Big 12 Media Days: Top Five Quotes from Arizona

Wednesday was Day 2 of Big 12 Media Days and that meant that Arizona coach Brent Brennan along with quarterback Noah Fifita and players headed to Frisco, Texas to represent the football program and talk to media across the conference.

The expectations for Arizona football coming into the 2024 season were high. The team started the year ranked No. 21 in the Preseason AP Poll with a good number of returning players and stars Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan leading the way.

But, things didn’t go that way for Arizona and new head coach Brennan as the team struggled on both sides of the ball and couldn’t get any consistent play going throughout the year.

The Wildcats finished 4-8 on the year and ended the season on a two-game losing streak and lost seven of the last eight games.

Although there is no official Big 12 media poll, there aren't very many expectations for Arizona heading into the 2025 season compared to the previous year. However, the WIldcats have made several changes to their roster and coaching staff in hopes of having a better season.

On ESPNU, coach Brennan and Fifita sat down with ESPN’s Matt Barrie, Greg McElroy and Brock Osweiler to talk about the future of the program.

Here’s the top five things they said about the program and the direction of the team when looking at the 2025 season.

Q: How much has changed from year one to year two?

Brennan: “ I think it's night and day. I really think as I'm looking at it, one of the challenges when we first got there was the portal created by Jedd's departure. So you have a 30 day portal there. Then you're getting ready for spring practice, then you got another portal at the end of spring practice, he said.

“I felt like we spent the first six months on the job kissing everyone's ass, asking them to stay. It was just a horrible foundation for what we're trying to get done there. This second year, we just feel much more stable in it. I think because of that, like a lot of the players chosen to stay, our retention has been high. And then the acquisition of new talent has been really positive. So we're in a great spot.”

Q: How do you improve from last season?

Fifita: “I have two years under my belt now. So using that experience, and then using coach Doege, he's super experienced. He's super smart. One of the best offensive minds I've ever been around,” he said. “So just learning from him, building that relationship with him. I'm trying to be the smartest, most prepared player on the field, and then try to become more of a threat with my legs as well.”

Q: Why Seth Doege?

Brennan: “From the moment I met him, when he came and spent some time with us. I was just really impressed with the energy he brought and the conversation had incredible juice, which I'm looking for high energy guys, he said.

“That's a big part of who I am and I need to work with guys that can feed off each other that way. When we started talking about football, when we started talking about what we were trying to build at Arizona. I also thought it was interesting to hear an air raid guy talk about, 'hey, last year at Marshall, we found some real success running the ball.' And I had never heard an Air Raid guy talk that way.”

“In my mind, I was like, okay, how do you win games late in the season? You got to be able to run the football,” he said. “So talking to Doege and talking about the championship run they went on last year Marshall. His ability or his willingness to adapt the scheme to fit the personnel is what really solidified it for me.”

Q: What’s it going to take to get back to winning football?

Fifita: “There's one constant through the good and through the bad, and that's God. That's my relationship with God. He's the only reason that somebody in my stature could play at this level. So my faith has definitely gotten me through the good times and through the bad. So definitely leaning on that, but also just kind of building the culture, building the mentality and belief everybody in the locker room right now is coach Brennan guy, he said.

“We either stayed for coach Brennan or we came here for coach Brennan. So we have an unwavering belief in him. We have an unwavering belief in our coordinators, that they can lead us to where we want to get to. And that's a Big 12 Championship.”

Q: Have you picked Doege’s brain on how to prepare?

Fifita: “We've talked about it, and we built a fantastic relationship from the moment he got on campus. That's a big reason I wanted to stay at Arizona to play for him,” he said. “Like I said, he's probably the best scheme I've ever seen. From an offensive standpoint. He's a fantastic person, and we'll hang out in his office all the time and just talk stories. So I've heard a lot of stories about his playing days.”

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