Big 12 Media Days: Arizona QB Noah Fifita Talks 2025

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

Here’s what Fifita had to say about his progress and the direction of the team when looking at the 2025 season.

Q: How good are QBs in this league?

Fifita: “They're great. We talked about it during the break, it's a conference of quarterbacks. We got some really special quarterbacks here,” he said. “But more importantly, we got some special people. I got to spend the weekend at the Manning Passing Academy and build some great relationships there with Jalon Daniels and Avery Johnson, among others. Such a fantastic conference.”

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: 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.”

Q: What has your off season looked like?

Fifita: “My off season's been hectic for sure. We have a lot of goals, a lot of expectations that we have for me individually but more importantly for our team that we're trying to live up to this season,” he said. “So I’ve done a lot of work with coach Doege.”

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 2 Championship.”

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