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Oct 19, 2024; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats offensive lineman Josh Baker (75) against the Colorado Buffalos at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Arizona Wildcats: Three Bold Training Camp Observations

Originally posted on Arizona Wildcats on SI
By Troy Hutchison | Last updated Aug 7, 2025 8:00 AM ET

Arizona football is officially BACK in action and the long offseason is finally coming to an end as the Wildcats have opened up their 2025 training camp to get things geared up for the season with the team set to face Hawaii on Aug. 30 at home at 7:30 p.m. (MST) on TNT.

After an underwhelming 2024 season under Brent Brennan where Arizona went 4-8 after starting the year in the preseason AP Poll at No. 21 and ending the year losing 7 out of its last 8 games, the WIldcats made changes to the roster and their coaching staff.

Brennan revamped his coaching staff by hiring Seth Doege as the offensive coordinator and promoting Danny Gonzales to the defensive coordinating job. Plus, he was able to bring in defensive line coach Joe Salave’a, who is regarded as one of the top recruiters in the nation and a former Wildcat as well.

“When we go through a tough season like we did a year ago, you got to find a way to fix what was broken, fix what wasn’t working and put those pieces together,” Brennan said. “And part of those pieces are how we’re going to do things in terms of how we’re going to coach, what we’re going to do schematically and the other part is who are the players that are going to play those roles.”

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.

James Snook-Imagn Images

Three Observations

Kris Hutson

For most of training camp, one of the most consistent receivers has been Washington State transfer Kris Hutson who has been a solid combination of speed, route running ability and soft hands making him an extremely dangerous receiver for opposing defenses.

However, in the last handful of practices, Hutson has had some tough days with drops and blocking in the running/screen game. He has dropped some passes that have been put right on the money by Fifita and other quarterbacks.

Hutson has been working in the punt return game as well and has seen highs and lows with a few muffed punts. But coach Bobby Wade has been right there helping him out and getting him back on track.

Although it has been a struggle the last couple of days for Hutson, I do expect him to turn things around and continue being a critical piece to the Wildcats’ 2025 offense.

Snapping

Throughout spring practice Arizona saw several bad snaps from the centers and in special teams formations that seemed to pile up by the end of spring ball. It didn’t matter who was snapping, or what the situation was, it was a massive issue.

But, so far during training camp with new snappers for special teams and the same set of centers for the offense, there have been ZERO bad snaps. That issue hasn’t come up no matter which offensive unit is on the field.

Mason Bray

Now, when Arizona added quarterback Mason Bray to its 2025 roster, most fans were happy to see the son of former Wildcat and beloved player Heath Bray on the roster and didn’t have many expectations for the young quarterback. With Fifita and others on the roster, it makes sense to not have big expectations for him.

However, just this last practice, Bray saw time in 11-on-11 drills with the fourth-team offense and showed high-level football IQ on the field and made all the right reads and throws. He even hit the hole for a couple of 10-plus yard runs.

I don’t see him playing anytime soon, but Bray is better than what people think and the high football IQ is something for other players on the roster to look at and work towards.

This article first appeared on Arizona Wildcats on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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