While the attention in Tucson is squarely focused on March Madness and Arizona’s run to the Sweet 16 this week, it’s also time to dust off the old pigskin and get back out on the gridiron for Arizona spring football. The spring is an opportunity for new players to show their improve, while also building and establishing the culture on the field and in the locker room. With the Wildcats’ first spring practice officially in the books, here’s what Arizona head coach Brent Brennan had to say:
Brennan on spring practice getting underway:
“It’s so fun to be back out there, and just what an exciting week for Arizona Athletics. Obviously, a huge story around here, men’s basketball and their run to the Sweet 16, huge game on Thursday against Arkansas. So excited for Coach Lloyd and that staff and that team. It’s a great group of guys. I love the way to compete. Can’t wait to watch them play. Our men’s tennis team had two top ten wins last week, in conference. Incredible women swimming and diving, multiple All-Americans at NCAA last week, and our men are competing this weekend. Softball had a great series win over the team up north. So just really a lot of stuff to be excited about around here.
For us, we’re excited about football. We’re finally back out on the grass. We’re finally out there with our team and the new pieces that we got in the off season. So as you know, a chunk of new guys are learning and running around. It’s been just a lot of fun watching what they’ve done through this offseason so far with Coach Carroll and that staff, I think those guys have done an incredible job with our team. I really believe in him, our players. I really believe in him and his staff, and just the amount of work and effort, some of the numbers that our players are putting up are just outstanding.
So I’m excited to see that kind of trend, how that translates into football, when we start playing football. Today’s a non-padded day. So, you know, we’re running around in our underwear and helmets, and so it’s not quite football, but we’re out there coaching and competing, and it feels like football. So it’s awesome to get started again.
This group of kids is just a lot of fun to be around, and I’m really excited about where we are in our process, and kind of how they continue to attack each day. I’m sure there’s gonna be a lot of questions about Noah Fifita, but I think it’s amazing to be in a situation where you have a Heisman-caliber candidate quarterback returning. I just think that’s rare and really, really special. What he’s done over his career here, and who he is as a young man, we’re incredibly fortunate to have Noah Fifita to be part of our program. So it’s fun, the first day of ball, getting out there, just getting going. I can’t wait to just keep practicing and keep going with this group of young men.”
Brennan on the significance of Seth Doege returning as offensive coordinator for QB Noah Fifita:
“I think that’s huge for our whole offensive football team, not just Noah. We’ve talked about his relationship with Seth a lot before. I think that’s also a really critical factor in Noah choosing to come back. And I think that’s one of those things that doesn’t get talked about enough, is that this young man continues to choose the University of Arizona, and he’s done it time and time again. I think that’s one of the things that makes him incredibly special, and on our side of it as a football program, as a university, as the city of Tucson – I mean, you’ve seen him out there with ‘Next Level Football’, the way he coaches, the way he interacts with fans, when he interacts with grandpas and grandmas and little kids, he’s just special in every way.
His relationship with Coach Doege, I think is fantastic. Noah is just an absolute sponge. He just attacks the learning part of it, which is great, because he’s always pressing coach Doege, and so their relationship is a lot of fun.”
Brennan on Fifita’s approach during the spring:
“I think he’s a player that just continues to grow and evolve, because he does attack his process with just such diligence. That part is really fun to watch, and it’s fun to see that relationship with him and Seth, even in practice. If Noah makes a mistake, he turns around to Seth and he’s telling him what it was before Seth can even get it out of his mouth. So I just think that that continuity, you’ve heard me say it before, consistency of leadership in a football program and football staff is absolutely critical, and I’m really grateful that we were able to keep as many of our coaches intact here and move forward together as we have been able to this season or this offseason.”
Brennan on Fifita biggest growth and opportunities to improve since arriving in Tucson:
“I think he’d tell you there is too. I think every player, every person, has a chance to grow and improve. If you don’t have that mindset, you’re playing the wrong game. I think Noah’s going to continue to accelerate that because there’s new players on offense, right? We have new tight ends, new running backs and new receivers, and so there’s a lot of chemistry that needs to be built up there too. Obviously, Chris Hunter and Spivey and Gio and Mizell, like those guys have played a lot of. Brandon Phelps has played a lot of football for us, but there’s also a bunch of new guys out there too. So I think that’s one of the things that over the next four weeks, five weeks, we’re going to see a lot of growth in.”
Brennan on the importance of bringing all three coordinators back:
“I think it’s critical. There’s just that consistency of leadership, consistency of messaging, also, those guys all did an outstanding job last year. The players having a very clear understanding of what the expectations are day to day, whether it’s for them individually, or for their side of the ball collectively, I think that’s been so important. The one thing that’s been really fun for me is just with Danny and Doege and Naivar, is that they’re all great leaders in their own right. We have great staff alignment, and everybody is moving the same direction together. I think the fact that we get to do it for another year gives us a chance to play good football.”
Brennan on running backs getting more reps with Quincy Craig and Kedrick Reescano limited this spring:
“Obviously, Quincy and Ked are both proven players for us, so those other guys are given a chance to get more reps and get more opportunity, because those two guys are limited, and there’s a handful of guys that are limited this spring, right? We had some postseason surgeries, you know, cleanup stuff, whatever, it’s going to take some time for guys to get back. There’ll be a few of those guys that you won’t see participate in practice. They’ll be out there, but they won’t be active participants in it, and that’s just because we’re listening to the doctors and the trainers about what the exact right process [and] timetable is for their recovery and for the return to play.”
Brennan on where leadership will come from with a number of veterans from last season gone:
“We had great senior leadership last year. I think there’s guys that are coming back on this football team that are also really good leaders, that were part of our leadership a year ago, right? So we’re gonna lean heavily on them. I will say a year ago we added 60, I think 63 new players, right? This year, it’s going to be probably 20 less than that, maybe a little more than 20 less. So that part of it, I think the good news is the bulk of our team that is returning, they understand exactly what the expectations are from me as the head coach, from our coordinators in all three phases, and from the position coaches. I feel good about that going forward, because the guys that have joined us, they have played a lot of football.
Part of our evaluation isn’t just the football, part of our evaluation is what kind of young man, what kind of person are we bringing into this football family here? As we get to know them through the recruiting process, it’s tough, because some of those decisions you have to make pretty quickly, right? I’m just trying to get a feel for them to see how they fit with our team, which is really important. Then the good news is that we got eight weeks of offseason to see them fit in with our group of guys, and that’s been really good.”
Brennan on how much the wide receiver room can elevate its play this season:
“I’ll tell you in a month, but I think I’m expecting them to all make a huge jump. Obviously, Gio had the most production last season, but all of them are really good football players and have had outstanding offseasons. Mizell put on some good weight. Brandon Phelps, like statistically, numbers wise, in his squat, clean, bench, all that stuff is was one of the best on the team in terms of the jump he made, the percentage jump, and so that part of it, I think our expectations for those three are really high.”
Brennan on the roster turnover from last season:
“I think it’s year to year, program specific. I think you’re going to see larger numbers turning over for a lot of reasons, but one of the most simple reasons is that you do have more one year players coming into your program. So in the past, when you might graduate, 15 to 25 seniors that have been there for four or five years now, you’re going to have a handful of one year guys adding to that, and that came in from the portal to play. Like Riley (Wilson) last year, like Max (Harris), or like Michael Dansby.
I think that part of it, I think it’s going to be year to year, because when you go out in the portal looking for pieces, it depends on what you need. It’s kind of like you’re hitting the free agent market, you’re like, ‘Oh, we feel good about this position, but we need to have a piece here that we think can help us.’ So I think it’s year to year depending on how the roster shakes out in the postseason, and you never really know exactly what that’s going to look like until you get there.”
Brennan on what makes Fifita special:
“I think Noah Fifita was raised by two incredible people. I think he’s got a great foundation of core values about who he is as a young man, and I think that part of him that has a very clear understanding of commitment and loyalty, that is what I think is showing up when he makes those decisions. Do I think he feels good about the program and the people that are here? Absolutely. Because I think people are a big part of the decisions these young men make, right? I think Noah has seen himself grow a ton in the last year working with Coach Doege, he’s seen a lot of improvement in the program and how we’re moving collectively, and I think he’s excited about that.”
Brennan on what he’s most excited about:
“I am day to day, so I’m really excited about Pro Day tomorrow. I can’t wait to see our guys that just finished playing for us. And so I think we’ve got 28 plus teams coming to watch our guys test and do all that stuff. I’m excited about that, I’m excited about practice Thursday. I’m excited to see our men’s basketball team Thursday night. Let’s go. I mean, there’s a lot of good stuff going on.”
Brennan on some of the notable position battles this spring:
“I think I’m excited to see that in the back end on defense, those guys were so impactful, right? Stukes, Dalton, Genesis, Dansby, Ayden Garnes, that group was really, really impactful. So I’m excited to see how that shakes out. I think we’ve added some good players from the portal. I think we’ve added some good players from the high school ranks. I’m excited to see Gavin Hunter, the move he can make. He played some really good football for us earlier in the year, as Treydan was coming back from his injury. So I’m really excited to see how that shapes out there.
I think the tight end position is going to be really interesting, because it’s kind of a mix of a couple transfers there, there’s a couple young players there. I think that’s going to be a lot of fun to watch. You guys already mentioned the running back position, just without Quincy and Ked being available. I’m excited to see Wesley play, I’m excited to see Corn play, I’m excited to see Antwan play. I just think there’s a lot of excitement in my mind to watch that. Then the receivers, just how is that going to shake out? Obviously, we’re expecting a big jump from them. How do the other pieces that we’ve added to that room contribute and compete for a spot?
So that’s kind of what spring ball is all about. The fun part is spring ball kind of sets a depth chart for the summer, but it really doesn’t mean anything until you get to fall camp. So, we go through a very similar process, probably even more intense in fall camp, when you start deciding who’s going to play and who’s not. We have a lot to learn. Right now we have 34 new players, so establishing with the new group, what exactly “Redline” looks like, and what it is, and can we live Redline day in and day out as we attack our process of improvement. That is just one of those things from me, that I’m going to continue to be harping on with our team and trying to find examples of it in practice, or non-examples of it.”
Brennan on balancing the excitement of being back on the field with growth expected in spring:
“I think you need to have energy and enthusiasm if you’re going to get anything done that’s worth a damn. So I’m excited. I want that energy out there, I want that thing overflowing, I want the practice environment to be hype, I want it to be exploding. I want people to be like, ‘Oh my God. They look like they’re having more fun than everybody in the country.’ That’s what I want that practice environment to feel like. I feel like today was a good start to that and I think it’s just going to keep accelerating, keep improving.”
Brennan on his initial assessment of the offensive line:
“I think that’s hard, and I think we just need to get playing. I know that we’re excited about what Lado is going to do, because he came in and played some really good football for us at the end of the season. Tristan is coming back from the injury that he sustained at Cincinnati, right? So we’re excited. We think we’ll get some more from him this spring. How those pieces fit are going to be really, really interesting. We’re excited about Zach. Zach Henning, the transfer from Washington. We think he’s going to be a good player for us. So there’s some pieces there that still need to play, but like walking into it, especially in the o-line, you’re like, ‘Well, I think it’s these five.’ Now, let’s play some football and figure out if it is.”