The expectations for Arizona Wildcats 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 Noah Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan leading the way. But things didn’t go that way for Arizona and new head coach. Brent Brennan and the team struggled on both sides of the ball and couldn’t get any consistent play going throughout the year.

As Arizona limped to a 4-8 finish, Brennan’s debut campaign looked more like a trial by fire than a triumphant arrival. But beneath the record, analysts have been split. Was this just a lost season caused by inherited chaos? Or a red flag that Brennan may not be the right fit for Big 12 expectations? Eric Cohen of Wildcat Country pointed to Phil Steele’s rankings to underline the skepticism. “You ranked Arizona very low, and I don’t want to give it fully away, but you ranked them very low in the Big 12,” Cohen said. “But you actually came away with your writeups quite optimistic that they could exceed your projections. Explain why you think that.”

Steele didn’t hesitate in his answer. “Well, it’s the second year for Coach Brennan, and let’s face it, last year was unusual circumstances. He took over the team late, a lot of players left in the portal. It was an inexperienced squad, and then they suffered a lot of injuries on both the offensive and defensive line. And it was a great start to the season at 3–1 and then the Texas Tech game, they had that thing basically won, ended up losing by six and then the season sort of got out of control on them.” That loss to the Red Raiders was a backbreaker. Not just on the scoreboard, but emotionally.

Arizona led deep into the fourth quarter, with Fifita throwing darts and the defensive line generating pressure. But a missed tackle here, a misread there, and suddenly the game, and eventually the season, slipped through their hands. Steele’s breakdown wasn’t just about sympathy. It was about trajectory. “I think when you look at the overall talent on this year’s squad and compare it against the schedule, the Big 12 has a very tough schedule this year for them with five road games and only four home games. That’s why I picked them lower. But it’s second year for Brennan. You got a quarterback back in Fifita. You’ve got a much more veteran defense this year. There’s a lot of signs that could point upwards for Arizona.”

That optimism is complicated by the contract Brent Brennan inked when he left San Jose State for Tucson. It’s a seven-year deal worth $17 million with a built-in $7.5 million buyout if he is let go before the end of Year Two. That safety net, once viewed as a smart investment for a rising coach, is now raising eyebrows.

Steele hasn’t lost faith. He recalls Brent Brennan’s climb in the Mountain West with genuine respect. “Yeah. No, I wouldn’t think that at all. What the job he did at San Jose was pretty remarkable. I remember going over the squad with him the first year. I believe he was a first-year head coach with a first-year offensive coordinator and a first-year defensive coordinator and he had a very young team and he built that thing and built it strong.” Brennan took a bottom-dwelling program and turned it into a conference contender by 2020. He did that by showing patience with player development and trust in long-term schemes.

But Arizona isn’t San Jose. Expectations in the Big 12 are different. Bigger fanbase. More TV money, and far less patience. The scars from Jedd Fisch’s abrupt exit still linger. “Now you take a look at where he’s at with Arizona. I thought it was a tough circumstance for Arizona last year. They were coming off a remarkable year. They lost a lot to the transfer portal. Their coach not only left to go to Washington, but took a lot of players with him, including their leading rusher from the previous year,” Steele added.

That includes key production and locker room leadership. Yet, there’s still meat on the bone for 2025. Coach’s incentive package includes $40,000 for a top-three Big 12 finish and another $40,000 for cracking the AP or CFP top 10. Rewards designed for a team punching above its weight. To do that, Brent Brennan needs more than Fifita magic.

Brent Brennan’s year two glow-up

Expectations may be quieter in Tucson this summer. But Brent Brennan doesn’t mind flying under the radar. Appearing on ESPNU, Brennan painted a brutally honest picture of what he walked into when Fisch bolted to the Huskies. “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,” Brennan admitted. That’s the kind of blunt truth you rarely hear from coaches, but it perfectly explains why 2024 felt like Arizona was trying to play football while treading water.

The good news? The panic has passed. “This second year, we just feel much more stable in it,” Brennan said. “I think because of that, like a lot of the players chose 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.” Hopefully Brennan can bring the same magic he was able to create in San Jose to Tucson in 2025.