College football is chaotic. Honestly, that’s an understatement. When Jedd Fisch bailed on Tucson for the rainy shores of Washington in early 2024, Arizona fans felt a familiar, sinking pit in their stomachs. It wasn’t just that he left; it was the timing. The program was finally winning. 10 wins. An Alamo Bowl trophy. A top-15 finish. And then, poof. The search for a new Arizona football coach didn't just feel like a hiring process—it felt like a fight for the program's very soul.
Enter Brent Brennan.
He wasn't the "splashy" name some boosters wanted. He wasn't a former NFL head coach or a TikTok-famous coordinator. But if you look at what Arizona actually needs right now, Brennan might be the most logical hire the school has made in twenty years. He’s a guy who understands the West Coast, knows the "Desert Swarm" legacy, and—perhaps most importantly—actually wants to be in Tucson.
The Long Road to the Top Job
Brent Brennan didn't just stumble into the role of Arizona football coach. This was a decades-long audition. He spent years as a graduate assistant under the legendary Dick Tomey. For those who don't know, Tomey is the gold standard in Tucson. He’s the guy who built the "Desert Swarm" defense that used to terrify the Pac-10. Brennan learned the culture of Arizona football before it was "cool" or nationally relevant.
After his time as a GA, he bounced around. San Jose State was his proving ground. Let’s be real: San Jose State is one of the hardest places to win in the country. The facilities are... fine. The budget is tight. The fan base is competing with every other major Bay Area attraction. Yet, Brennan didn't just survive there; he thrived. He took a program that was essentially a basement dweller and turned them into a consistent bowl participant. He won the Mountain West in 2020. That’s not a fluke. That’s a guy who knows how to do more with less.
Arizona is a different beast, though.
The move to the Big 12 changed the math for the Arizona football coach. You aren't playing Stanford and Cal anymore. You're flying to Morgantown and Orlando. You're dealing with the humidity of Houston and the hostile crowds of Stillwater. Brennan’s background in the physical, grind-it-out Mountain West is actually better preparation for the Big 12 than most people realize. It’s a blue-collar conference. Brennan is a blue-collar guy.
Keeping the Stars in the Desert
The biggest win of Brennan’s early tenure wasn't on the field. It was in the locker room.
👉 See also: What Really Happened With Nick Chubb: The Injury, The Recovery, and The Houston Twist
When a coach leaves, the transfer portal usually looks like a fire sale. Everyone expected Noah Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan—two of the best players in the country—to follow Fisch to Washington or head to a school with a massive NIL collective like Oregon or Ohio State.
They stayed.
That doesn't happen by accident. Brennan didn't come in and try to be "The Man." He came in and listened. He recruited his own roster. He convinced the foundational pieces of the program that the vision hadn't changed, even if the guy wearing the headset had. That single act of retention saved Arizona from a five-year rebuild. Honestly, if Fifita had left, we’d be talking about a three-win season and a "resetting of expectations." Instead, the expectations stayed sky-high.
The Big 12 Transition: A Reality Check
Transitioning to a new conference is brutal. Just ask Nebraska or Texas A&M. It takes years to adjust to the travel and the style of play. As the Arizona football coach, Brennan faces a unique hurdle: the Big 12 is a "parity" league. In the old Pac-12, you usually knew who the top three teams were. In the Big 12, anyone can beat anyone on a Tuesday night in October.
The travel is the silent killer.
- Tucson to Orlando: 2,100+ miles.
- Tucson to Morgantown: 2,000+ miles.
- Tucson to Cincinnati: 1,800+ miles.
This is a logistical nightmare. Brennan has talked about "modernizing" the way the team travels, focusing on recovery and sleep science. It sounds like corporate buzzwords, but when you're a 19-year-old kid trying to play high-level ball after a five-hour flight, it matters.
The style of play is also shifting. The Big 12 used to be the land of "Air Raid" and zero defense. That's changed. Now, it's a league of tough offensive lines and creative blitz packages. Brennan’s hire of Dino Babers as offensive coordinator was a fascinating move. Babers has been everywhere. He knows how to move the ball. But the success of this era will ultimately depend on whether Brennan can keep the defensive identity that made Arizona so tough under Johnny Nansen (who followed Fisch but left a blueprint).
✨ Don't miss: Men's Sophie Cunningham Jersey: Why This Specific Kit is Selling Out Everywhere
What Most People Get Wrong About the Arizona Job
People think Arizona is a "basketball school." That's the label. It's lazy.
While the McKale Center is iconic, the fan base in Tucson is desperate for a winner at Arizona Stadium. When the football team is good, the city catches fire. The "Arizona football coach" isn't just a guy on a sideline; he's a civic leader in Pima County. Brennan gets this. He’s been seen at basketball games, softball games, and local restaurants. He’s leaning into the "community" aspect of the job that Fisch, frankly, seemed to treat as a stepping stone.
There's also a misconception about recruiting.
Arizona doesn't need to out-recruit USC or Texas. They need to own their backyard and pick their spots in California. Brennan’s deep ties to the West Coast—specifically the Bay Area and Southern California—are vital. He’s not going to walk into a five-star's house and win a bidding war, but he’s the guy who finds the three-star linebacker who hits like a truck and develops him into an NFL prospect. That’s how Arizona wins. That’s how Tedy Bruschi happened. That’s how Scooby Wright happened.
Navigating the NIL Landscape
Let's talk about the elephant in the room. Money.
NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) has turned college sports into a semi-pro league. The Arizona football coach has to be a fundraiser as much as a play-caller. Arizona’s collective, "Friends of Wilbur & Wilma," has had to step up significantly. Brennan’s personality is a huge asset here. He’s likable. He’s approachable. Boosters who were turned off by the transactional nature of modern coaching find his "old school" loyalty refreshing.
But it’s a double-edged sword. If the wins don't come, the money dries up.
🔗 Read more: Why Netball Girls Sri Lanka Are Quietly Dominating Asian Sports
The Reality of the 2024 and 2025 Seasons
The honeymoon phase for any coach is short. For Brennan, it ended the moment the first Big 12 schedule was released. The expectations are weirdly polarized. Some fans expect a College Football Playoff berth because the roster is talented. Others are waiting for the other shoe to drop because "it's Arizona."
The truth is likely in the middle.
Brennan has to manage a roster that is heavy on talent but thin on depth. In the Big 12, injuries aren't a possibility; they are a certainty. The way he manages the "middle of the roster"—the guys who aren't stars but have to play 30 snaps a game—will define his legacy.
He also has to navigate the "Jedd Fisch Shadow." Every time Washington wins a game, a certain segment of the fan base will complain. Every time Arizona struggles, they'll look at what they lost. Brennan’s job is to make people forget the past by making the present undeniable.
Strategic Insights for the Future
If you're following the trajectory of this program, keep your eyes on these three things:
- Retention over Recruitment: Watch the transfer portal windows in December and April. If Brennan keeps his core together, he’s winning.
- The "Middle" Schedule: Arizona has always struggled with the "trap games"—the 11 AM kickoffs in small towns. If Brennan wins those, he's the guy.
- Defensive Identity: If Arizona starts giving up 45 points a game like they did in the Kevin Sumlin era, it's over. Brennan needs to maintain the physical edge that Dick Tomey taught him.
Actionable Steps for Fans and Analysts
If you want to truly understand where the program is headed under the current Arizona football coach, stop looking at the box scores and start looking at the details.
- Monitor the Lines: The Big 12 is won in the trenches. Watch how Brennan recruits offensive and defensive linemen. If he’s hitting the portal for 300-pounders from the Midwest or Texas, he’s adapting correctly.
- Follow the "Desert Takeover": Arizona is trying to brand itself as the premier program in the Southwest. Look at their presence in Phoenix. If they start winning recruiting battles in Maricopa County against ASU and Big 12 rivals, the power dynamic has shifted.
- Watch the Post-Game Tone: Brennan is an emotional guy. He wears his heart on his sleeve. Contrast that with the robotic "coach-speak" of previous regimes. A coach who is authentically connected to the school's history is harder to fire and easier to play for.
The era of the Arizona football coach being a revolving door needs to end. Stability is the only way to survive the new landscape of college football. Brent Brennan might not have been the first choice for the national media, but for a program entering a new frontier, he’s exactly the kind of steady hand required to keep the ship from tipping over. Tucson doesn't need a genius; it needs a leader who understands that "Bear Down" isn't just a slogan on a shirt—it's a way of surviving the desert.