Arizona Wildcats Football

Arizona is hiring San Jose State head coach Brent Brennan to replace Jedd Fisch, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel.

Brennan went 34-48 in seven years with the Spartans, a record that's skewed by the 22 losses they combined to suffer in his first two seasons at the helm. The program qualified for a bowl game in three of the past four years.

Brennan was reportedly a finalist for the Wildcats in 2020 during the coaching search that led them to hiring Fisch.

Selecting Fisch worked out nicely for the Wildcats. They went 10-3 and finished 14th in the final College Football Playoff rankings, their best finish since 2014.

Fisch didn't wait long to cash in on that success, though. Washington announced his arrival Sunday, and The Athletic's Bruce Feldman reported he's taking his entire offensive staff with him to Seattle.

In addition to the turnover on the coaching staff, Brennan may have to ward off the kind of exodus that's becoming increasingly common in the transfer portal era. Leading rusher Jonah Coleman was the first Arizona player to hit the portal since Fisch's departure, and quarterback Brayden Dorman, a 4-star recruit from the 2023 class, is out the door as well.

Assuming Brennan doesn't lose too many key starters and fills out the squad through the portal, the pieces are nonetheless there for Arizona to make a big impression in its first season in the Big 12. Noah Fifita, who threw for 2,869 yards, 25 touchdowns and six interceptions in particular shows a lot of promise.

University administrators, meanwhile, will hope Brennan is more committed to the program than Fisch was.

Given his nomadic coaching career, nobody should be surprised Fisch's stay in Arizona was relatively short. He has jumped around from a number of jobs across the college and pro levels, so it was inevitable that he'd leave for what he believed to be greener pastures.

Brennan, on the other hand, was a graduate assistant at Arizona in 2000, giving him existing ties to the Wildcats. The 13 years he spent at San Jose as both an assistant and head coach suggest he's prepared to call Tucson home for a long time.

After head coach Kalen DeBoer departed to replace Nick Saban at Alabama, Washington has found his successor.

Arizona's Jedd Fisch agreed to become the next head coach of the Huskies on Sunday. The Athletic's Bruce Feldman reported Fisch agreed to a seven-year deal worth an average of $7.75 million per season.

ESPN's Pete Thamel reported details about Fisch's buyout from his contract with Arizona:

The buyout for Washington to get Fisch from Arizona is $5.5 million. That number is absorbed by the $12 million that Washington is due to receive from the departure of Kalen DeBoer to Alabama. https://t.co/u4X0vRWofs

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 14, 2024

Thamel previously reported that Fisch "emerged as Washington's top target" in their head coaching search. 247Sports' Jason Scheer followed up by reporting that Fisch is "likely headed to Washington."

Thamel added that Washington put all of its focus on Fisch, as he was "the only candidate Washington officials have engaged with after their initial phone calls."

Fisch has spent the last three seasons as head coach of the Wildcats. He took over a team that went 0-5 under Kevin Sumlin during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, and he spearheaded an impressive rebuild.

After going 1-11 in their first season under Fisch, the Wildcats went 5-7 in 2022 and improved to 10-3 this past season for a third-place finish in the Pac-12. The team ended a five-year bowl-game drought and defeated Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl 38-24.

Prior to taking over at Arizona, Fisch had an extensive coaching career with experience at the college and professional levels. He served as offensive coordinator and interim head coach at UCLA in 2017. He also spent time on coaching staffs with the Baltimore Ravens, Houston Texans, Seattle Seahawks, Denver Broncos, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots.

Fisch will have big shoes to fill as the replacement for DeBoer at Washington. DeBoer coached the Huskies to a 25-3 record during his tenure and was named AP Coach of the Year this past season after leading the team to a berth in the College Football Playoff national title game.

HEIGHT: 6'5"

WEIGHT: 311

HAND: 10⅞"

ARM: 32⅞"

WINGSPAN: 81¼"

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40-YARD DASH: 5.04

3-CONE:

SHUTTLE:

VERTICAL: 28"

BROAD: 9'2"

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POSITIVES

— Good bulk and thickness throughout his frame with plenty of sand.

— Very strong hands and upper-body strength with the ability to brace, stay centered and tie up defenders through contact.

— Caves in defenders on angle-drive blocks with good snap timing and initial quickness to execute scoop and cut-off blocks.

— Good burst, ease of movement and angles as a lead blocker on screens, climbs and pulls to locate and seal off smaller targets.

— Works in the circle-punch technique against high-side rushers with a strong inside hand to punch and widen out rushers up the arc.

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NEGATIVES

— Has a bad habit of opening his hips early in pass protection and oversetting against wide rush alignments, leaving him vulnerable to being pried open and losing across his face against inside counters.

— Heavy, choppy feet in pass protection, which shows up when he has to redirect on an island against wide rush alignments.

— Has a hard time consistently picking up the penetrator on T-E stunts due to either seeing it late or being too far opened up to the outside threat, causing him to be late to get back square to cut it off.

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2023 STATISTICS

— 12 starts at left tackle

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NOTES

— Born Aug. 4, 2001

— 3-star recruit from 2019 class, per 247Sports

— 2022 All-Pac-12 first team (AP)

— Tore his ACL on Nov. 12, 2022, and returned for Week 1 of the 2023 season. Missed a total of four games during the 2020 and 2021 seasons due to unrelated injuries

— 37 career starts, all at left tackle

— Accepted his invite to the 2024 Senior Bowl

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OVERALL

Jordan Morgan is a three-year starter at left tackle inside Arizona's balanced run-pass split, zone-based run scheme with 37 career starts (all at left tackle). Morgan has good bulk and thickness through his frame with solid length, good initial quickness and very good play strength.

Morgan times the snap well in the run game with good initial quickness out of his stance to get into his fits and hit his landmarks on time on zone cut-offs, scoops and combo blocks, with the burst to be a plus move-blocker on screens, climbs and pulls. He has very good play strength with heavy hands to jolt defenders on contact, cave them in and create lateral displacement on angle-drive blocks (kick-outs, down blocks).

In pass protection, Morgan's size and strength are an asset on play-action, flat and jump sets when he can get his hands on rushers early, tying them up and ending reps quickly. He can function on an island when he is on time with his set points and his strike timing lands just right, but the variance goes way up against wide rush alignments and high-side rushes. His mediocre range leads to him opening his hips early, creating a soft inside shoulder and clean losses across his face.

Overall, Morgan has the frame, build, play strength and physicality to make a smooth transition inside to guard, with the initial quickness and burst to be a high-quality run-blocker. His questionable range and middling redirect skills will be difficult to overcome on an island against NFL edge-rushers, but he could make it work inside a run-first, play-action-based scheme that limits those exposures.

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GRADE: 7.5 (Potential Impact Player — 2nd Round)

OVERALL RANK: 39

POSITION RANK: IOL7

PRO COMPARISON: Matthew Bergeron

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Written by B/R NFL Scout Brandon Thorn

Visit B/R's NFL Scouting Department hub for scouting reports on all of the top prospects.

The University of Arizona appears to be in the process of leaving the Pac-12 for the Big 12, per ESPN's Pete Thamel:

Sources: Arizona is in deep discussions with the Big 12 about joining the league. Some finality is expected in the near future, as there’s an Arizona Board of Regents meeting scheduled for later tonight.

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) August 4, 2023

Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports relayed the news as well:

Sources: Arizona is now a "hard lean" to join the Big 12. Scheduled to be in executive session at the moment. No word on ASU. Also, economic hangup re Washington which has figured it needs about $10 million annually to cover travel. That would impact revenue share signficantly.

— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) August 4, 2023

That report dropped one week after Colorado announced it will depart the Pac-12 for the Big 12 beginning with the 2024-25 season.

It also follows shortly after Big Ten presidents and chancellors authorized commissioner Tony Petitti to explore adding Oregon and Washington to the conference, per Thamel.

There's also a report from 247Sports' Jason Scheer on Arizona State and Utah potentially joining the Wildcats in the Big 12.

"Although it is not completely finalized yet, sources indicate that Arizona, Arizona State and Utah are all likely to join the Big 12," Scheer wrote.

"One source said that it would have to fall apart for the three schools not to make the move and the ideal plan for the Big 12 is to make the biggest possible impact, which is announcing all three at once. Although it is not set in stone, there could be an announcement as soon as Friday.

"Should things fall apart, it would likely be Utah's fault. It is unknown how that would impact the Arizona schools, but Utah AD Mark Harlan has long been a major supporter of the Pac-12 and has been extremely hesitant to leave the conference."

If all of those rumored teams depart, the league will be left with four teams: Cal, Washington State, Stanford and Oregon State.

Chris Karpman of SunDevilSource.com gave his take on the matter for some schools.

B1G doing everything it can to make it clear to Oregon and Washington they’ll be taken care of further greases the likely ASU/Arizona/Utah move to the Big-12.

Wouldn’t be surprised to see Stanford go independent. Oregon St, Wash St and Cal are in danger of being left behind.

— Chris Karpman (@ChrisKarpman) August 3, 2023

All of the rumors and confirmed moves clearly call the conference's future into question. The league has served as one of the most prestigious college conferences for over a century after starting as the Pacific Coast Conference in 1915, but the clock is ticking toward midnight.

With Colorado jumping to the Big 12 starting next year, the conference is plotting to add more schools to the mix in time for the 2024-25 academic year.

Per Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde and Richard Johnson, the Big 12 wants to get up to 14 members with Pac-12 schools Arizona, Arizona State and Utah—as well as Connecticut, which is independent in football—being targeted by conference commissioner Brett Yormark.

The report notes Arizona is the most likely candidate among the Pac-12 programs to jump ship, with Connecticut considered a fallback option if none of the three teams decides to leave.

Colorado announced on Thursday it was leaving the Pac-12 to rejoin the Big 12 starting next year. The Buffaloes were an original member of the Big 12 when the conference debuted in 1996 and remained there through 2010-11 academic year.

The future of the Pac-12 has been a hot topic of discussion for most of the past year when it was announced USC and UCLA were moving to the Big Ten, effective Aug. 2, 2024.

One big source of consternation for the programs is the Pac-12 media rights deal. The current deal expires after the upcoming season.

ESPN's Heather Dinich reported on July 18 that an announcement about a new deal is expected in the "near future" and is "likely to include a mix of streaming and linear options and is expected to be on-par with the ACC and Big 12."

Forde and Johnson noted the three schools being courted by the Big 12 are "waiting for a full media-rights package to be presented to them" before making a decision.

According to Dinich, the presidents and chancellors of the Pac-12 schools have to sign the grant of rights in order for the conference to stay intact. Their signature will "depend on their satisfaction with the new deal."

In the wake of Colorado's announcement, the Pac-12 said in a statement it will "embrace expansion opportunities" as soon as it finalizes a media rights deal.

Statement from the Pac-12 Conference: pic.twitter.com/up5hjSD1ek

— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) July 28, 2023

Per Forde and Johnson, people in the industry have "expressed confusion" at this part of the Pac-12's strategy because its "TV partners in a spot of not knowing exactly what they're paying for" as the two sides negotiate a deal.

By comparison, the Big 12 renewed its media rights deals with ESPN and Fox for six years and $2.28 billion starting with the 2024-25 season in October after bringing in Houston, Central Florida, BYU and Cincinnati with Oklahoma and Texas set to join the SEC in 2024.

The addition of Colorado to that group will give the Big 12 a total of 13 schools starting next year. One more would bump it up to 14, one away from matching the ACC for third-most among Power 5 conferences.

The ACC has 15 members in every sport except football because Notre Dame is an independent. The SEC and Big Ten will both have 16 members starting next year.

The Arizona Wildcats landed one of the top players in the class of 2024, as 5-star defensive end Elijah Rushing committed to the school on Thursday.

According to 247Sports, Rushing chose the Wildcats over Notre Dame, Oregon and Tennessee, and he is the highest-ranked commit in Arizona program history. He is the No. 3 edge-rusher in the nation, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

A 6'6", 241-pound edge rusher for Salpointe Catholic High School in Tucson, Rushing will get to stay close to home when he attends college. The university campus is also located in Tucson, so he will have the chance to continue playing in front of his family and friends. ESPN's Blake Baumgartner reported that Rushing is expected to enroll early in Jan. 2024.

"I feel like they're moving in the right direction," Rushing said. "That was something important to me and it's just unique to being a hometown guy. So that comes with perks in [of] itself and my brother [freshman safety Cruz Rushing] is there."

As a junior in 2022, Rushing appeared in 12 games and totaled 73 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, 11.5 sacks and four forced fumbles. 247Sports recruiting expert Chris Singletary describes him as a "unique body type with excellent length and growth potential" who "has playmaking ability from the edge or the interior of the defensive line." He's believed to have a bright future that includes a potential NFL career.

"Projects as a multi-year starter that brings a well-rounded game to the field as he goes into his senior campaign," Singletary wrote. "Possesses potential growth both physically and within his game where he could be a talent that goes off the board very early in the draft."

Rushing joins an Arizona recruiting class that also includes 4-star running back Jordan Washington. In 2022, the Wildcats finished eighth in the Pac-12 with a 5-7 record and struggled mightily on defense, ranking second-to-last in the conference after surrendering 36.5 points and 467.7 yards per game.

Arizona is hoping Rushing will help turn things around when he arrives on campus next year.

The University of Arizona announced Saturday that wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan signed a letter of intent to play at the school.

As part of the announcement, Arizona noted that McMillan is the highest-ranked recruit in the history of the program.

McMillan is the fifth-best wide receiver and 46th-best overall player in the 2022 recruiting class, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

He initially committed to Oregon in August, but head coach Mario Cristobal's departure for Miami led to obvious questions about whether that decision would hold. He allayed any fears about that to 247Sports' Greg Biggins.

"It's been wild," he said (h/t Ducks Wire's Zachary Neel). "My phone is blowing up right now. I’ve heard a lot from USC as well as Arizona and Clemson. Right now, my plan is to stay committed and I still want to go to Oregon."

Despite that, McMillan made the decision to flip to one of Oregon's Pac-12 rivals in the Wildcats.

McMillan's sophomore numbers (65 receptions, 851 yards, 12 touchdowns) don't necessarily jump off the page, but they were good enough to get him on to MaxPreps' All-American team for 2022 recruits.

Thanks to his 6'4", 185-pound frame, the Servite (Anaheim, California) star is easy to spot in any highlight reel.

🎥 RISING STAR: 2022 @ServiteFootball WR Tetairoa McMillan (@TMAC96795) vs JSerra Thursday Night‼️ @USCScoop pic.twitter.com/bJIH0po5gK

— Scott Schrader (@SSchraderOn3) October 18, 2019

I’m sorry but this sophomore is the best I’ve seen this season and it’s not close. Servite’s Tetairoa McMillan. pic.twitter.com/Mwd1QGsQGP

— eric sondheimer (@latsondheimer) October 18, 2019

Biggins wrote about McMillan in July 2019, noting one exciting aspect about him is how much more he could continue to fill out:

He's already 6'3", 185 pounds, and by the time he's a senior at Servite, will likely be in the 200-plus range. He's a rangy safety/corner right now but could even grow into a linebacker by the time he hits a college campus.

As a receiver, McMillan has exceptional hands and body control. He's an elite volleyball player and has tremendous leaping ability. He's a brutal matchup in jump ball and red zone situations and has the speed to get behind a defense as well.

McMillan's high school career in general is a great example of why student-athletes should pursue multiple sports. Not only is he a star on the gridiron, but he's also an all-league volleyball player and a member of Servite's basketball team. The skills he honed in those disciplines are bound to come in handy on the gridiron.

Because of his size, McMillan should be a red-zone threat right out of the gate. Over time, he should grow into one of FBS' top pass-catchers.

Arizona has finished with a losing record in each of the past four seasons and has gone just 1-16 combined over the past two seasons.

Jedd Fisch's first season as the head coach at Arizona in 2021 was rough with the Wildcats finishing 1-11, but securing a top-flight recruit like McMillan could be a sign that the tide is turning.

Two of the all-time greatest University of Arizona football players will play a role in the Wildcats' spring game April 24.

According to Justin Spears of Tucson.com, Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch revealed that Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski will serve as a coach in the spring game, and he will coach against former New England Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi, who is now a senior adviser to Fisch.

Spears noted that it will mark Gronk's first appearance at Arizona Stadium since the 2011 spring game following his NFL rookie season with the Pats.

Gronk, 31, played for the Wildcats from 2007-08, registering 75 receptions for 1,197 yards and 16 touchdowns in 22 games.

He was selected by the Pats in the second round of the 2010 NFL draft and went on to become one of the best tight ends in NFL history.

In his nine seasons with the Pats, Gronk recorded 521 catches for 7,861 yards and 79 touchdowns. He was also named a Pro Bowler five times and First-Team All-Pro four times while winning three Super Bowls.

Gronk retired for one season, but he returned in 2020 and followed quarterback and close friend Tom Brady to Tampa. That decision paid dividends, as Gronk won his fourth Super Bowl, scoring a pair of touchdowns in the Super Bowl LV win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

The 47-year-old Bruschi was a defensive lineman at the University of Arizona from 1991-95. He was a three-time All-Pac-10 selection, two-time Consensus All-American and the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year in 1995.

Bruschi was selected by the Patriots in the third round of the 1996 NFL draft and quickly converted to linebacker.

He went on to become one of the most beloved figures in franchise history, spending all 13 of his NFL seasons in New England. Bruschi was a three-time Super Bowl champion, one-time Pro Bowler and the 2005 NFL Comeback Player of the Year.

With the spring game, Arizona will look to get the 2021 season off on the right foot, as it went 0-5 last season and finished with a losing record in each of the past three campaigns.

That led to the firing of Kevin Sumlin and hiring of Fisch, who was the Patriots' quarterbacks coach last season.