Arizona's QB Room Turning Heads Through Spring Practice
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The Arizona Wildcats are in their fifth week of spring practice, competition is beginning to ramp up, the veterans are getting back into football shape, and the newcomers are fully acclimating to the Redline culture that head coach Brent Brennan constantly speaks of.
Quarterback Noah Fifita, the leader of the team, is looking to build off the success he saw last season. He is now gearing up to play in the second season under offensive coordinator Seth Doege, and it seems like it has been ages since he had a coordinator in consecutive years.
Fififta is entering his final year with Arizona, receiving pay calls from the same coordinator as last season, and the return of numerous receivers and the addition of new ones is a recipe for success in the quarterback room.
It is now the final week of spring practice for the Wildcats, and they will be on a brief break before the start of summer training camp. The quarterbacks have progressed through practices and seem ready for the next step in the offseason.
QB 2 Battle Heating Up
Fifita will be the starting quarterback when the 2026-2027 season begins. He is coming off a season in which he threw 28 touchdowns and just six interceptions, leading Arizona to a 9-4 campaign and making him the all-time passing touchdown leader for the program.
The Wildcats are currently in the process of finding out who will be the second stringer after the departure of Mason Braedyn Locke, who transferred to Tarleton State at the end of the season. So far,
Sawyer Anderson (R-Fr.), Luke Haugo (R-Fr.), Mason Bray (R-So.), and Oscar Rios (Fr.) are all competing to back up Fififta, and the battle has been fierce through camp. That competition will inevitably get tougher when summer camp rolls around. So far, Rios has not been able to participate in spring practices.
"I don't want to look too much into the spring as who's ahead of who," Doege said. "I wanted them to get acclimated to what we're doing and then figure out what they're good at, go through the summer and fall camp, and try to really push the scheme toward their strengths and see how they elevate the unit. I didn't want to make a decision through the spring because again, the spring is supposed to be hard."
Fifita's Progression Through the spring
Last season, Fifita did everything he could to become a better quarterback, from participating in the Manning Passing Academy to spending extra time with Doege in the film room and on the field. That effort paid off as his stats dramatically increased.
Now, Fifita will be attempting to elevate even further under the guidance of the same coordinator as last year in Doege. Fififta has a legitimate shot at proving that he is not only the best quarterback in Arizona history, but also an NFL-caliber player.
"He always has this beginner mindset," Doege said. "If I install a simple concept, a day one concept, it's probably as simple as it gets that we might call four times a year. He takes notes on it as if he's never heard it before. If he goes and reps it, he's repping it as if he's never repped it before."
"If we do a drill in practice, that's mundane, everyday type of drill, the details to that drill is almost as if he's never gotten that rep before. He starts with a beginner's mindset, treats people the right way. He's very humble."
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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.