Arizona All-Quarter-Century Team: Coaches

So far in the Brent Brennan era of Arizona football, the Wildcats have had their struggles on the road with four-straight losses dating back to last year. UA has lost those games by an average of 28 points and have fallen behind by double-digits in all four games.

Arizona (4-3, 1-3 Big 12) was able to get things going early by striking quickly as quarterback Noah Fifita hit receiver Tre Spivey for a 70-yard touchdown pass, which seemed to set the tone early for the offense.

Oct 11, 2025; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats head coach Brent Brennan celebrates a blocked field goal during the second quarter of the game against the Brigham Young Cougars at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images | Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

Despite the fast start, Arizona found itself trailing 21-14 to Houston (6-1-,3-1) at the half thanks to defensive struggles in the second quarter. And once again, the Wildcats lost the middle eight of the game, which resulted in a Cougars 31-28 win over the Wildcats.

Although Arizona fell on Saturday against Houston and has lost two-straight games, the program is clearly moving in the right direction and has improved drastically from a season ago.

Nov 23, 2013; Tucson, AZ, USA; Arizona Wildcats head coach Rich Rodriguez (left) celebrates with his players in the closing seconds of the game against the Oregon Ducks at Arizona Stadium. Arizona defeated Oregon 42-16. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Now with the Wildcats in the bye-week, we at Arizona Wildcats On SI have decided to roll out our All-Quarter-Century Team breaking down the top players at every position over the last 25 years of Arizona football.

Today we are taking a look at what the top three coaches would be over the last 25 years that have stood out from the rest.

Top Coaches

3. Mike Stoops (2004-11)

Nov. 28, 2009; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona Wildcats head coach Mike Stoops celebrates following the game against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Sun Devil Stadium. Arizona defeated Arizona State 20-17. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

One of the most under-appreciated coaches in Arizona history is Mike Stoops, who came over from Oklahoma and took over the program following the disaster of the John Mackovic era where the program hit rock bottom.

During Stoops’ time as the head coach, the transfer portal wasn’t as active as it is today and the Wildcats’ football facilities were some of the worst in the country. Despite that, he managed to get the program back to six wins three seasons and ended Arizona’s 10-year bowl drought in 2008 with a trip to the Vegas Bowl.

Novembers in Tucson became a nightmare for opponents with Stoops’ teams pulling off major upsets over No. 18 ASU (2004), No. 7 UCLA (2005), No. 25 WSU (2006), No. 8 Cal (2006), No. 2 Oregon (2007) and a win over No. 9 Iowa during the 2010 season.

Overall, Stoops finished with a 41-50 record that really doesn’t show how good of a coaching job he did for the Wildcats.

2. Jedd Fisch (2021-23)

Dec 28, 2023; San Antonio, TX, USA; Arizona Wildcats head coach Jedd Fisch holds the Alamo Bowl trophy after victory over the Oklahoma Sooners at Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

I know Arizona fans aren’t fond of former Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch but what he was able to do in Tucson before leaving for Washington was one of the most impressive coaching jobs in the country.

Similar to Stoops, Fisch took over a complete disaster following the turmoil of the Kevin Sumlin era. Due to the issues of the previous staff, he suffered one of the worst losses in program history in a 21-19 game against NAU and finished that season 1-11 with a win over Cal.

But with the changes in the transfer portal, Fisch was able to get the program moving in the right direction with a solid 5-7 season. Plus, his staff and him put together the best recruiting class in school history with the 2022 freshmen that was headlined by Tetairoa McMillan and Noah Fifita.

In his final season with the program, Fisch recorded the fourth 10-plus-win season in Arizona history with the Wildcats going 10-3, which included a 28-24 win over Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl.

1. Rich Rodriguez (2012-17)

Nov 28, 2014; Tucson, AZ, USA; Arizona Wildcats head coach Rich Rodriguez reacts against the Arizona State Sun Devils during the 88th annual territorial cup at Arizona Stadium. The Wildcats defeated the Sun Devils 42-35 to win the Pac-12 south title. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

When first arriving in Tucson, coach Rich Rodriguez was taking over a program that was coming off an underwhelming 2011 season where the Wildcats went 4-8 year where Stoops was dismissed after starting off 1-5 despite a roster that featured quarterback Nick Foles leading the charge.

In his first season at Arizona, Rodriguez was able to build an offensive powerhouse that used the trio of quarterback Matt Scott, receiver Austin Hill and running back Ka’Deem Carey as the workhorses of the unit.

The Wildcats would upset No.18 Oklahoma State 59-38, which would help fuel an 8-5 season capped off by a win in the New Mexico Bowl over Nevada.

One could argue that the Rodriguez era was the most successful six years of Arizona football with the team going to five bowl games in six seasons. His only losing year came in 2016 with the Wildcats finishing 3-9 with issues at quarterback.

The best season under Rodriguez came in 2014 when the Wildcats went 10-4 winning the Pac-12 South and seeing their season come to an end with a close 38-30 loss to Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl.

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