Brent Brennan’s first season at the helm of the Arizona Wildcats has officially come to a close. The Wildcats will finish with a 4-8 record, after going 10-3 with a victory in the Alamo Bowl the previous year under Jedd Fisch. While the season was largely a disappointment, there were some flashes, including a road-win over then No. 10 ranked Utah, the Pride of Arizona Marching Band receiving the 2024 Sudler Trophy, and wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan becoming Arizona’s all-time receiving yards leader. See what Arizona head coach Brent Brennan, along with running back Quali Conley, and defensive end Tre Smith had to say postgame following the Territorial Cup loss to ASU.
Brent Brennan – Arizona ASU Postgame
Brent Brennan on ASU’s performance in the Territorial Cup:
“They’re a good team, and I give them credit. Skattebo is a fantastic player, just so powerful and runs low to the ground, and he’s hard to bring down. The quarterback is really efficient. Their wideouts made some plays, and then they were really effective on defense. I give them a lot of credit. They have a good football team, and as much as that hurts me to say, I got to respect it.”
Brent Brennan on Arizona’s pivot to the offseason in December:
“These next couple weeks will be chaos in college football. We’ll be getting ready for signing day on Wednesday, which we’re excited about, and then working hard to build our roster so that we can play the best football we could possibly play here at the University of Arizona.”
Brent Brennan on the 2024 Arizona Wildcats:
“I love these players. They fought their tails off all year. They went through extreme circumstances with injuries. Lots of guys that we didn’t anticipate counting on we’re all of a sudden playing meaningful roles for us, and they gave us everything they had. And I thank them for that. I also thank our seniors, it’s a really great group of people, just how they stayed together, everything they did to keep this team together in the transition a year ago. I’m really, really appreciative of them, and a lot of them contributed on the field in such a significant way.”
Brent Brennan on his outlook and next steps heading into the offseason:
“This was a really hard year for everybody associated with the program, but I’m optimistic for the future. I believe in the support we’re getting from our athletics director and our president. I’m extremely optimistic about the recruiting class we’re going to put together and the action we’re going to get done in the portal. And I believe in these coaches and our players, so I’m excited to move forward. This year was not fun, it was absolute misery. There were some fun moments, but not nearly enough. And I feel bad, because I feel like I let down these players, I feel like I let down this community, and I feel like I let down this university. This thing starts with me looking in the mirror and doing a hardcore evaluation of the choices and the decisions I made, and then building that out with our entire program every step of the way. The evaluation process begins. Bear Down.”
Brent Brennan on his message to fans who have lost confidence in the direction of the program:
“Well it depends on where their point of reference is. Like, if they’re going to have to wait 10 months until we win a football game, or nine months, however far away that is, I’m not going to be able to do it between now and then. But I’ll tell you this, you only have one choice when you’re in this position, right, and that is to go to work and to believe that you can. Because the other choice doesn’t lead to the results you want. Now the good news is, I’ve been through things like this before. I’ve been a part of a lot of staffs that have taken over programs, so I’m not afraid of the challenges ahead. I’m actually excited about it.”
Brent Brennan on Arizona’s competitiveness against ASU:
“I thought it was really good last week, and I thought today wasn’t good enough. Also think we played a good team that whooped our butts. I think that’s what we’re all sick about, is how that thing felt. We chose to defer, we had a chance to stop them on third and short, Skattebo fell forward for the first down, and we didn’t stop them, and then they went down and scored. Then we came out and I think we got one first down and then we punted, and they answered with points. So, they did what good teams do, they played complementary football with their offense and their defense.”
Brent Brennan reflects on Jonah Savaiinaea’s career at Arizona:
“He’s just an awesome football player and an even better person. I mean, anyone that knows Big Jonah – just a huge heart. Definitely a hard worker, crazy competitor, like, it’s so important to him. I’m excited for the next chapter for him. But, I met him on my first day here. He just had this big smile and gave me this big hug, and he’s a really special, special man.”
Brent Brennan on having exit interviews with players and his message to keep the roster in Tucson next season:
“That’s a fair question, I think it’s a little bit of a leap of faith. But, they have been around us, they have been around our coaches. They know our level of ability to teach and coach. I do feel like we have a great relationship with these players, I do think that is strong. I think the culture is healthy. And I think if you want to be a part of building something, great. If you want to go try and jump on a bandwagon somewhere else, if that’s who you are, go. I’m confident with everything that’s going on in the program, the coaches, the players, where we’re at with our administration, the rev share, like all those things, because those are all part of the conversation right now. I’m confident with where we’re at, I think we’ll be in a good spot with retention.”
Brent Brennan on assessing the coach staff and potential changes:
“That starts tomorrow. We have recruits here right now, so I’ve got a busy night ahead of me, which is going to be a lot of fun, and I’m looking forward to it. But yeah, got to figure out, I mean – like I said, every aspect of the program is under evaluation. Everything. Everything.”
Brent Brennan on Tetairoa McMillan’s likely final game as an Arizona Wildcat:
“We’ve talked a lot about T-Mac. He’s an awesome person, and I think what he has been to this university, what he’s been in this community. Just how generous he is with his time, how good he is with people. Everybody that comes in contact with him enjoys being around him. So, if he decides to go to the NFL, which I’m assuming, like everyone’s assuming, he hasn’t made that official statement yet, but we want what’s best for him. He’s a Wildcat forever, he’s a great human being, and everybody will always be rooting for T-Mac, always.”
Brent Brennan on his final postgame message to Arizona following the loss to ASU:
“My final message to the team was every person in the room has a piece of how we feel right now, every single one. Some pieces are bigger than others, but everybody was involved in that disaster today, and so, how committed are you going to be going forward? There’s nowhere that you get where you want to go without putting in the work, there’s nowhere. What is the next month going to look like, what is the next three months going to look like, what is the next six months going to look like?”
Quali Conley – Arizona ASU Postgame
Quali Conley on his message to players on why they should stick with Brent Brennan:
“If y’all met Coach Brennan, he’s a genuine guy, and that’s why Noah and T-Mac stayed, because they bet on him, they talked to him. Coach Brennan, he’ll tell you the truth, if you want to hear it or not, he’ll just tell you the truth. I feel like he’s a player’s coach. It’s not up to the players, but he lets the players voice their opinions, how the group feels, so I just feel like Coach Brennan is just an amazing coach.”
Quali Conley on playing together with T-Mac for a season:
“T-Mac is just a good guy. He’s very athletic, I’ll say. During practice, he just makes crazy catches and just for me to witness that, it’s just amazing.”
Quali Conley on the most disappointing part of the season:
“I feel like it was nothing really disappointing, but it’s just a learning period for the young guys on how the season shouldn’t look, so next year, the season shouldn’t look like this. It should be better, and it’s just a learning period for everybody.”
Quali Conley on the leadership Noah Fifita displayed this season:
“He’s just a heck of a leader, I’d say. Everybody, even the coaches, listens to what he has to say, and I feel like Noah is the first guy I ever met that has so much respect for everybody on the team. He’s just a great leader.”
Quali Conley on former Wildcat Jacob Kongaika planting at pitchfork on the Block A at midfield at Arizona Stadium:
“That’s our field, and just doing that is disrespectful, and the guys who stood up for us is like, I have the most respect for them, but like that’s just disrespect. And thank you to Montana [Lemonious-Craig], he was the one who stopped it, but I just feel like that was uncalled for.”
Tre Smith – Arizona ASU Postgame
Tre Smith on his summary of the Territorial Cup:
“The best way to put it is they just out executed us in all phases, to be honest with you. That’s what it comes down to, just going to be pretty blunt with it. They out-executed, and that’s an area we have to improve.”
Tre Smith postgame on the game plan for Arizona to limit ASU running back Cam Skattebo:
“Let me start off saying, the game plan didn’t go as planned, obviously. But, we know he’s a great player and they got a great offense, so the mission was to just stop the run, and make it bounce, and keep him going sideways.”
Tre Smith on how Arizona’s returning players feel about Brent Brennan and the direction of the program:
“It wasn’t exactly what we wanted and to say that there is no disappointment would be unrealistic, obviously right, we’re all humans. But, Coach Brennan works tirelessly, and he is a great dude. He knows what he’s talking about, he’s just working on getting it all together.”
Tre Smith on what Arizona’s younger players can learn from a season like this:
“The first and most obvious one in my mind is perseverance. Just the ability to work hard no matter what comes your way. And just really trusting the process and having faith in the people around you, having faith in yourself. Play fast, play hard, things like that.”