Big 12 Media Days: Arizona's Brennan on 2025 Expectations

Wednesday was Day 2 of Big 12 Media Days and that meant that Arizona coach Brent Brennan along with quarterback Noah Fifita and players headed to Frisco, Texas to represent the football program and talk to media across the conference.

The expectations for Arizona football coming into the 2024 season were high. The team started the year ranked No. 21 in the Preseason AP Poll with a good number of returning players and stars Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan leading the way.

But, things didn’t go that way for Arizona and new head coach Brent Brennan as the team struggled on both sides of the ball and couldn’t get any consistent play going throughout the year.

The Wildcats finished 4-8 on the year and ended the season on a two-game losing streak and lost seven of the last eight games.

Although there is no official Big 12 media poll, there aren't very many expectations for Arizona heading into the 2025 season compared to the previous year. However, the WIldcats have made several changes to their roster and coaching staff in hopes of having a better season.

On ESPNU, coach Brennan sat down with ESPN’s Matt Barrie, Greg McElroy and Brock Osweiler to talk about the future of the program.

Here’s what Brennan had to say about his program and the direction of the team when looking at the 2025 season.

Q: How much has changed from year one to year two?

Brennan: “ I think it's night and day. I really think as I'm looking at it, one of the challenges when we first got there was the portal created by Jedd's departure. So you have a 30 day portal there. Then you're getting ready for spring practice, then you got another portal at the end of spring practice, he said. 

“I felt like we spent the first six months on the job kissing everyone's ass, asking them to stay. It was just a horrible foundation for what we're trying to get done there. This second year, we just feel much more stable in it. I think because of that, like a lot of the players chosen to stay, our retention has been high. And then the acquisition of new talent has been really positive. So we're in a great spot.”

Q: How do you replace Tetairoa McMillan?

Brennan: “One of the things that I felt like we were missing a year ago, I felt we were missing some people on the other side of T-Mac,” he said. "We needed to have more speed. And I think we've added that in the off season. We've added five guys that run, 10.6, 10.5, 10.4 we just needed more heat. T Mac was incredibly productive. What a great player, what a great human being, and we're so excited for what he's going to do in the NFL. But, I'm excited to see what this receiver group does as a collective in the Seth Doege offense.”

Q: Why Seth Doege?

Brennan:  “From the moment I met him, when he came and spent some time with us. I was just really impressed with the energy he brought and the conversation had incredible juice, which I'm looking for high energy guys, he said. 

“That's a big part of who I am and I need to work with guys that can feed off each other that way. When we started talking about football, when we started talking about what we were trying to build at Arizona. I also thought it was interesting to hear an air raid guy talk about, 'hey, last year at Marshall, we found some real success running the ball.' And I had never heard an Air Raid guy talk that way.” 

“In my mind, I was like, okay, how do you win games late in the season? You got to be able to run the football,” he said. “So talking to Doege and talking about the championship run they went on last year Marshall. His ability or his willingness to adapt the scheme to fit the personnel is what really solidified it for me.”

Q: What do you believe is next?

Brennan: “As I look at the kind of changing landscape of college football, it's going to be, how do we build a more connected and more committed team? How are we tougher than the people we play? I really think that's going to be the separating factor in college football going forward, he said. 

“Because everybody has some variation of NIL, or re- share. Everybody’s somewhere in that kind of window. So whatever that is. How do we build the best team we can at the University Arizona? I think we've had really good momentum in recruiting this off season.”

Q: Can you look at what ASU did and model your team after that?

Brennan: “Think if you're not playing in this conference, looking to play for the conference championship, you're full of it and you're cheating your team. That should be the goal every year. And I think what the school up north did last year, you've got to respect it. I think it's really plain and simple, like our fans  like to hear me say that, but I can respect it. Because what they did was hard to do, right? That's what we're trying to do. As we look at what they did or what other teams did, that's one of the things I love about the big 12, is I do think anyone has a chance to win it.

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