Breaking Down Arizona's All-Quarter-Century Team Coaches
In this story:
Welcome! To another edition of the Arizona Wildcats Insiders Podcast featuring your host Troy Hutchison, who will be delivering a daily podcast discussing everything happening surrounding Arizona athletics, giving you an inside look at all the programs on campus.
Hutchison has been covering Arizona for the last seven years, with his coverage spanning all across UA’s campus from football and men’s basketball to Title IX sports. Plus, with so many former Wildcats playing at the next level in their respective sports, there will be moments where he will take a deep dive into the Cats' excelling outside of Tucson.
So far in the Brent Brennan era of Arizona football, the Wildcats have had their struggles on the road with four-straight losses dating back to last year. UA has lost those games by an average of 28 points and has fallen behind by double-digits in all four games.
Arizona (4-3, 1-3 Big 12) was able to get things going early by striking quickly as quarterback Noah Fifita hit receiver Tre Spivey for a 70-yard touchdown pass, which seemed to set the tone early for the offense.
Despite the fast start, Arizona found itself trailing 21-14 to Houston (6-1-,3-1) at the half thanks to defensive struggles in the second quarter. And once again, the Wildcats lost the middle eight of the game, which resulted in a Cougars 31-28 win over the Wildcats.
Although Arizona fell on Saturday against Houston and has lost two-straight games, the program is clearly moving in the right direction and has improved drastically from a season ago.
Now with the Wildcats in the bye-week, we at Arizona Wildcats On SI have decided to roll out our All-Quarter-Century Team, breaking down the top players at every position over the last 25 years of Arizona football.
Today, we are taking a look at the top three coaches over the last 25 years who have stood out from the rest.
3. Mike Stoops (2004-11)
One of the most under-appreciated coaches in Arizona history is Mike Stoops, who came over from Oklahoma and took over the program following the disaster of the John Mackovic era where the program hit rock bottom.
During Stoops’ time as the head coach, the transfer portal wasn’t as active as it is today and the Wildcats’ football facilities were some of the worst in the country. Despite that, he managed to get the program back to six wins three seasons and ended Arizona’s 10-year bowl drought in 2008 with a trip to the Vegas Bowl.
Novembers in Tucson became a nightmare for opponents with Stoops’ teams pulling off major upsets over No. 18 ASU (2004), No. 7 UCLA (2005), No. 25 WSU (2006), No. 8 Cal (2006), No. 2 Oregon (2007) and a win over No. 9 Iowa during the 2010 season.
Overall, Stoops finished with a 41-50 record that really doesn’t show how good of a coaching job he did for the Wildcats.
2. Jedd Fisch (2021-23)
I know Arizona fans aren’t fond of former Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch but what he was able to do in Tucson before leaving for Washington was one of the most impressive coaching jobs in the country.
Similar to Stoops, Fisch took over a complete disaster following the turmoil of the Kevin Sumlin era. Due to the issues of the previous staff, he suffered one of the worst losses in program history in a 21-19 game against NAU and finished that season 1-11 with a win over Cal.
But with the changes in the transfer portal, Fisch was able to get the program moving in the right direction with a solid 5-7 season. Plus, his staff and he put together the best recruiting class in school history with the 2022 freshmen, which was headlined by Tetairoa McMillan and Noah Fifita.
In his final season with the program, Fisch recorded the fourth 10-plus-win season in Arizona history with the Wildcats going 10-3, which included a 28-24 win over Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl.
1. Rich Rodriguez (2012-17)
When first arriving in Tucson, coach Rich Rodriguez was taking over a program that was coming off an underwhelming 2011 season, where the Wildcats went 4-8. The year when Stoops was dismissed after starting off 1-5 despite a roster that featured quarterback Nick Foles leading the charge.
In his first season at Arizona, Rodriguez was able to build an offensive powerhouse that used the trio of quarterback Matt Scott, receiver Austin Hill and running back Ka’Deem Carey as the workhorses of the unit.
The Wildcats would upset No.18 Oklahoma State 59-38, which would help fuel an 8-5 season capped off by a win in the New Mexico Bowl over Nevada.
One could argue that the Rodriguez era was the most successful six years of Arizona football with the team going to five bowl games in six seasons. His only losing year came in 2016 with the WIldcats finishing 3-9 with issues at quarterback.
The best season under Rodriguez came in 2014 when the Wildcats went 10-4 winning the Pac-12 South and seeing their season come to an end with a close 38-30 loss to Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl.
Please be sure to share your thoughts on our All-Quarter-Century Team top three coaches ranking. To do so, follow us on our X account by clicking on the link.
Troy Hutchison grew up attending Arizona athletic events, which gave him a unique perspective and knowledge of the athletic department's rich history. He attended UA and began covering the Wildcats in 2018. As the Arizona Wildcats Beat Writer on SI, he is set to deliver wall-to-wall coverage to give fans an in-depth perspective.
Follow THutch1995