Watch: Arizona HC Brent Brennan Training Camp Day 1

Arizona coach Brent Brennan spoke to the media on Wednesday following the first day of training camp. We are now exactly one month out from the season opener against Hawaii with the first day of fall practice finishing up on Wednesday afternoon.

Opening Statement

"Fun first day. There is so much build-up getting into the start of training camp. It's so fun to finally be out there on the grass with the team, with the new players that joined us this summer and all the new pieces. It's kind of exciting to see some of those guys run around a little bit. Obviously it is first day. There's no thorough evaluation of those things quite yet, but it's fun to see everybody out there togehter and to be back together as a football team on the field practicing. I really feel like this training camp is a critical moment for us in our program right now. I feel like it's such an important time for us to dive into the development of our football team. Yesterday, I talked about the development of the backups and all the other pieces so that we can feel like we have something sustainable every time we step out on the field. But then there's the development of the physical, mental and emotional toughness that you kind of have to take the time to build over training camp... I think we set a good baseline today for where we want to go and what we're trying to get done. I thought the energy was really good. I like the progress. I think the offense seems to be having a good grasp of what we're trying to do in terms of our shifts and motions and tempo. Obviously Noah (Fifita) gives us a great chance for that just with his maturity and his experience, but I thought the other guys did a good job with that. It was not perfect. It never is, but I also think there were some good moments from the secondary today and that's going to be really fun. I think there's going to be some interesting battles at the corner position.

Common issues with the red zone struggles from last season and how to fix that this season

"I don't want to talk about last year. I'm not worried about last year. I'm focused on this year on this team on what we're trying to get done with this football team. I think the issues we had a year ago were multilayered. They are multilayered in that we had some injuries, we made some bad play calls, we were short some personnel in some spaces that hurt us in our ability to attack the whole width and length of the field. With those injuries, that became a big protection problem. I think where we were in the red zone is as much a reflection of where we were at offensively as it was in terms of what we were calling and trying to get done."

Jul 10, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Arizona Wildcats head coach Brent Brennan speaks to the media during the Big 12 Media Days at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-Imagn Images | Candice Ward-Imagn Images

What WR Javin Whatley has been showing

"We're really excited about (Whatley). He is an awesome kid. He was with us in the spring and we were really excited about what he did during spring practice. I think he's a guy that our fans are going to love watching play. He is incredibly tough, super high care factor and great energy so it's fun seeing him make plays out there today. I think we can be excited about hopefully seeing more of that as we continue through camp. I mentioned yesterday that receiver room is going to be fun. There's going to be some intense battles in there. There's going to be some guys that fight for reps and the good thing about that is that all those guys know that if you don't know what to do and you get taken out, the guy might go in and ball out and now you're going to be on the sideline for a minute so I love that competition in that room."

How Brennan focused on establishing chemistry with his quarterback as a wide receiver

"This is the simplest thing ever. Number one, as a receiver if you always know what to do, the quarterback will throw you the ball because you're never going to screw him. You're never going to be in the wrong spot and cause him to throw an interception. Number two, if you catch it when he throws it to you and if you're a consistent reliable pass catcher, that's what the quarerback wants. You asked me yesterday about Noah throwing it to (Tetaoria McMillan). There's a reason for that. There's nearly a decade of consistent good results when that happens. When I was in school, I did spent a lot of time with our quarterbacks. I was good friends with those guys but when it was out on the field, know what to do and catch it when they throw it to you. It seems simple but when you become reliable to them because those guys don't like throwing incomplete passes either. That part of it is really simple."

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