Arizona Wildcats Insiders Podcast: Training Camp Talk

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 prospective sports there will be moments where he will take a deep dive into the Cats excelling outside of Tucson.

To watch, view below.

The energy at practice was high, loud despite the team not even in full pads, or in shells at this point in time. 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.

Although there was no contact and players weren’t in shells, there were still takeaways to be made with what the media was able to see throughout the duration of the day.

Three Observations

Keyan Burnett

After going through a long 2024 season where he saw injuries slow himself down and the offense spiral out of control, tight end Keyan Burnett looked for a new start and transferred to Kansas looking to make a mark on the Jayhawks program.

However, after going through spring practice, Burnett had second thoughts on leaving the Wildcats and the West Coast. So, Burnett re-entered the portal and made his way back to Arizona and Tucson.

So far in training camp, Burnett has looked rock solid and stronger on the field than he did a season ago. Plus, he has gotten tougher in the blocking game by working with coach Josh Miller.

In previous camps if Burnett dropped a pass you could see it eating him up the rest of the day. He hasn’t dropped many passes and his confidence seems to be at an all-time high.

Growth at the Defensive Backs Position

Arizona last season had its depth tested in the secondary with numerous injuries to the unit forcing players to see the field that weren’t ready for Power 4 game time action. This offseason, Brennan and the coaching staff added talent through the transfer portal and from the incoming recruiting class.

The two players that have stood out and have made plays this training camp have been Ayden Garnes and Gavin Hunter. Both have seen time with the starting unit and have been able to break up passes and even have come away with a few interceptions.

Now, I’m not 100% sure if that will result in the two being on the starting unit at the beginning of the year. But, Arizona will rotate defensive backs at times and play in formations where there could be a high number of defensive backs on the field.

So, having guys like Hunter and Garnes develop ahead of the season will be critical for the success of the defense.

Kedrick Reescano

When looking at the film on running back Kedrick Reescano from his high school days it was clear that the Ole Miss transfer was a highly talented player that just hadn’t gotten a shot up to this point in time.

In this training camp Reescano has been a monster and hitting holes with force, strength and speed that he didn’t have a season ago. His vision under coach Alonzo Carter has grown from the previous season.

With how things are developing, this could be a massive breakout season for Reescano, which could establish himself as one of the better backs in the Big 12.

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