Arizona football’s most important newcomer for 2026
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The big storyline for Brent Brennan and the Arizona Wildcats this offseason is roster retention.
When the team released its first depth chart of the season on Monday, a whopping 18 of the named starters on offense and defense were on the roster that went 9-4 last year in Brennan's second year in Tucson.
That includes quarterback and Heisman Trophy candidate Noah Fifita, wide receivers Chris Hunter and Tre Spivey, running back Ismail Mahdi, and linebacker Taye Brown, among others.
"The fact that our kids are having a good experience playing at the UofA or being a part of this program speaks to the retention," Brennan said Monday. "I think that's why you see a lot of carryover from last year's roster to this in terms of what that opening day depth chart looks like."
That carryover extends to nearly every position group, but the Wildcats will head into Week 1 with almost an entirely new secondary.
Arizona’s secondary faces a major rebuild
A pair of transfer cornerbacks in Dwight Bootle II (Charlotte) and Malcolm Hartzog Jr. (Nebraska) are set to step in and help replace a trio of draft picks from last year's squad in Treydan Stukes (2nd round, Las Vegas Raiders), Genesis Smith (4th round, Los Angeles Chargers), and Dalton Johnson (5th round, Raiders), as well as Ayden Garnes who went undrafted but signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Both Bootle and Hartzog will be critical for Danny Gonzales' defense, and it doesn't hurt that they were teammates at Nebraska in 2024 before Bootle transferred to Charlotte in the American for 2025.
Replacing multiple draft picks is never easy, but Gonzales has gone as far as to call this year's unit even better - particularly in man coverage - and a lot of that is because of Hartzog's arrival in Tucson.
"He might be one of the best cover guys in man-to-man I’ve ever been around," Gonzales said after training camp last week. "And I thought Treydan Stukes was unbelievable in coverage."
Why Malcolm Hartzog could transform Arizona’s secondary
Hartzog may be new to Arizona, but he hardly lacks experience. The 5'8, 175-pound Mississippi native spent the last four years with the Cornhuskers, appearing in 38 games and racking up 108 combined tackles with eight interceptions and 13 passes defended.
Though he only appeared in two games last year before undergoing season-ending surgery, his interception in Week 1 sealed the Huskers' victory over Cincinnati, as it came in the end zone on the Bearcats' final play of the game, giving Nebraska a 20-17 win.
Now, after drawing all sorts of praise in camp, Hartzog is locked and loaded as the team's F KAT, joining Bootle, fifth-year returner Jay'Vion Cole, junior Quinn Olson, and senior Gavin Hunter in the secondary. It may not be as littered with NFL talent as last year's group, but there is a lot to like about the secondary in Tucson.
The Wildcats will kick off the season Saturday, Sep. 5, at 7:30 PM MT against Northern Arizona at Casino Del Sol Stadium. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
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