Arizona’s Doost Talks Benefit of Continuity
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A major point of emphasis for the Arizona Wildcats this offseason was retention, and that retention has only helped the returning players so far this spring.
While much of the attention goes to Noah Fifita making a return for his fifth season with the program — Fifita threw for 3,228 yards with 29 touchdowns and 6 interceptions last season — the Wildcats have also retained several other key pieces on offense, most notably in the offensive line.
One of those key returning pieces is offensive lineman Alexander Doost. The redshirt junior offensive lineman has been an integral piece in the trenches for the Wildcats over the last few seasons, and with him coming back to protect Fifita once again for 2026, Doost currently has no issues with the familiarity of head coach Brent Brennan’s scheme.
Doost talked about the familiarity he has within the offense throughout the spring and the impact it has had on him so far, not only on him but also on the other remaining players who opted to stick around.
- “It's awesome because it definitely took me a while to learn it at the beginning,” Doost said. “But now that I know it, I feel like I'm going out there just having the knowledge of what to do and being able to help the guys next to me.”
- “All the guys that have been here, it’s started with us,” he added. “Then, including the newer guys like, who at the beginning — Zach was very quiet when he first got here, and now we've included him a lot more, Khalil, who we're still trying to get out of his shell a little bit — but, it just all starts with who's been here like initiating like all of this.”
The Wildcats endured much success last season, going 9-4 — while also being ranked in the AP Poll — and making an appearance in the Holiday Bowl, where they’d fall to SMU. Despite that, the season can’t be undermined as one of the more successful in recent memory for the program. Now, they’ll try to build off of that in 2026.
With a lot of continuity heading into this upcoming season, the Wildcats are set up nicely to pick up where they left off last season. After a superb 2025 campaign, Arizona will look to compete for a Big 12 title and a spot in the College Football Playoff for 2026.
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Justin Backer brings a wealth of experience to his role as a college football and basketball general sports reporter On SI. Backer is a proud graduate of Florida Atlantic University with a Bachelor of Arts in Multimedia Studies, and has worked for such media companies as The Sporting News and the Palm Beach Post.