Arizona Wildcats Training Camp Talk: Strengths of Noah Fifita

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 today's episode, view below.

When Brent Brennan was looking to turn things around on his coaching staff he hired offensive coordinator Seth Doege to fix the offense and get things back on track after an underwhelming season that saw the year end for the Wildcats with a 4-8 record and an offense that struggled after the 61-point explosion against New Mexico.

The offense struggled with injuries, lack of talent in the wide receiver room (outside of Tetairoa McMillan) and playcalling from former offensive coordinator Dino Babers.

Although he has been an amazing leader and face of the program, quarterback Noah Fifita wasn’t as vocal as Brennan and the rest of the staff would’ve liked him to be.

Brennan pointed to times where the team could’ve used a voice on the field to help recollect the team after a tough sequence, or loss that seemed to spiral out of control down the stretch of the season.

Both Brennan and Doege set the tone in spring practice by challenging Fifita to become that leader on the field by becoming an extension of the coaches on the field.

Throughout camp, Fifita took the challenge head on and became more of that leader the coaches were looking for on the field.

When talking to the media, Doege stated that there were times the offense wasn’t clicking and he went to go talk to the first-team unit but when he got close to the huddle, Fifita told him that he had things under control and would get everything in order.

After that, the offense would have its best drive of the day and started to click the rest of camp. This is exactly what the coaches have been looking for from Fifita as a leader in the huddle.

While watching training camp, you can see Fifita being more confident in that leadership role and helping his teammates on the details of the offense.

He has always been a leader off the field but is clearly growing into the leadership role that all starting quarterbacks need in order to get to the next level.

Now that Fifita has taken his game to the next level and is entering his fourth season with the program. We broke down his top three traits that make him one of the better quarterbacks in the Big 12.

Noah Fifita’s Top Three Skills

Football IQ

From the time that we first saw Fifita on the field in spring practice during his true-freshman season, it was clear that he was a highly intelligent quarterback that didn’t let things get too big on him.

In that first practice, Fifita wasn’t scared to make the smart play by either throwing to his check-down option, or even simply throwing the ball away. He never put the ball in danger and made all the right reads.

Now, he did struggle last season throwing 12 interceptions and making some poor reads throughout the year. However, he was under duress getting sacked 28 times causing him to put the ball in harm's way.

Still, Fifita’s football IQ is a major strength of his game and gives him an edge against other quarterbacks in the Big 12.

Quick Release

One part of Fifita’s game that wasn’t used last season due to the poor offensive system he played in under Dino Babers is the quick release of the football. He has the ability to get the ball out on target to his playmakers in order to get them in space and in a position to make a play.

The Doege offense seems to play to this strength and will allow Fifita to get the ball out and not put so much pressure on the offensive line, or him to get the ball down field in one pass.

Pocket Awareness

Going along with his high football IQ is Fifita’s ability to read and have a feel for the pocket. He does a great job of getting out of trouble and giving his receivers extra time to get open in the middle of chaos.

To me, he has similar pocket awareness is similar to NFL quarterback Russell Wilson, who made a living at North Carolina State, Wisconsin and Seattle off his skills in the pocket and extending broken plays.

Now, Fifita hasn’t shown off the wheels that a guy like Wilson has but he has the ability to keep plays going by getting away from trouble and finding the open man in the middle of the mayhem.

Please be sure to share your thoughts on Noah Fifita and his strengths to his overall game. To do so, follow us on our X account by clicking on the link.