coach of the Year
Brennan missed out on the Big 12 Coach of the Year award, which was instead awarded to BYU coach Kalani Sitake. The Cougars finished 11-2 and fell for the second time to Texas Tech in the Big 12 Championship. BYU was ranked all season long and was in a position to make it to the College Football Playoff, but narrowly missed out.
The argument for Sitake to win the award is valid, and in no way is he undeserving of the award. BYU has a 22-3 record over the past two seasons, the fourth-best record in that time frame. The Cougars also won the head-to-head battle over Arizona this season, beating the Wildcats 33-27 in double overtime.
Arizona had every chance to win that game, but regardless, that's not why Sitake won the award. BYU did have a last-minute quarterback change before the season, thrusting freshman Bear Bachmeier into the starting role after Jake Retzlaff left the program.
That is some impressive adversity to overcome, but Arizona had to flip an entire roster and recruit its own players back to the program after a disastrous 2024 campaign. Noah Fifita was the only piece the Wildcats could hope to rely on heading into the season, despite tossing the most interceptions in the Big 12 last season.
Brennan hit the transfer portal hard, much like Big 12 champion Texas Tech did, but on a much smaller budget and scale. Arizona's top three receivers (Kris Hutson, Javin Whatley and Tre Spivey) all came out of the transfer portal. Arizona's leading rusher, Ismail Mahdi, transferred in from Texas State. Brennan even pulled in three new faces to start on the offensive line out of the portal.
Defensively, Brennan's biggest move might have been retaining his veteran secondary. Dalton Johnson, Treydan Stukes and Genesis Smith all jumped in the portal last winter, but all three decided to return and were paired with new defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales.
An easily pulled-apart defense in 2024 transformed overnight into one of the nation's best units, thanks in large part to Brennan's recruiting and ability to organize a staff that develops players quickly. In 2025, Arizona's defense allowed 18.9 points per game (19th nationally), 155.9 passing yards (4th), 301.6 total yards (16th) and 2.3 turnovers forced per game (1st).
It's hard to narrow down and define the parameters for winning the coach of the year award in any conference. Still, Brennan definitely has the narrative to support a potential win. In 2024, Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham took home the award after taking his team from a 3-9 record in 2023 to 10-2 the next season.
Maybe the qualifications are to make it to the conference championship game at a minimum. That idea has tracked over the past few seasons. Although voting is based on the regular season only and the award is presented before conference championship weekend, the Big 12 Coach of the Year award has been awarded to a coach in the conference championship each season since 2022.
It's not always just the best team or the coach of the conference champion. The award often goes to the coach who had to overcome a significant amount of adversity and had success, or the biggest turnaround compared to the prior season. Brennan fits into both categories.
Do you think Brent Brennan deserved to win the Big 12 Coach of the Year? Let us know and follow us on our X account by clicking on the link.
Logan Brown is an alumnus of the prestigious Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He currently works as a General College Sports Reporter On SI. Logan has an extensive background in writing and has contributed to Cronkite Sports, PHNX Sports, and Motion Graphics.
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