Speaking with the media earlier this week, Arizona head coach Brent Brennan discussed working on what needs to be fixed after a tough 2024 season and the extreme turnover of the roster and coaching staff entering 2025.
Brennan called roster and staff turnover the biggest he has ever been a part of. Arizona brought in 28 transfers and lost 36 players to the portal. Nearly half of the 2025 Arizona staff is new, including three new coordinators.
Brennan hired Seth Doege as the new offensive coordinator from Marshall and Craig Naivar as the special teams coordinator from Coastal Carolina. Danny Gonzales is the new Arizona defensive coordinator after being the special teams coordinator in 2024. Gonzales will continue to be the linebackers coach.
Brennan specifically discussed the red zone problems in 2024 that Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita spoke about on Wednesday when he met the media. Arizona should have more depth offensively in 2025. Brennan and his staff went hard after running backs and wide receivers in the portal.
"When you go through a tough season...you got to find a way to fix what was broken...how we're going to do things in terms of how we're going to coach, what we're going to do schematically, and...the other part...who are the players that are going to play those roles...We've added more players to a roster than I've ever been a part of this offseason. And also more staff transition than I've ever been a part of. But credit to the new coaches, credit to the new players, and then also credit to our current roster members."Arizona head coach Brent Brennan
Doege comes to Arizona running a modern version of the air raid offense. Doege played QB under Mike Leach at Texas Tech. Under Doege, Marshall finished 18th nationally in 2024, rushing for 201.69 yards per game. Arizona brought in Ishmail Mahdi from Texas State and Quincy Craig from Portland State at RB.
Mahdi is projected to be the starting RB for Arizona this season. Craig and Arizona returnee Kedrick Reescano will compete for carries behind him. Arizona could have half or more of their starters be transfers. Wide receivers Kris Hutson and Luke Wysong are other important incoming transfers for Arizona this season.
Gonzales spoke on Thursday. Nose tackle Tiaolaii Savea could be the most important transfer for Arizona defensively. Savea returns to Arizona after playing the 2024 season at Texas. Playing on a College Football Playoff team should help Savea be a leader for Arizona in 2025.
Arizona has balanced adding transfers projected to start and others who add depth to the roster through the 2025 portal. Brennan discussed the expectations of the offensive line transfers as part of the same press conference.
Brennan faces a pivotal 2025 season in his tenure. After beginning the 2024 season 21st in the Associated Press Top 25 and USA Today Coaches polls and being picked fifth in the Big XII, Arizona finished the 2024 season 4-8 overall and 1-7 in the conference.