Despite how it may have felt to many, the sun did rise on Sunday and again Monday after Arizona’s latest loss. The Wildcats’ coaching staff remains intact and there are no plans to cancel the remaining five games of the season, as preparations are underway for the Family Weekend matchup with West Virginia.
“It’s a new week, and we all get a fresh start,” UA coach Brent Brennan said. “We’re going to fight our butts off not to not be a team that lets our frustration or disappointment of last weekend impact this week. I think there’s still a lot for us to be excited about. We have five games left, and that’s a lot of football, and that’s what we’re going to focus on. What can we do right now to give us a chance to move forward together, that gives us the best chance to play good football and have a chance to win on Saturday.”
Arizona (3-4, 1-3 Big 12) has dropped three in a row and is in danger of missing out on bowl eligibility after being ranked in the preseason AP Top 25. The Wildcats haven’t gone to bowl games in back-to-back seasons since doing so four straight years from 2012-15.
There’s no doom and gloom within the football program, Brennan said.
“I don’t think that’s reflected in how we practice and how they are when they’re around each other,” he said. “When you don’t get the outcome you want there’s going to be disappointment there, but I think the important thing is, whether you win or you lose, you gotta flush that thing in 24 hours and get back ready to go for the next one, because there’s another big-time opponent coming your way. I don’t think that’s the case, but I do think when you lose a game there’s obviously going to be frustration.”
Here’s what else Brennan said at his presser to open West Virginia week:
On using starters on special teams in light of all the injuries: “That’s a fine line, because you want to have your best players on the field at all times. After that first (kickoff return), we took Dalton (Johnson) out, so we made that decision in-game. I think that varies, team by team, that I’ve been a part of. I’ve had situations where I’ve had all starters on two of the four (teams). It just depends on how effective can we be covering kicks or returning kicks or blocking kicks with the people that are out there. That part of your football team that is kind of just getting started in their college football journey, and those special teams are so valuable for them, because they get to feel the speed of the game. And all those things they’re either defending space or you’re or you’re attacking space. I think those are also great learning situations for a lot of our younger players.”
On Noah Fifita throwing high on several passes vs. Colorado: “I think sometimes when you do that, you overstride, so you’re kind of like winding up to try and generate power, and you overstride … and then that ball sails on you. And I do think there’s a part of that where some of the protection stuff has been hard on him, if you combine the pressures and and the sacks.”
On how he’s planning to change in coaching after a third straight loss: “Not in my approach, but in terms of what we’re talking about when you combine the situation we’re in with our injuries, and then when you put young players out there and new players out there, you gotta do a great job of making sure they can execute at a high level, and everybody’s going to the right spot, or blocking the right guy, or running the right route … or covering the right spot on the field. So that’s kind of the conversations that we’re having is, what can we do to give us a chance to play cleaner.”
On losing LB Jacob Manu and LT Rhino Tapa’toutai to season-ending injuries: “It’s unfortunate how those things happen, but this is a situation where you always say next guy up. Somebody has to pick up the flag and somebody has to get ready to go, and we’re counting on each other to get what we do collectively and how we play and give us a chance to play clean football on Saturday in terms of what we choose to do, schematically.”
On who will replace Tapa’toutai: “So right now I’m thinking Michael Wooten, and then Joey Capra is gonna be backing up a couple of the spots inside, and maybe out. I think it’s gonna be Jonah (Savaiinaea) at left, we’re still working through that. Today’s kind of a recovery and development day. And so that was just us getting back out there and kind of getting moving around.”
On Wooten struggling vs. Colorado and not playing much to this point: “One of the things that was unfortunate for him is he got rolled up in training camp, so he missed a few weeks of practice that way. But we’re excited that he’s here. He’s a young player. There’s just a lot of youth there, so that that speaks to the idea that we have to be smart.”
On if he’s willing to get in a player’s face: “I have no trouble getting it anyone’s face, that’s not ever been a problem for me. I think it’s important that you know exactly who you’re doing that to, and are they someone that’s going to respond the right way from that kind of stimulus. I would say the generation that we’re coaching right now struggles with that a lot more than than maybe previous teams or previous generations that I’ve coached, and I’ve been doing it a long time now. Every player is different. Every player responds differently to that kind of intensity.”
On in-season staff changes: “We made that decision this year. That’s an ongoing process. Whenever you’re in a window, like we’re in right now, where you struggle, you’re evaluating every part, from top to bottom, like how we eat, how we practice, how we sleep, how we travel, how we coach them. So that that’s an ongoing process, always is.”
On simplifying the offense: “We’ve had a massive install in fall camp, and then now we’ve been playing seven games. And just what stuff are we best at executing. And so pulling from a menu that’s maybe not as big. More of a bar menu than the whole menu at Chili’s.”
On being able to protect the quarterback better: “You can add people to the protection, which takes people out of the route. We can add a little bit more play action. RPO, pocket movement, all those kind of things.”
On how much of the scheme and verbiage from Arizona’s 2023 team was carried over: “It’s a combination of those two things. I think what you find is that most people are running versions of the same plays. And so for us to take the concept and just borrow the name was easy.”
On Tetairoa McMillan only getting targeted 5 times: “We have to find a way to get him the football better. The other part of that is he was getting doubled the whole game. So that’s complicated when they’re going to do that to him, so we have to be creative with our team that way, in terms of how do we get them a chance to get away from that double?”
On if he can take anything from his 2023 San Jose State team starting 1-5 and finishing 7-6: “Absolutely. Whenever you’re in the struggle, like the only way to (deal with it) is going through, and we have to continue. And that’s why the practice environment is so important. That’s why the meetings, like just focusing on right now and this day and this moment and not getting caught up on five days from now, so that we can get the most out of this time we have to improve. And that’s what this time is all about for us. We have to make a jump. We have to improve this week, and it starts with me and every guy deciding that they’re willing to do that, that they’re willing to put in the work. It gives them a chance to improve. We don’t get to feel sorry for ourselves or be a baby. This is a man’s game. We need to grow up and attack the work. And so far, they’ve been great.”
On dealing with outside noise: “A lot of times we just talk about what we control. And we don’t control social media. Everyone in the media has a job too, and they gotta do their job to the best of their ability the same way they gotta do their job as a football player, as a football coach or as a trainer or whatever. For us, it’s like, what do we control? And we’re going to focus on that. I do think the the social media for young people is hard because, if I dropped a pass on third down 30 years ago, it was in the paper, no one read it, not college kids. But now on social media if he drops a pass he might get 10,000 people telling him that he’s trash. That’s a lot for a young person to handle. I think that’s really, really challenging, but that’s just the nature of the world we live in. So how do we help them navigate that space? And how do we help them, lean into each other and not ingest that stuff that can be toxic for their headspace.”
On Gunner Maldonado’s status: “We don’t know that yet. He’s going to need surgery, so we’re waiting for that swelling to go down.”
On Jack Luttrell’s first start: “I thought Jack was fantastic. Like, that’s a great example of picking up the flag. He hasn’t played a lot. We were talking about special teams earlier. He’s been playing the last two weeks in the kicking game. All of a sudden, he’s lining up at free safety, and he makes some huge plays in that game. And so I was encouraged by that play. We felt like, as a defense, that there was some good moments there with that secondary, considering the lack of experience that was on the field.”
On Jacory Croskey-Merritt’s eligibility: “As soon as I know I’ll tell you.”
On West Virginia: “That’s a good football team. I know they had a tough one last week, but I think these guys have played really good football. Every week in this conference, if you don’t show up ready to play, someone’s going to get after you. And I think every game is like that in this conference. Every game is about and so, with our team, we are much more leaned into what are we going to do today? And how focused can we be on doing the work we have to do to get ready to play a good team coming in our stadium.”