Arizona Wildcats' Training Camp Bold Observations

Arizona football is officially BACK in action and the long offseason is finally coming to an end as the Wildcats have opened up their 2025 training camp to get things geared up for the season with the team set to face Hawaii on Aug. 30 at home at 7:30 p.m. (MST) on TNT.

After an underwhelming 2024 season under Brent Brennan where Arizona went 4-8 after starting the year in the preseason AP Poll at No. 21 and ending the year losing 7 out of its last 8 games, the Wildcats made changes to the roster and their coaching staff.

Brennan revamped his coaching staff by hiring Seth Doege as the offensive coordinator and promoting Danny Gonzales to the defensive coordinating job. Plus, he was able to bring in defensive line coach Joe Salave’a, who is regarded as one of the top recruiters in the nation and a former Wildcat as well.

“When we go through a tough season like we did a year ago, you got to find a way to fix what was broken, fix what wasn’t working and put those pieces together,” Brennan said. “And part of those pieces are how we’re going to do things in terms of how we’re going to coach, what we’re going to do schematically and the other part is who are the players that are going to play those roles.”

The energy at practice was high, loud and the pace of play was a complete 180 from the previous season and matches the mindset and mentality that the coaching staff wasn’t to bring to the 2025 season.

Nov 16, 2024; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Wisconsin Badgers quarterback Braedyn Locke (18) during the game against the Oregon Ducks at Camp Randall Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

Three Observations

Tiaoalii Savea

One of the biggest transfers additions for the roster this offseason came on the defensive side of the ball in defensive tackle Tiaoalii Savea, who was a rotational piece of the Wildcats’ defense during the 2023 season but then left for Texas after the coaching change.

After one year with the Longhorns, Savea re-entered the portal and had a relationship with defensive line coach Joe Salave’a, who recruited him out of high school at his previous school. The connection between the two made it a clear choice for him to return to Tucson and play for the Wildcats again.

Although Savea is one of the quietest players in an interview setting, he is a complete monster at the defensive tackle position and has brought toughness to the line and needed size in the middle of the defense.

Throughout camp, he has been one of the best defensive tackles on the roster and critical for the Wildcats’ run defense that had issues as season ago.

Getting Savea back in Tucson was massive and maybe the move of the offseason for Arizona when looking at the entirety of the season.

Braedyn Locke

This training camp, the top two quarterback spots are locked up and there is no question that No. 1 is Fifita and that the back up is Wisconsin transfer Braedyn Locke. Both QBs have been working with their offensive units and haven’t seen anyone else get any looks with the first two units.

In most camps, every now and then you will see other quarterbacks get a few looks with the higher level offensive units. But, keep in mind that Arizona is breaking in a new scheme with Doege making it highly important for Fifita and Locke to get an understanding of the offense ahead of the season.

In the reps with the second-team offense, Locke has been sharp from the start and has been able to sling the ball around all over the field with his big arm.

It all hasn’t looked pretty given that Locke is working with the second-string offensive line, which has had moving parts and youth that is just finding their footing.

Some of the youth on the line has caused Locke to take sacks and at times throw the ball into traffic. Still, overall he has been clearly the No. 2 QB on the roster and has looked good enough to start at other Power 4 programs.

Stadium Lighting

One of the main reasons why Brennan has wanted his team to practice inside Arizona Stadium during the night practices is because of the stadium lighting. He wants to make sure his team and the new players on the roster get adjusted to the lighting inside the stadium.

The position group he wants to get adjusted to the lighting the most is the wide receivers unit that has numerous new faces in the room. See, Arizona Stadium has low hanging lights, which makes it difficult to find the ball on deep routes for receivers.

So, Brennan didn’t want the Hawaii game to be the first game where the receiving corps got reps in the stadium.

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