Arizona Football begins Spring Football with bigger expectations

Preparations for the 2022 Arizona Football seasons are officially underway, as the Wildcats begin Spring Football with even bigger expectations. 

Well, 2021 was a bit of a dud for Arizona Football, especially as the Wildcats ushered in a new era of football under first-year head coach, Jedd Fisch, and limped to just a 1-11 finish.

Luckily, the stink of this past football season has long been forgotten after the successful off-season the Wildcats have had. And to our pleasure, there is plenty of excitement and intrigue as we head into Spring ball.

On Wednesday, the Wildcats officially kicked off Spring Football, as their practice was open to the public, their first of 15 workouts over the next six weeks.

And coming in, the Wildcats welcomed a myriad of fresh faces, as well as several familiar and older ones. And for the coaching staff as well as the fans in attendance, it was the first chance for them to see the overhauled and revamped roster for the 2022 season.

For starters, there are noticeable differences at quarterback, especially as the Wildcats added Washington State transfer Jayden de Laura, as well as 2022 commit and true freshman, Noah Fifita.

Together, both raise the level of play at the position and should help the offense produce a bit more this season. And their playmaking ability was certainly on display on Wednesday afternoon.

Beyond that, Arizona Football has a noticeable improvement in size and talent at several key positions.

The workout began with a ‘Haka’ performance, led by true freshman, Jonah Savaiinaea (a soon-to-be fan favorite). A tradition that is sure to be welcomed again as the Wildcats last performed the ceremonial dance under previous head coach, Rich Rodriguez.

However, the real attention grabber of the day seemed to be five-star wide receiver, Tetairoa McMillan. A standout at Servite High School in Southern California and teammate/best friend to Fifita, T-Mac as he is so aptly named, dazzled fans with several spectacular catches.

Much like this one…

Beyond that, Arizona looks like a different team in comparison to last year. Aside from the several fresh faces, Strength & Conditioning coach Tyler Owens deserves a ton of credit for the transformation he has done to this roster.

So far, there seem to be several that have added good size, and as the Wildcats look to compete at a higher level this season, their success starts in the weight room!

Listen to Coach Fisch as he spoke at the Spring Ball Media Luncheon.