Arizona Wildcats Bold Training Camp Observations
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Arizona football is officially BACK in action and the long offseason is finally coming to an end as the Wildcats have opened up their 2025 training camp to get things geared up for the season with the team set to face Hawaii on Aug. 30 at home at 7:30 p.m. (MST) on TNT.
After an underwhelming 2024 season under Brent Brennan where Arizona went 4-8 after starting the year in the preseason AP Poll at No. 21 and ending the year losing 7 out of its last 8 games, the WIldcats made changes to the roster and their coaching staff.
Brennan revamped his coaching staff by hiring Seth Doege as the offensive coordinator and promoting Danny Gonzales to the defensive coordinating job. Plus, he was able to bring in defensive line coach Joe Salave’a, who is regarded as one of the top recruiters in the nation and a former Wildcat as well.
“When we go through a tough season like we did a year ago, you got to find a way to fix what was broken, fix what wasn’t working and put those pieces together,” Brennan said. “And part of those pieces are how we’re going to do things in terms of how we’re going to coach, what we’re going to do schematically and the other part is who are the players that are going to play those roles.”
The energy at practice was high, loud and the pace of play was a complete 180 from the previous season and matches the mindset and mentality that the coaching staff wasn’t to bring to the 2025 season.
Three Observations
Jeremiah Patterson
- In the most recent day of training camp, wide receiver Jeremiah Patterson had his best day of camp during the team’s 11-on-11 drills and managed to make three deep ball receptions against the first and second team units.
- Now, I still think Patterson has an uphill battle to get in the rotation of receivers that will consistently play come Week 1 of the season. However, he is clearly making progress and has improved since the end of last season.
Jack Luttrell
- Last season due to many injuries on the roster and progression in practice, safety Jack Luttrell was able work his way on to the field and made an impact with 39 total tackles and three interceptions.
- Throughout spring ball and training camp, Luttrell has worked primarily with the second team defense but has looked solid with a few interceptions and plays in the backfield helping defend the running game.
- I’m not sure if Luttrell will be able to get any starts this season with the depth of Arizona’s secondary. However, he brings needed depth and an option for Gonzales to plug in giving him a player with experience.
Motion
- The new offensive scheme that coordinator Seth Doege is implementing at Arizona is a uptempo offense that can attack the defense in multiple ways and has many wrinkles that will keep the opponents off balanced and the defense honest when facing the Wildcats.
- One thing that we have seen is constant movement from various skilled position players on the roster making it hard for the defense to know where the offensive attack is coming from.
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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.
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