Arizona Head Coach Brent Brennan

[PHXCATS]

This is how I think it all went down

DRF thinks some of this is on Brennan but not all of it. Thinks he can do better with a better staff and more NIL but ideally would have a new guy she hired

Looked to get the money from the big boosters and put feelers out for guys she would potentially replace Brennan with

After that she didn't feel she have an obvious upgrade she was comfortable with who Arizona could afford

Her meeting with Brennan about the future with him as coach went well enough to give her comfort for the next year or two

She told all this to the Big boosters and they agree overall

Also wonder if there are injuries we don't know about to key guys. The offense was really dynamic per reports in camp and amazing week 1 then really took major steps back after that. Would explain a lot of it besides the RB who had eligibility issues

[gronk4heisman]

Who should be fired and was never qualified for the job:
Dino, QB Coach, Wade, OL Coach, DL Coach, Danny G., and I know I am alone in this Akina is better suited to be a DB coach.

Who will likely be fired:
Dino, Akina, Danny G.

Babers didn't coach a position. As far as I can tell we didn't have a dedicated QB coach which is a problem.

We did, just another guy way out of his league. Lyle Moevao who had no experience coaching any position at any school prior.

[Merkin]

Washington State had some great seasons with Mike Price and Mike Leach. It can be done with the right head coach.

[mofo]

Because we don't have money because people don't show up to the games

I think I'm gonna try this approach at the shitty seafood restaurant down the street. Maybe if I just suck it up and eat their shitty seafood as often as I can they'll have enough money to upgrade to salmon that's not brown and oysters that don't smell like vinegar. Might be on to something!

[Postmaster]

You could try it at the Meat Rack at 1:50 A.M. Eventually, Amanda Beard will be at the end of the bar waiting for you.

[RawleArenas]

PHXCATS and DMJ are attention seekers, they don't even try to make coherent arguments. Truth of the matter is, Brennan's not the guy and he got here the wrong way. He never earned the job.

Now we're forced into the horrible position of hoping that next year's bad enough for the AD to fire him.

[dmjcat]

Transfer portal is Monday, Dec. 9, 2024 through Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024.

Won't get any impact players, but Brennan should shoot for bench players on loaded teams who were 4 star players out of high school. Would the 3rd string left guard who only gets special teams minutes for Alabama prefer to start at Arizona? I dunno.

I seriously doubt it. The average offensive/defensive lineman at an SEC school are pulling in over $750,000/year in NIL (per year). Do you really think some kid is going to take a massive pay cut just to go the UA??? Remember our starting defensive tackles from 2023 (Norton/Savea). They went to Texas just to sit on the bench.........for at least $500,000 more per year than they were getting from the UA.

https://jabberwocking.com/the-price-of- ... n-the-sec/

[Carcassdragger]

I think its time for the CBB lynch mob to give it a rest.

Despite what DMJ says, Brent failed miserably this year, but he's still our coach.
It is what it is and hopefully staff changes will bring more success.

One thing seems clear. He's a good guy and given that he turns it around, can represent our university well.

I'm pissed that he squandered the talent we had this year but want nothing but success for him.

[RawleArenas]

Doubling down on someone doesn't change their character. CBB is not good guy. He knew he wasn't qualified for the job. EVERYONE sees this outside of UofA. Big 12 fans don't want him as part of our conference.

He should have never been hired.

[Fishclamps]

I think its time for the CBB lynch mob to give it a rest.

Despite what DMJ says, Brent failed miserably this year, but he's still our coach.
It is what it is and hopefully staff changes will bring more success.

One thing seems clear. He's a good guy and given that he turns it around, can represent our university well.

I'm pissed that he squandered the talent we had this year but want nothing but success for him.

I wouldn't count on people simmering down, especially after his new coaching hires and signing day if he just hires terrible coordinators.

[azcat49]

I am wondering if DRF has input on these hires and if she is working a deal to bring in Marion from UNLV. He is a bright bright young star and would be a great hire IMO

[PHXCATS]

I am wondering if DRF has input on these hires and if she is working a deal to bring in Marion from UNLV. He is a bright bright young star and would be a great hire IMO

I have heard she won't be super involved but will have veto power

Make Marion the highest paid OC in the conference here. Coach in waiting if the offense works well but the team fails

[Postmaster]

Would Brennen be ok with hiring his replacement?

[Fishclamps]

Does he really have a choice at this point?

[CalStateTempe]

He should be, it happens all the time in business.

Why does it seem this like this coaching staff was cobbled together like my kids rec soccer league asking me to coach u12

[PHXCATS]

Would Brennen be ok with hiring his replacement?

He needs to do well to keep coaching

If Marion comes in and excels for two years he will get HC offers

[dmjcat]

I think its time for the CBB lynch mob to give it a rest.

Despite what DMJ says, Brent failed miserably this year, but he's still our coach.
It is what it is and hopefully staff changes will bring more success.

One thing seems clear. He's a good guy and given that he turns it around, can represent our university well.

I'm pissed that he squandered the talent we had this year but want nothing but success for him.

LOL, Where did I ever say that Brennan did a great job??? I'm waiting for you to find the post.

i am merely making the case that he inherited a seriously depleted team (which he did). I hear posters stating that he had "2 NFL players on offense".........but don't seem to get the fact that a great majority of the other 9 players were garbage. It takes 11 players (and at least 6-7 decent 2nd team players) to field an effective offense or defense. 1 or 2 NFL players isn't going to cut it. By the time we played asu we were down to 6 players left from the last time we met asu in 2023 (Fifita/Tmac/Moe/Baker on offense and Davis/Johnson on defense). That means 73% of the team was gone. Those are facts.

I am also making the case that the UA doesn't currently have the financial resources to be successful in the new NIL driven world we live in. DRF can't just budget an additional $20M for NIL/revenue sharing. That money has to come from 1) Ticket sales 2) Donations from alumni 3) A combination of 1 and 2. Thus far we don't have enough of either 1 or 2. Given that we now exist in a largely transactional world from a recruiting standpoint CRB isn't going to be successful recruiting unless he gets more NIL.......and by the way neither is the next coach even if we did fire Brennan and hire someone else.

So if you want to fire CRB (and recruit successfully) you are going to have to come up with a lot of $$$$$$$$$$$$$. Just pissing and moaning on a message board isn't going to cut it.

Here's something to think about. In 2023 the UA ranked 50th in football attendance, even though we had a top 15 ranked football team (kind of shoots down the bullshit argument that the UA would get better attendance if we had a decent team). If the UA fans won't support the program and the top donors won't open their wallets the UA will likely never be successful in football.

2023 Attendance Numbers

# School 2023 attendance
1 Michigan 109,971
2 Penn State 108,409
3 Ohio State 103,792
4 Tennessee 101,915
5 Texas 101,625
6 LSU 100,742
7 Alabama 100,077
8 Texas A&M 99,234
9 Georgia 92,746
10 Florida 89,587
11 Auburn 88,043
12 Nebraska 86,802
13 Oklahoma 83,741
14 Clemson 81,334
15 Florida State 78,711
16 South Carolina 77,833
17 Notre Dame 77,622
18 Wisconsin 75,391
19 Michigan State 70,211
20 Iowa 69,250
21 Washington 68,814
22 USC 66,071
23 Arkansas 65,317
24 Virginia Tech 64,733
25 Ole Miss 63,721
26 BYU 61,944
27 Kentucky 60,939
28 Iowa State 60,384
29 Missouri 60,169
30 Purdue 58,248
31 NC State 56,919
32 Oregon 55,895
33 Texas Tech 54,491
34 Mississippi State 54,455
35 Oklahoma State 53,891
36 Colorado 53,180
37 Utah 52,499
38 Kansas State 51,957
39 Louisville 51,252
40 West Virginia 51,156
41 North Carolina 50,095
42 Miami (FL) 49,714
43 Illinois 49,698
44 Rutgers 49,251
45 Minnesota 48,453
46 Arizona State 48,301
47 Pittsburgh 48,122
48 UCLA 47,951
49 TCU 47,331
50 Arizona 47,320
51 Kansas 45,888
52 Indiana 44,589
53 UCF 44,015
54 Baylor 43,388
55 Virginia 43,293
56 Maryland 40,314
57 Fresno State 39,969
58 California 38,684
59 Cincinnati 38,193
60 South Florida 37,944
61 Oregon State 36,969
62 Boston College 36,376
63 Georgia Tech 36,290
64 Houston 36,020
65 Boise State 35,867
66 ECU 35,115
67 Appalachian State 34,734
68 Syracuse 34,045
69 Stanford 33,219
70 Navy 30,804
71 Wake Forest 30,609
72 Memphis 29,782
73 Air Force 29,616
74 Army West Point 29,016
75 UTSA 28,876
76 Washington State 28,023
77 Troy 27,121
78 Colorado State 26,509
79 Vanderbilt 25,509
80 James Madison 25,372
81 Duke 25,111
82 Tulane 25,021
83 San Diego State 24,832
84 UConn 24,659
85 UNLV 23,661
86 Southern Miss 23,275
87 Marshall 23,198
88 Wyoming 23,163
89 SMU 22,616
90 UAB 21,543
91 Georgia Southern 21,480
92 Texas State 21,184
93 Northwestern 20,800
94 Rice 20,542
95 Tulsa 20,187
96 Jacksonville State 20,033
97 Toledo 19,675
98 Utah State 19,282
99 Ohio 19,005
100 Liberty 18,911

[azgreg]

Would Brennen be ok with hiring his replacement?

Would you?

[PHXCATS]

It is amazing how people can't differentiate between thinking Brennan did a good job this year and thinking Brennan deserves another chance

He deserves a chance with a full cycle of recruiting and portal and a good staff

[CalStateTempe]

Losers make excuses

[azgreg]

He deserves a chance with a full cycle of recruiting and portal and a good staff

Well, he'll get his chance to prove us all wrong then.

[azgreg]

From Nick Foles via twitter:

I wanted to share some thoughts to my AZ Wildcats out there. I'm glad Coach Brent Brennan will be back at the UofA. I got to spend several days with him and really enjoyed my time. It was obvious the love he has for Wildcat nation and those roots run deep. I know the outcome of the season is not what the team or the Wildcat fans wanted but winning consistently takes time. You have to build the culture all over again when staffs change. That is the part of the game that is the hardest to do but the most fulfilling when done right. I expect Coach Brennan to do this right in Tucson. Remember it took 3 years for the previous regime to have a successful season. Winning and culture takes time so give these coaches time to put these young men in positions to be successful. We all love our Arizona Wildcats and I am looking forward to a bounce back season in 2025. Bear Down Arizona!

[Chicat]

The love I have for Arizona sports is also obvious but you don’t want me as the head coach.

Also, Brennan was handed a culture (the family that stuck together) and didn’t do anything with it. If he’s now at square one building a culture it’s because he squandered what he was handed on a platter.

[ChooChooCat]

From Nick Fowles via twitter:

I wanted to share some thoughts to my AZ Wildcats out there. I'm glad Coach Brent Brennan will be back at the UofA. I got to spend several days with him and really enjoyed my time. It was obvious the love he has for Wildcat nation and those roots run deep. I know the outcome of the season is not what the team or the Wildcat fans wanted but winning consistently takes time. You have to build the culture all over again when staffs change. That is the part of the game that is the hardest to do but the most fulfilling when done right. I expect Coach Brennan to do this right in Tucson. Remember it took 3 years for the previous regime to have a successful season. Winning and culture takes time so give these coaches time to put these young men in positions to be successful. We all love our Arizona Wildcats and I am looking forward to a bounce back season in 2025. Bear Down Arizona!

From Desiree's fingers to Nick's twitter account.

[PHXCATS]

Losers make excuses

No excuse was made big guy

Sorry you didn't get your wish

[CalStateTempe]

From Nick Fowles via twitter:

I wanted to share some thoughts to my AZ Wildcats out there. I'm glad Coach Brent Brennan will be back at the UofA. I got to spend several days with him and really enjoyed my time. It was obvious the love he has for Wildcat nation and those roots run deep. I know the outcome of the season is not what the team or the Wildcat fans wanted but winning consistently takes time. You have to build the culture all over again when staffs change. That is the part of the game that is the hardest to do but the most fulfilling when done right. I expect Coach Brennan to do this right in Tucson. Remember it took 3 years for the previous regime to have a successful season. Winning and culture takes time so give these coaches time to put these young men in positions to be successful. We all love our Arizona Wildcats and I am looking forward to a bounce back season in 2025. Bear Down Arizona!

From Desiree's fingers to Nick's twitter account.

lol, no shit.

CBB bamboozled her too.

“Wah, I wasn’t given a whole year” wah

[CalStateTempe]

Excuses

[Fishclamps]

Nick Fowles? Cmon now Greg...

[azgreg]

Nick Fowles? Cmon now Greg...

What?

I just posted what he posted.

You don't like it? I don't give a fuck.

[azcat49]

Absolutely no one can argue that CBB Did a good job. His team looked undisciplined, unmotivated, potentially poorly conditioned, poorly prepared and executed poorly. You certainly could say that it is hard to think that those things will change in a season.

I do though wonder if Babers was forced on him? Seeing his personality I can see where he would probably clap and say let’s go so in essence it’s on him if so.

I do see the tweets by former players trying to rally support as encouraging. They know ball better then any of us so we can only hope they are right.

I do believe certain journalistic people really got bent out of shape about their access and used the poor play to pile on. While not wrong in their critique of the team, they got personal and now I really think it will be extra difficult for him to find success.

I am not a fan of DRF so far but it seems like she recognizes the road blocks that might have been put in front of DRF. She seems to be giving him support in the areas he needs help in and for that, I applaud her.

[RawleArenas]

From Nick Fowles via twitter:

I wanted to share some thoughts to my AZ Wildcats out there. I'm glad Coach Brent Brennan will be back at the UofA. I got to spend several days with him and really enjoyed my time. It was obvious the love he has for Wildcat nation and those roots run deep. I know the outcome of the season is not what the team or the Wildcat fans wanted but winning consistently takes time. You have to build the culture all over again when staffs change. That is the part of the game that is the hardest to do but the most fulfilling when done right. I expect Coach Brennan to do this right in Tucson. Remember it took 3 years for the previous regime to have a successful season. Winning and culture takes time so give these coaches time to put these young men in positions to be successful. We all love our Arizona Wildcats and I am looking forward to a bounce back season in 2025. Bear Down Arizona!

From Desiree's fingers to Nick's twitter account.

lol, no shit.

CBB bamboozled her too.

“Wah, I wasn’t given a whole year” wah

Just like I predicted - excuses, promises and deflections. Brennan agreed to DRF's terms because he doesn't have a choice. If he was fired today, who would hire him? P4 is out of the question. No mid major team would touch him. This is his last hurrah.

Heeke hired the What about Bob's version of a football coach. He's already done a lot of damage. We're going to have the third degree burns to show for it.

[Postmaster]

Nick Fowles? Cmon now Greg...

What?

I just posted what he posted.

You don't like it? I don't give a fuck.

Foles

[Fishclamps]

Nick Fowles? Cmon now Greg...

What?

I just posted what he posted.

You don't like it? I don't give a fuck.

Lol easy now Greg, I just meant the spelling of his last name

[azgreg]

Sorry guys. I didn't catch the autocorrect. Arizona fans are just getting a bit too much lately and they're pissing me off.

[Postmaster]

RE: Heeke

I know he made this hire quickly. But, THEORETICALLY, he did a lot of due diligence 4 years ago, based on the perception that CBB was Heeke's choice, until Robbins pulled a Fisch out of the net.

What happened?


I, too , would like to know selected the staff.

[Fishclamps]

Sorry guys. I didn't catch the autocorrect. Arizona fans are just getting a bit too much lately and they're pissing me off.

Fair enough, definitely first time in a long time where we don't immediately have basketball to fall back on.

[TheCatInTheHat]

I've got to say I think any circular firing squad stuff among Arizona fans is off-base.

Maybe in the 70s and 80s, due to relative isolation, there was more of a "be true to your school no matter what" mentality. But, at this point, after having demonstrated the capability of having success in various sports, including football, I think Arizona fans have reasonably raised their expectations beyond being an underdog that pulls the occasional upset. Our last sustained success, albeit modest, was under RIchRod 4 coaches ago, with 1 winning season in the last 7. We seem to turn over presidents and ADs at a pretty rapid rate, which doesn't help with accountability or continuity.

So, fans have a right to say WTF? and expect competence and a sustainable business model, even if it involves advertising on the cheerleaders' uniforms. As for attendance, there was 45K for an August game against a bad opponent, and just 38K when we were 3-6 in the midst of a 5-game losing streak. But the rest of the games averaged 49K, which is about par for the course at Arizona. There aren't fans anywhere who would turn out in droves or gush positives about a losing and poorly coached team. If the fans saw improvement, discipline, and consistent effort behind the losses, that would be one thing. But that hasn't been the case.

[Merkin]

Like to see the numbers of those who decided not to renew their season tickets once DRF announced CBB would be back. Just anecdotal comments for now on social media.

Who wants to pay good money to see a poor product on the field? At least with the basketball program, you know they will be back.

[dovecanyoncat]

Because we don't have money because people don't show up to the games

I think I'm gonna try this approach at the shitty seafood restaurant down the street. Maybe if I just suck it up and eat their shitty seafood as often as I can they'll have enough money to upgrade to salmon that's not brown and oysters that don't smell like vinegar. Might be on to something!

JFC Machina I can't imagine you have the requisite dignity to continue posting here.

I recognize the desire to bind fandom/tribal loyalty in college sportsball to the ever-underlying balance sheet even when debate falls along contributory economic classes within the tribe. But peasants like us are the fucking end user by a wide fucking margin. We are the lunch crowd that passes on brown lettuce at the buffet and sorts through the retail offerings that are what they are without regard to privileged tax-advantaged contributions from elites.

It's a fucking business even more than it was before we all lied to ourselves about it being a corrupt endowment for amateurs at universities. It's a shit market of wholesale and retail participants, and to say that we as customers owe some superseding commitment to corporate structure .... in the construction of which we DO NOT PARTICIPATE .... is utter bullshit. The UofA is run as poorly as the city of Tucson. The profligate destruction of a quarter Billion dollars in the crap considerations of Rio Nuevo are no different than the crap accounting loss of a quarter Billion $ in the UofA budget. Fobbing the consequence off on us is appalling and you should take your self-righteous virtue-signaling and leave.

[Merkin]

Does ticket sales even compare financially to TV money?

UA will be getting $32M in TV money in 2025/6.

Fisch only had 2 starters returning at UDub and still is bowl bound.

Fisch was officially hired 1/14/24.

Brennan hired 2 days later.

[PHXCATS]

Does ticket sales even compare financially to TV money?

UA will be getting $32M in TV money in 2025/6.

Fisch only had 2 starters returning at UDub and still is bowl bound.

Fisch was officially hired 1/14/24.

Brennan hired 2 days later.

For fuck sake

Washington has fans..Washington has money and the Big 12

Can't compare the two

[PHXCATS]

Because we don't have money because people don't show up to the games

I think I'm gonna try this approach at the shitty seafood restaurant down the street. Maybe if I just suck it up and eat their shitty seafood as often as I can they'll have enough money to upgrade to salmon that's not brown and oysters that don't smell like vinegar. Might be on to something!

Not how college sports work

I will admit I am wrong though if Florida St and Michigan only have 25k fans a game next year though

[CalStateTempe]

RE: Heeke

I know he made this hire quickly. But, THEORETICALLY, he did a lot of due diligence 4 years ago, based on the perception that CBB was Heeke's choice, until Robbins pulled a Fisch out of the net.

What happened?


I, too , would like to know selected the staff.

Heeke was a pussy ass milquetoast loser mid major AD, so it’s not surprising he’d look for the same in a FB coach.

[CalStateTempe]

Does ticket sales even compare financially to TV money?

UA will be getting $32M in TV money in 2025/6.

Fisch only had 2 starters returning at UDub and still is bowl bound.

Fisch was officially hired 1/14/24.

Brennan hired 2 days later.

CBB is a loser swimming in excuses

[TheCat]

Does ticket sales even compare financially to TV money?

UA will be getting $32M in TV money in 2025/6.

Fisch only had 2 starters returning at UDub and still is bowl bound.

Fisch was officially hired 1/14/24.

Brennan hired 2 days later.

His number 1 player (Coleman) is from Arizona and just announced he will be back next year. I know what you are saying but Washington fans are not real happy with Jedd. Wanted him fired after the WSU game. Rich Rod has a chance at being named WVU new coach.

[Carcassdragger]

Monday has now come and gone. I expected to see announcements on what coaches are let go and.....nothing.

Outrageous if we're expected to witness another year of this same staff continuing to fail.

[azgreg]

Monday has now come and gone. I expected to see announcements on what coaches are let go and.....nothing.

Outrageous if we're expected to witness another year of this same staff continuing to fail.

I don't think we'll get an official announcement until after signing day.

[Winger]

Does ticket sales even compare financially to TV money?

UA will be getting $32M in TV money in 2025/6.

Fisch only had 2 starters returning at UDub and still is bowl bound.

Fisch was officially hired 1/14/24.

Brennan hired 2 days later.

Fisch stunk the joint up this season.

That aside, part of his deal was an annual NIL that started season 1 at $10 million.

I think Brennan is a clown but he neither has the UW name to recruit off of nor the $10 mil.

[Fishclamps]

Like to see the numbers of those who decided not to renew their season tickets once DRF announced CBB would be back. Just anecdotal comments for now on social media.

Who wants to pay good money to see a poor product on the field? At least with the basketball program, you know they will be back.

I don't plan on it, and I've had mine since the Stoops days. I've sat in that stadium through rough seasons, but at least we were scoring, just playing 0 defense.

This shit is just so tedious and a slog to get through, there's 0 enjoyment watching the team.

[Winger]

Lev essentially says Brennan is back. Unless, “something changes”.

Would reiterate what I have posted before that, if that ends up being true, I don’t believe DRF ever had the money to can Brennan.

I can see her quietly trying to raise it, but if she is going to spend that capital — even quietly — in the Arizona world, she has to act on it (and I wouldn’t have committed to a dime unless she shook my hand and told me once she had the money she would fire Brennan shortly thereafter).

Tons of noise tons of bullshit tons of agendas

Thank you for speaking rationally and thoughtfully

I try to be thoughtful. Had to give up on being rational.

The whole narrative doesnt make sense to me. For the multiple reasons I have posted here but now also because it makes zero sense that DRF raised $13 mil to fire Brennan but then didnt do so because she couldnt afford who she wanted to replace him.

Maybe she is dumb, I dunno, but that is dumb on a number of levels.