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The last two months "have been incredibly hectic" for Arizona on the recruiting trail for 2027, said third-year UA head coach Brent Brennan.

"It's been nonstop for us," Brennan said. "Foot on the gas pedal, no holds barred."

While Arizona's coaches are building for the future, the players are focused on this season after posting a 9-4 record in 2025. With All-Big 12 quarterback Noah Fifita leading the charge in player-run practices this summer, the Wildcats have aspirations to improve from last year and contend for a conference championship.Ìý

"I'm not trying to do what we did last year," Brennan said. "I'm trying to elevate that thing. We don't get the luxury of being comfortable as coaches and players. It doesn't work that way because no one gives a damn about what you did yesterday. It's all about right now and how we move this team forward."

The vibes of this season are night-and-day from last season, when the Wildcats were coming off a rocky 4-8 season in Brennan's first year at the helm. There's a calmness to the program "because the culture is really healthy, and it's something we work on every single day.

"It's something that's incredibly important to everybody in this building," Brennan said. "Because of that, our players are having a good experience here and it's accelerating their development and it's accelerating our chemistry."

Brennan joined "Spears & Ali" on ESPN Tucson earlier this week to discuss multiple items, including updates from the NCAA, recruiting for 2027 and Fifita's leadership this summer.Ìý 

The NCAA approved a five-year eligibility model that allows student-athletes to compete over five years without redshirts or extensions — and the eligibility clock starts upon enrollment or when the student-athlete turns 19 years old. Do you approve?

A: "I think it's good. Everything got complicated with the COVID super-seniors and waivers and injuries and all that stuff. The idea of kids getting five (years) to play five (seasons) and let it rip is a good deal. I thought progress was made a few years ago when we got the four games, and they could still redshirt.

"That was a good thing for young players and their process of development. Now that they can play the whole season, however that goes, it's going to be really beneficial. It's going to benefit us because we are a developmental football program.

"We love recruiting high school players and helping them grow into great players, great young men and being a part of their process. I think there's value in it." 

There have been discussions about the future of college football and the sport trending towards a 50-team super league with an NFL-style model. Is it important for Arizona football to have success now to be in those discussions, if it comes to fruition?

A: "For starters, it's important for Arizona to have a good football team, and it's not because I'm the head coach here. What football means to this community, what the U of A means to this community, the city of Tucson, the university, football being a high performer in that arena is really important.

"If you look at it through the lens of how college football continues to change and how that's going to look like two or three years from now when TV contracts come up and conferences make decisions, there's never been a more important time for Arizona football than right now." 

How do you feel about the 2027 recruiting class and how it's forming?

A: "We're off to a really good start. That part of it I feel really good about. I think our staff has done a great job of identifying, evaluating and recruiting high-level players that are great fits for us and our program here at the U of A, people that we think can impact us early as players. Those visits, that's a different deal.

"The May-June visit window is so different than when I first started coaching. It's complicated because you're bringing young people here when there's no school in session. They don't have the opportunity to see the incredible energy that is a day on campus at the University of Arizona.

"It's different, but it's also a good opportunity for the kids to take their visits, make a decision and go into their senior year knowing where they're going to go and having the burden and stress of that decision off of them, so they can play their best football and have the time of their life. Everybody remembers their senior year of high school football. ... Getting that decision out of the way, it helps kids have a better experience their senior year." 

Recruits have often mentioned ending their official visit at your house. What does an official visit at the Brennan house look like?

A: "We really just have a great time. The foundation of our program is family, 'ohana,' brotherhood. Our players are always welcome into our homes and our families are a part of their experience when they're here, whether it's our wives, our kids or our extended families — we have grandparents running around. Everybody is a part of it.

"For recruits, as they're trying to make a very important decision, it's important that (their families) trust they're sending those young men to good coaches, good people, good family men. I think everyone does a great job with that." 

The 2027 recruiting class is a Texas-heavy group. Why does recruiting the Lone Star State align with the UA football program?

A: "The primary is always going to be the state of Arizona. There's nothing more important than us doing a good job recruiting in the state of Arizona. There's excellent high school football here, so that's an exciting part of it.

"In terms of our location, we're fortunate because we're boxed in by some of the best high school football in the country, if you're talking about Texas, California, Arizona, Utah. That's a real thing. There's four teams in our conference in the state of Texas, so we're always going to play a game down there.

"Tucson is easy for those families to get here and there's direct flights. By numbers, Texas and California are two of the most populated states with Division I football players, so it makes sense for us to be in those states pounding the pavement, turning over rocks and finding every kid we can find that will be a great fit for us."

Now that the dust has settled from the spring and Arizona has added a few players this offseason, how do you feel about the roster and how it's going to compete following a nine-win season? 

A: "We're all excited for this team. They're putting in an incredible amount of work. Spring practice was really, really good. You start with someone like Noah Fifita, who has a Heisman-caliber resume, and you have so many returning guys and the leadership on the offensive line and defensive line, guys that have made impactful plays and have played a lot of college football.

"The portal players we added, for the most part, have played a lot of plays. That has been a good formula, bringing in guys from schools and have played a lot of football, so the first time they get out in front of a sold-out Casino Del Sol Stadium, they know how it feels and what that looks like.

"It's very different than a freshman. Some of our freshmen are used to playing in front of 200 people, and now all of a sudden they're going to play in front of 50,000 crazy fans going nuts for every tackle and every catch.

"Guys that have the experience of playing in big-time atmospheres and big-time environments, it gives us a chance for them to be comfortable playing in the Big 12." 

From your perspective, how has Fifita led the team this offseason?

A: "It's great because you see him more and more vocal and willing to step out in front and lead from the front. Noah doesn't seek the limelight. He never tries to make it about him. His success is about everybody else, and I think that's what makes him special as a leader.

"He's pushing this team right now, and the guys who've been here and have gone through the fight with him, they know what they're going to get out of Noah Fifita. They know how special he is, how tough he is, they know what kind of competitor he is. How can he push that across the whole team?

"We gotta do this thing together because that's how we're going to win here. We're going to win here with connection, hard work, brotherhood, redline — kind of old school, right? That's what is going to give us a chance to get us the outcomes we want.

"Those things are developed right now. They're not developed in the game, they're not developed on Saturdays, it's developed right now this time of year, when the coaches aren't around and the players are out there and it's hot and it's hard. They have to attack it every single day. Noah has to keep pushing that, which he does." 

Extra points

– Arizona officially added four-star offensive lineman Justin Morales to its roster.ÌýThe 6-4, 265-pound El Paso native is one of Arizona's top signees for 2026. Morales had offers from Nebraska, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Baylor, Arizona State, Texas Tech, Wisconsin and the hometown UTEP Miners.

– In addition to Brennan, Arizona's representatives at Big 12 Media Days on July 8 in Frisco, Texas, will be Fifita, wide receivers Chris Hunter and Tre Spivey, right tackle Tristan Bounds, linebacker Taye Brown, cornerback Jay'Vion Cole and defensive end Tre Smith.Ìý