What Brent Brennan said ahead of Arizona football’s Spring Showcase

“The day is packed with a lot of stuff that I think it’s fan friendly and really kind of community outreach stuff. It’s gonna be a lot of fun. There’s a kids football camp. We have 250 kids registered for that, which I think is going to be great. When we get to the actual practice in the showcase, fans are going to be able to be on the field, and they’re going to be there. We’re going to have the kids zone and the beer garden, like we did last year, and we’re going to play some real football in between, and then at the end of it’s going to be a great concert.

“So I think it’s going to be an awesome day for everybody that cares about Arizona football, and everybody that is excited to see our team play a little bit, but also just have a great day here in Casino Del Sol Stadium and get everybody back together and kind of kick off this time of year. Now we’re moving towards the season, which is really how I see this time of year. I think it’s also another great opportunity for fans to get an idea of what the team is going to look like on the field.

“I think (Saturday) is going to be a great day for everybody. I can’t wait. I’m excited about, as you guys can tell, just to see everybody here and we’ve got a lot of people that RSVP’d for the showcase, and I think you kind of have to RSVP to get on the field, because there’s going to be a lot of people that are trying to get in that space. It’s a unique opportunity. Rarely do people get to be on the field and be that close to the players. There’s also going to be an autograph component, so fans are going to be able to do some of that with our players.”

On season ticket sales for 2026: “When I think about all the games that I’ve watched that I was able to attend in McKale, and seeing what that environment is for Arizona basketball, right, seeing what that is for Tommy and those kids. How do we duplicate something similar in Casino Del Sol Stadium for our football program? Everyone talks about how hard it is to play at Arizona, or how hard it is to play in ALKEME, but can we do that here? Can we set this thing on fire every Saturday evening and make it impossible for our opponents to play here? I think people are going to get a glimpse of that tomorrow. Hopefully that gets people excited about buying tickets, excited about showing up for this football team, excited to show up for the players that continue to choose the University of Arizona versus taking maybe more money, or a different opportunity in another program, most notably Noah Fifita.

“Even going back to a year ago, all those people that chose to stay, and I think that’s something that is really, really special. I think it’s an opportunity, it’s the simplest way to show that you appreciate and you respect the choice these young people are making as they continue to choose Tucson, they continue to choose the University of Arizona, and they continue to choose this football program.”

On the defensive backs: “I think when you look at it you have a couple guys that have been or that are in recovery from postseason surgery stuff that are established football players that will be coming back to us. So I think that’s going to be exciting when we kind of get the full force of that group on the field, but what we saw from the guys that we added in the offseason, I’m encouraged that when you think about the pieces that we put there, those guys have all played a lot of football, and I think that part’s exciting. Then you have a young player like Matai, who’s really talented, hasn’t played a ton of football, but his talent shows up every practice, Zaire, who you see just at his length of corner, and you see him growing fast and and making plays, under the tutelage of coach Viney. I think we saw the success coach Viney’s was able to have with our corners over the last few years, and just how he’s built them up. So I think with having a lot of faith in Brett Arce and Chip Viney, they have both demonstrated that they’re excellent at developing players at both the corner and the safety position, combined with the scheme that Danny’s running.”

On the young defensive linemen: “I would say my impression of them so far has been great. I think it’s hard as a freshman, like those guys would have been going to the prom tomorrow, they would have been on a different timeline, but we’ve had the benefit of having them here. I think when those players can enroll early, it’s such an advantage. First of all, they get acclimated socially and academically, which that’s like a part of college that’s unique and different. They know where their classes are, they know how to navigate campus, they know where to park, or they know all that stuff. Football wise, it’s a huge advantage, because they get an off-season with coach Carroll and our incredible strength staff, and then they’re also part of meetings and part of spring practice, and so they have such a jump on the kids that get here late. It’s just the kids that join you mid year, those guys get eight months of college football before the rest of the guys, or before you start practicing again in August, right? I think we have eight of them, eight or nine of them coming at the end of May, right? They’ll get June and July, and then we’re in camp. It’s just not the same runway. I think those guys have all done a great job. I think they’re learning. I think they’re making plays here and there. They’re also making a ton of mistakes, which is great, because that’s how we learn. They’re making progress, and every day you see them flash. I showed a clip of Keytrin to our team yesterday morning, just showing a great example of Redline on a play that was run, him breaking the stack full speed off the ball is exciting. So I think they’re all making progress.”

On the offensive line: “The offensive line is a really fun group. It’s funny. Coach Oglesby is not a small man, and it’s very common to walk past his office and see 10 or 12 lineman crammed in there, literally just the mass of humanity, and they’re just in there talking football or talking life. It’s a really close group. I think it’s fun to see, because without Tristan being available, it’s fun to see Lado and Louie get those reps because they’re both young players still, especially through the lens of being offensive lineman. That’s one of those positions that takes a lot of time, a lot of reps to master, and so it’s great to see them get their reps. Doost continues to be a really, really good player. I think we’re going to love Zach. He’s mature, he’s playing big time games, and gets it. He’s tough, he’s very smart. Then we have some depth there too. Rhino has had a good spring, especially the last two weeks. There’s more depth there than we’ve had in the past. It’s just really important to keep those guys healthy, and that those guys continue to grow and emerge. I think Josh is fantastic at that, and that’s something that I just have a lot of faith in. I’ve seen him develop players over time. I saw the impact he had on big Jonah, even though it was just one year. I know those kids are all benefiting from their process with Josh and just provided we keep that group healthy, we’re gonna love that group. It’s gonna be a lot of fun.”

On the mix of newcomers and veterans in the wide receiver room: “That room is a lot of fun, because there’s a lot of intense competition there. I think the exciting thing about that is you feel like you can go eight deep in that room, and everybody can play. I think that’s important, we want to play with tempo, we want to push the ball down the field. You need to have depth at that position and those guys you see going through the spring, Tre Spivey, he’s been just a consistent high performer, which is not surprising to anybody. That’s exciting for me, but there’s incredible leadership coming from Chris Hunter. Gio Richardson continues to make plays in practice as a young player, but plays with a ton of maturity and toughness. It’s really, really exciting. The new guys that are starting to mix in like DJ had a couple great plays yesterday, so you see him starting to get more comfortable in the scheme. That’s one of those things for, especially that receiver position, speed is such an important part of it. As they’re learning the scheme, they just don’t play fast, or they don’t play as fast as they can. Once they start to settle in the scheme, then you start to see their talent show, because they know what they’re doing and they’re confident and they’re playing fast. That’s been fun to see. I think Rod (Gallagher) is going to be a really great addition. He’s fast, he’s tough, he’s played a lot of football. He gets it. That part is going to be a lot of fun. Then, once we get Brandon Phelps back healthy again, we expect him to contribute in a big way. So there’s a lot of good pieces in there that we’re excited about. Isaiah Mizell has had a great spring. He’s working through a little bit of a hamstring right now, but he’s had a great spring up to that point. So again, a lot of young players that we mentioned in that mix, but then you also have the maturity, the leadership and the experience of Chris Hunter and Spidey. So it’s a really fun group.”

On if the movement to grant five years of eligibility to players changes anything: “I don’t think it would change my approach to things at all. I’ve told you guys this before, this is a developmental program, and the idea for us is that we want to be able to recruit high level, talented players that want to be at the University of Arizona, and help them grow and develop in the process over the years. That’s how we can make our best football teams. Guys that have a 2, 3, 4, 5 year investment in the U of A and in this football program. I think the five year retention piece is something that is going to be the topic of conversation if this thing passes, which it sounds like it’s going to. How does that play out when you have a player who starts as a redshirt sophomore, or starts as a sophomore, and he’s kicking a ton of butt, and then, also, he’s a hot item on the free agent market of college football. I think that’s going to be the bigger piece that we’re going to have to figure out for our program.”

On what three NFL draft picks from Arizona would mean for the program: “It says a lot of things. Coach Fisch recruited a bunch of good players, and I think the guys that are coaching have done a good job helping them to continue on their developmental process. I think it speaks to that, but I think we absolutely lean into it. When you look at it big picture wise, like when we’re recruiting kids, we have proof that you can play at the University of Arizona, have an incredible experience and be an NFL player or an NFL draftee, right? So many of the young people that we talk to or that we’re recruiting, that’s the dream. They all have that dream, and they all think they’re that. You can’t talk to a single high school player that we’re recruiting, or a single player on our team that doesn’t think he’s an NFL player. So how do we help those guys realize that dream?”

On taking an NFL approach within the program: “Why would we not learn from the people in the world that are the best athletes in the National Football League? Why would we not follow their example now that we have this financial investment in these young people? Now that being said, these are 18 to 23 year old young men, right? They’re not these grown ups that are playing the National Football League, right? So there’s a certain level of professionalism and maturity and just accrued reps by those guys in National Football League, where, when you go and watch them practice, they are absolutely incredible at staying on their feet and taking care of each other to still get the necessary work done to be ready to play on game day. Not being in full pads, well, we have shells on. Have you ever seen a thigh pad? It’s like a saltine cracker. It’s not stopping a quad bruise. We feel like we’re able to get the required physicality in and we have had a great spring. That way. We’ve gotten after each other every single day. The physicality part of it has been great, whether or not we have thigh pads on and those neat little knee pads on the players don’t think of it that way either. They know, when we go 11 on 11, it’s on. We go nine on seven, it’s on. That’s just physical, that’s the way we approach the idea of getting the required physicality. Whether we have game pants on, that’s been a big thing in college football right there, that was like on the table. They started fining or flagging everybody that wasn’t wearing pants, right? They voted it down. Thank God, right? It would have been, like on game day, do you want to be like you’re not wearing the right pants? No, you want to get ready. We need to get a damn first down. We don’t have time to talk about pants right now. So I’m glad they didn’t do it.”

On if he thinks any positions need more depth from the portal: “I think the hard part about the portal is there’s a finite number of spots available, but there’s an infinite number of spots in the portal, so guys can kind of be stuck there. We got 105 guys on the roster. You got 85 guys on scholarship, or however you make your roster, right? Once the seats on that plane fill up, the plane takes off. Can’t have more seats. I feel bad for the young men that have chosen to get the portal, and you’re kind of stuck there, but for this program right now, the beauty of a single portal is if we know who our team was on January 16. Then we started working with those guys, and we got to start to build our culture and start to build our program, and start to get to know each other, and start to build that chemistry that is so important with the singular portal, which I think has been awesome.”

On what he wants to see from Tre Spivey: “One of my favorite things about Tre is he’s an incredible practice player. He really goes hard, and it doesn’t matter if he’s feeling a little under the weather or whatever, like, he likes to compete, and that part of it is a lot of fun. As he continues to grow, I think some of the space that he can continue to evolve into, like a really high level player, is continuing to understand how defenses move structure right. That part of it, I think is something that’s what those next level guys do. Those next level guys know they’re going to get a ball by what happens after the ball snaps. I think that’s a space, and it’s hard. It’s hard because those guys are moving fast, right? That’s something that, like every receiver that’s wanting to take their game to the next level, is able to assess that pre and post now.”

On what he’s seen from the tackle spot on the offensive line: “Louis is really coming along. He’s a young player that since he’s been here, he’s really put on a lot of good weight, you kind of see that. His structure going into camp was kind of long and thin, similar to Lado. When I first got here Lado was long and thin, it’s kind of how those tackles are, right? Then they start to train with coach Carroll. Tara, our nutritionist, gets a hold of them. We start eating 10 steaks a day, going crazy. The food and the calories and putting on a good weight. It’s great. It’s a bummer we haven’t had Tristan during spring, but it’s also been great for the development of those young guys, right? So there’s a side benefit to that.”

On the interactions between the different athletic programs: “All the coaches of all the programs here, we know how hard they all work. We know how important what they’re doing is with their athletes and their programs, and we want to support them. Tommy came out and spoke to our team on Tuesday, and it was great because he talked about a lot of the stuff that we’re talking about, just the process and not getting caught up in the end result or the outcome. You talk about a beginner’s mind, right? Like last year, it doesn’t matter, which is all these things that we’ve been saying with our players, but it’s great for them to hear from a great coach like Tommy, who just made this awesome run to the Final Four. So I think everybody’s supporting each other. It was great to go out and support the beach volleyball team. Yesterday, it was in the middle of practice, and the Big 12 championships are here, like, right now they’re in the middle of the semifinals, so I went out there today to watch them win their match against South Carolina. It’s great. Came down to overtime. It was an incredible win. It was awesome. So I was, like, so fired up, and then they were going crazy. To have our whole team out there, it adds a different dynamic to a beach volleyball contest. I’m sure that’s different than what they’re used to, because you have all these dudes, like practice is right there. So we have everybody like shoulder pads and helmets and everyone was screaming and cheering U of A chants all loud and obnoxious. It’s a lot of fun.”

On Dash Fifita: “I think Dash Fifita is a total badass, and I can’t wait to see his path. Every time he lines up, he does something really exciting, super tough, super smart, high football intelligent. He shows up every practice, he makes a couple plays every single practice. It’s a lot of fun, a lot of fun. Does that surprise you? Like, just given the family, does that surprise you? Like, no, of course it doesn’t. That family is just special that way.”

On the expectations for the tight end room: “I think the biggest part of that room, to me, is going to be getting TP back. Just the disappointing knee injury in the first play of the season last year. He’s worked his tail off. He looks great running around. I know you guys have seen him out there running around when you come to practice, but he just brings such maturity and confidence to that position. That room is a lot of fun because Cole has been a great addition. Shane will be a good football player. He’s a young player. He’s really talented. He’s not afraid of contact. Henry, if we get Kellen Ford healthy, that room is going to be a lot of fun. Now, there’s a lot of work and development it needs to go into that room, right? In terms of TP coming back to the team, that’s going to be a decision made by medical staff, not by coaches. I’m hoping, because of when the injury happened, when the surgery happened, that one would be a little bit earlier than Stukes was, because we had to kind of gradually bring him back into the fold, but that’s gonna be that group is gonna be a lot of fun, and those young players are gonna be really good, really good.”

On if there is any player that should be talked about more: “I think Wesley Yarbrough does really good stuff. Corn (Warren) was out for a little bit in spring, and so Wes got to take a lot of reps, and he showed up. There’s a lot of good stuff from him. I’m excited about that. Malcolm Herzog is gonna be a really good player, like he’s gonna be a lot of fun. He really showed up in a meaningful way as we got going here. The one you should be talking about, and really shouldn’t stop talking about, is Noah Fifita and the legacy he’s gonna leave at the University of Arizona. I’ve said it time and time again, I believe it to be the best story in college football, because he continues to choose Arizona, he continues to do the unselfish thing. He continues to do the right thing. He’s just a really, really special young man, and I can’t say enough about him, how he leads, how he prepares, how he practices, how competitive he is. It’s hilarious because I stand behind Noah just to make sure that if anyone’s around him or anything, to blow the whistle and stop the play, right? So I stand behind Noah, but sometimes I blow the whistle, and you should see how upset he is because he doesn’t get to finish the play, and he’ll look back and say he did not get me. I’m trying to keep it away from you, but he’s just so competitive.”

On what Noah Fifita’s offseason looks like: “It’s a better question for him, but anytime we have anything required here, he’s gonna be here, he’s not gonna let down the team that way. That’s who he is. Even last year we had to kind of encourage him to go to the Manning Passing Academy. He was excited about it, but he didn’t want to leave the team because he’s so committed to the team. He’s obviously going to be busy with his preparation. The extra that he puts in terms of the football team is the extra, the in between, and the unrequired. We have to find ways when the coaches aren’t around, when those guys are continuing to find ways to push their game and to elevate their game, and no one’s better at that than Noah.”

On where ‘The extra, the in between, and the unrequired’ comes from: “It comes from me, but I’ve taken other people’s words before, but the extra has been something that’s always been there. How do you level up on somebody if you do the same thing that everybody does? Everybody has the same amount of practice, the same amount of games, the same amount of weight room time, the same amount of meeting time, right? How do you elevate a program? How do you elevate yourself if you do the same thing that everybody else does? The great ones find a way to do more. The great ones find the extra. They find the in between, the unrequired stuff. They find that stuff is not required from the strength coach or the head coach or the position coach. They find that, and that’s how they continue to elevate.”