What Brent Brennan said at Big 12 Football Media Days
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
Arizona football is around the corner and the season has somewhat started with head coach Brent Brennan and a group of player reps taking on Big 12 media days. Brennan took center stage Wednesday in Frisco, Texas and addressed where the state of the program is.
Here is what he had to say at the podium:
Brennan on where the program is at: “I want to thank Commissioner Yormark and all the people at the Big 12, for putting on a big time day for us here. Our players and myself and our administration are really excited to be here. Before I get into the questions, I would just like to give you all a little bit of an idea of where we’re at, a little bit of framework with Arizona football going on year three. In year one, we took over a little bit late, and it was kind of chaotic, and it was all about stabilizing the program, retaining players, trying to build a roster, trying to start building a culture. In year two, I think we made some real positive moves to senior leadership with an offensive and defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator were able to retain some of our high-profile players, and it was all about establishing our culture of red line, and for us, red line is effort, execution, and accountability. As we moved forward through that, through that second year, we made sure everybody knew exactly what that meant, we made sure everybody’s expectations of how we’re going to move as a program, and the alignment we’re going to be in was steadfast and in absolute lockstep. I think the good thing that happened through that process was we played better football through our process, we ended up winning nine games and getting to a great postseason bowl game, so now as we’re going into year three, how does that thing change? I think about red line is always going to be the standard for everything we do, but there’s some other things that I think are really pushing into that space for us, and that would be our commitment, our toughness, and momentum. We got to capitalize on the momentum of last season, and I feel like we’ve been doing that with a really strong off season, some really good recruiting, and some high level stuff with our administration and also our donor base and our fan base. So that momentum, that speaks to the players that you’re going to hear from today, they’re going to be able to give you a great indication of where we are as a program and how we’re moving forward, but we’re starting to see that commitment from our administration, our donor base, and our fans, and that’s what’s really exciting. I think that’s one of those things, as we came into the Big 12, that was new opponents, new venues, new competition, teams that our people weren’t familiar with. Now that we’re two years in, they’re starting to get an idea what those games feel like and how intense this conference is. I think that makes it fun, because you’re looking at a conference that I think everybody has a chance to win and we’ve had good teams over the years at the University of Arizona, we’ve had good coaches, we’ve had good players, but we’re trying to build a sustainable, consistent winning program at the U of A. That’s the goal, and that’s what we’re trying to do with our athletics director, Desiree Reed-Francois, and the players and the coaches we have on staff. I’m incredibly fortunate with the people, fortunate to have the people that are with me on this journey, and I can’t wait to get started in about two and a half weeks.”
On keeping momentum going for the program: “I think the excitement when you have four guys drafted, obviously the questions from our fans are like, ‘How are you going to replace those guys,’ right? Those guys were all really good players, but also it’s exciting from the player’s end, but I think it also speaks to the coaching staff and the strength and conditioning staff, and what those men do to help prepare those players for that NFL opportunity. I think that’s what helped us more in the recruiting process, is that those players could speak to their development as part of being a part of the Arizona football program. Who trained them, who coached them, and what their process was like there? How that had a benefit in helping them get ready for the National Football League.”
On Noah Fifita: “I think we’re incredibly blessed to have a quarterback like Noah Fifita that definitely has a Heisman resume, and some of you all can check that data in front of you, because I think we passed out a resume to everybody in the building. Noah Fifita is the best story in college football. He’s an incredibly good football player, but he’s also this rare human being that chooses the right things every day. He’s a man of great faith. He’s a great teammate. He’s a great leader. He’s super engaged in our community. He’s got a nonprofit, like he always finds ways to do extra to give, and I think that’s rare in today’s day and age. I think so many kids are just taking all the time, and I get it. That’s the culture that’s life, but this young man, he doesn’t only kick ass on Saturdays, he kicks ass every single day of the week, and he is as special as he gets.”
On offensive coordinator Seth Doege: “Coach Doege has been an incredible addition to our football staff. I believe we’re really very fortunate to have him at the University of Arizona. It was interesting when I brought Coach Doege in to talk about the job. I felt like we had just an instant connection. I felt like we saw the world a little bit similarly. I felt like we were both passionate about the development of young people and the football’s the football, but there’s this whole other piece that we’re responsible for as coaches that doesn’t get talked about very often, and so Seth and I got off to a great start. Then he spent some time with Noah, and I’ve just seen that relationship grow and continue to grow, and I just talked about how special he is, but he’s also special in his preparation, he’s special in his process, he attacks that. Coach Doege is a perfect guy for having played the position at a high level. Coach Doege, as you know, is also a very assertive leader, and so that’s helped Noah grow in that leadership department. So now I think we’re fortunate going into the second year with Coach Doege, and the second year for Noah having the same coordinator is critical, because this is the first time he’s had that in his college football career. So my expectations for both Noah and Seth Doege could not be any higher, and I can’t wait to get started.”
On Taye Brown: “Taye Brown is the player on our football team that is the absolute definition of red line, that execution part, that 100/100, 100 miles an hour, 100% of the time, that is Taye Brown in practice and in game, every single day, and it’s awesome because he gives every player on our team a consistent picture of what playing your tail off looks like every single rep. He really is the standard, right? So, from that way, all of our players get to see, here’s this player that’s a really good dude, he’s a good student, he’s super productive, and then on top of that, he plays harder than almost everybody on the team, right? There’s probably some other guys you’ll talk to today that would argue who plays harder, but when you turn on the tape, it’s Taye, and so that leadership, that consistency of performance, how he puts that out there every day is incredibly compelling for our entire football team.”
On maintaining sustainability for the program: “For starters, we are big believers in controlling what we can control, and what we can control is our process. We don’t control the outcomes, right, but we can control our process, so that is where it starts for us every single day with our players. In terms of how we build that over time, our model at our place is going to be much more developmental, more high school players, and then focused on retention as they go through their process of development. Will we bat 1000? No, no one would, but I think as long as we are focused on our process and really diving into that daily, attaching that red line standard to our process, we have a chance for the outcomes we want, and so that’s kind of how we’re built.”
On the Week 2 game at BYU: “I’m sure Kalani would tell you the same thing. We hate it that early. Obviously it’s going to be a big time football game. We had an incredible double overtime game with them a year ago. We have tremendous respect for Kalani and that staff and what they’ve done at BYU. I think that’s going to be one of those ones where you’re going on the road, it’s a tough venue, you’re playing against an outstanding football team. Everybody in America should watch that game. It’s going to be one of the best games of the whole weekend, one of the best games of the first month of college football. So we can’t wait, we’re going to be excited to play by the time we get to it.”
On the offensive line and tight end positions and competition: “I’m really excited about where we’re at in the offensive line. I think the retention of Alexander Doost and Tristan Bounds, Matt Lado. There’s some new players that have come in there, Zach Henning joined us through the portal, so I think we’re excited about that. We did lose some good players up front and we love those guys, they were outstanding for us, but I think we replaced them with some players that can step right in and do a good job of filling that role. Obviously, we got work to do, but that’s going to be something that we’re going to address with protecting Noah Fifita. I think sometimes people think about protecting the quarterback solely being about pass protection, but it’s as much about your effectiveness running the football as it is about your ability to just drop back and throw it. So, I think that’s one of those things as we get into fall camp, we had a great spring with those guys, and it was good because Tristan was coming back from a postseason surgery situation, so some of those other young players got to get some valuable reps, and so we feel like we’ve got some good depth there, and then some good additions in the tight end room. We’re excited about that front. The front six, seven guys is going to be a lot of fun.”
On the one principle he refuses to give up with so much change in college football: “We’re moving forward together, and if you’re not with us, there’s the door.”
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos