The case for a turnaround season in Tucson is not exactly airtight. The depth chart has holes, the coaching staff is unproven and the skepticism is swirling over the trajectory of Brent Brennan’s program.
Are the changes to the staff and schemes enough to navigate a conference as competitive as the Big 12? Will quarterback Noah Fifita replicate his 2023 efficiency? How will the offensive line hold up? Is the defense capable of a minimum level of competency?
The doom-and-gloom scenario can be painted with a thousand strokes. The case for a turnaround requires only one word — an expletive, no less, that Brennan uttered on camera in the dead of summer a thousand miles from home.
During Big 12 media days in Frisco, Texas, in early July, Brennan joined ESPN’s on-site set to discuss the upcoming season, just as 15 other Big 12 head coaches did throughout the two-day event.
Asked by studio host Matt Barrie about the changes from his first year to the second, Brennan held nothing back.
“I felt like we spent the first six months on the job kissing everyone’s ass, asking them to stay,” he said. “It was just a horrible foundation for what we were trying to get done there.”
But tell us how you really feel, coach.
With that single comment — one of hundreds he uttered at the event — Brennan laid bare the flawed culture at the center of a lost season.
Then came a pivot to 2025.
“The second year,” Brennan added, “we feel much more stable in it. Because of that, a lot of players have chosen to stay. Our retention’s been high … We’re in a great spot.”
And therein lies the primary case for a turnaround in Tucson: Brennan didn’t overhaul the depth chart during his second spring so much as he revamped the culture.
Accountability, alignment of purpose, a collective embrace of the grind — all the building blocks essential for success are present at levels that did not exist last season.
Because here’s the reality: Brennan should never have given an inch when he took over in January 2024 and faced a mass exodus through the transfer portal.
An exodus that would have shattered every shred of momentum Arizona built under Jedd Fisch.
An exodus that would have set Arizona back at least one season and perhaps several seasons.
An exodus that would have cost the school millions of dollars in ticket sales and gate receipts and philanthropy and NIL resources.
Instead, Brennan did what the fans and administration wanted, what so many coaches in that situation would do. He spent months “kissing everyone’s ass” to retain as many core players (and assistant coaches) as possible.
And the Wildcats were doomed.
In truth, Brennan should have made no concessions and let the players who wanted to walk, walk.
The roster would have been gutted, the fans would have been furious and the product would have been awful. But holding his ground and letting go would have given Brennan a fresh start with a committed roster and zero expectations.
That would have bought him time. A forgettable season would have been explained away. A true rebuild would have commenced.
But with the pressure to win and the importance of NIL and the lure of the transfer portal, head coaches hired late in the offseason cycle — and Jan. 16, the date Arizona introduced Brennan, is late — face brutally difficult environments.
That was the case with Brennan, who left San Jose State for Arizona and lost eight games.
And with Fisch, who left Arizona for Washington and lost six, including the two that matter most (Oregon and Washington State).
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And with Kalen DeBoer, who left Washington for Alabama and lost four, which is the equivalent of six anywhere else.
But Fisch and DeBoer managed signature wins — the Huskies beat Michigan, the Crimson Tide slayed Georgia — and led their teams into the postseason.
Brennan’s situation spiraled quickly.
He made the concessions necessary to keep as many starters as possible.
His decisions on which assistant coaches to retain, and which to hire, largely missed the mark.
The foundation was “horrible,” the culture was rotten and games were lost long before they were played.
Enthusiasm cratered, momentum vanished and fans called for Brennan’s dismissal before the final whistle of his first season.
Will Year 2 be any different? The forecast is murky.
The playmakers are unproven, the offense is new and the depth is limited. And the enemy up the road is preparing to defend its Big 12 title.
The case for a turnaround in Tucson is limited, but at least there’s a clean, solid foundation. Good things are possible when you don’t spend six months “kissing everyone’s ass.”
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