Grading Josh Miller’s Tight Ends at the Bye Week
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The Arizona Wildcats are now 4-3 following a two-game skid, dropping heartbreaking one-possession matchups to BYU 33-27 in double overtime and Houston 31-28 on a walk-off field goal with seconds remaining.
With those losses comes the bitter pain of being so close to a win, but not doing enough to get the job done. Head coach Brent Brennan knows all too well what that feels like and will do whatever it takes to make sure his team does not feel that pain again for the remainder of the 2025 season.
- "When you lose two games that way and it's so hard and it's so challenging, the thing that we talk about with the players is what choice do you have," Brennan said. "
- "You want to choose to believe you can or you can't. And so with this team, this team believes they can. And that's the way they showed up for work yesterday and that's the way they'll show up for work tomorrow."
... Helping our players navigate that and doing those things the right way and continuing to live redline and continuing to dive into our process is what's given us a chance to play better football. And if we stay the course, we will get it. Keep We have to keep pounding the rock. Eventually, it's going to break."
No room has worked harder at improving and becoming better throughout the season than the tight end room, which is coached by Josh Miller, who is in his first year with the Wildcats.
Miller was hired by Arizona after spending a season at Marshall, much like offensive coordinator Seth Doege.
Miller's group has suffered some unfortunate setbacks throughout the season. On the first play of the first game, Miller's starting tight end, Tyler Powell, suffered a season-ending leg injury. Keyan Burnett also decided to redshirt after battling a lingering hamstring problem that cost him much of the offseason.
Nonetheless, his group has become a strong, cohesive unit that is skilled at both making tough blocks for running backs and becoming a valuable open receiver for Noah Fifita.
Noah Fifita’s 45th career TD pass goes to Sam Olson‼️
— Arizona Wildcats On SI (@ArizonaOnSI) August 31, 2025
He’s now tied with Bruce Hill for 6th-most in Arizona football history.
pic.twitter.com/JUQINuWbFp
Grade: B
Miler gets a B for his coaching efforts, mainly because he can keep the group tight after suffering such setbacks and ensure that the next man up performs just as well as the starter, which Sam Olson has done exceptionally well.
Olson and Cam Barmore played a major part in Tre Spivey's touchdown on a jet sweep in the latest game against Houston.
Spivey → Six pic.twitter.com/28kkRuKB5R
— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) October 18, 2025
Miller could improve on making the tight ends a more viable option when the Arizona offense is in the red zone. The group's only score came in the first game against Hawaii, when Olson scored in the back of the end zone in the third quarter.
The Wildcats will have plenty of time to fix that problem as they go into the bye week and mend any other issues they have.
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Nathaniel Martinez and a set of shoulder pads at 7 years old. He later graduated from Pima Community College in 2023, where he began writing for the Pima Post. He is working to achieve a Bachelor’s in Mass Communication and Media Studies.