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Kansas State’s Dylan Edwards returning a punt 71 yards for a touchdown in the first half of ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™s blowout loss in Manhattan, which snapped the UA’s nine-game winning streak, probably would’ve been the first opportunity for ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ to reboot the game.

The ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™ other rage-quit moments last year would’ve been the plethora of injuries they suffered, especially on defense and the offensive line, which was the position group with the least amount of depth. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ had an EMT starting at right tackle in the Territorial Cup, when they originally signed him to play backup guard or center.

Or maybe ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ would’ve rage-quit when star wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan fumbled on the final drive of the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™ 28-22 loss to Texas Tech? How about West Virginia’s fake field goal for a touchdown in the Mountaineers’ 31-26 win over the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ in Tucson? Or how about quarterback Noah Fifita’s game-opening interception to begin ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™s loss to TCU, which knocked the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ out of bowl contention?

After the season concluded, Brennan said his inaugural year as head coach of the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ — his dream job — “was not fun.â€�

“It was absolute misery,� Brennan said after the Territorial Cup. “There were some fun moments, but not nearly enough. I feel bad because I feel like I let down these players, I let down this community and I feel like I let down this university.�

Current ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales, who replaced Duane Akina after a season as the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™ linebackers coach, shouldered the blame for ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™s disastrous season chock-full of blunders, injuries and head-scratching moments.

“Here’s a stubborn football coach’s opinion: we did a terrible job coaching them,� Gonzales said on Wednesday. “Across the board, we did a terrible job coaching that football team. ... How you respond to injuries is who you’re going to be as a football team because you’re going to have injuries. It’s the game of football, it’s a violent a game. We did a terrible job coaching them.�

Team-first mentality means hard decisions

If Brennan could rage-quit last season, he would’ve — and potentially restart the game — err, his first season at ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ when he was first hired and hadn’t assembled his staff or finalized the roster.

The offensive play-calling from offensive coordinator Dino Babers and passing game coordinator Matt Adkins didn’t mesh with ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™s offensive personnel. The ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ had the second-worst rushing offense and scoring offense in the Big 12. Even their passing attack was one-dimensional, with McMillan making up 44% of the passing offense. So, the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ hired up-and-coming offensive coordinator Seth Doege, who orchestrated Marshall’s offense to a Sun Belt championship last season.

Fifita said Doege is “one of a kind in so many ways and the best offensive mind I’ve been around.�

“From a mentality standpoint, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a coach, outside of my dad, that has the mindset and the belief that he has,� Fifita said. “That has definitely trickled down to the players, and that’s why we walk around with the confidence that we could be the best offense in the country.�

Fifita “is one of the cleanest throwers I’ve ever seen and I’m excited to see what he’s going to do in Seth Doege’s offense,� Brennan said.

“This is a perfect fit for (Fifita) and it’s his time to shine,� said Brennan.

Doege was the first step of ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™s chaotic offseason. The second step was moving Gonzales from linebackers coach and special teams to a full-time defensive coordinator role. Gonzales, who previously led Top 20 defenses at ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ State and San Diego State and has a reputation as an aggressive play-caller, replaced Akina at defensive coordinator. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ hired longtime special teams coach Craig Naivar as its first full-time special coordinator since 2020. Position coaches, Jordan Paopao (tight ends) and Gonzales (linebackers), held the special teams coordinator role between 2021-24.

Brennan cut ties with Adkins, who was ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™s tight ends coach last season, and defensive line coach Joe Seumalo, who was replaced by renowned defensive line coach and “Desert Swarmâ€� member Joe Salave’a, who had been connected to several coaching vacancies at the UA in the past. Both Adkins and Seumalo followed Brennan to ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ from San Jose State.

Brennan “made hard decisions and I know some stuff was hard on him because he had real relationships that he had to cut for the betterment of the program,� Doege said.

“That’s what head coaches do — that’s what real head coaches do, and he did that,â€� added ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™s offensive coordinator. “And then all of the new players we brought on.â€�

A far from ideal start

Roughly 60 players on ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™s roster are newcomers. Plus, ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™s coaching staff re-recruited ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ who were considering leaving the program, especially defensive backs Genesis Smith, Treydan Stukes and Dalton Johnson, who all entered the transfer portal, but did an about-face and returned to Tucson.

Unlike last season, the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ coaches didn’t pressure players who were thinking about leaving in the offseason, which was a problem they previously ran into. Gonzales said the UA coaches were “begging kids to stayâ€� after they inherited a nucleus of players that went 10-3 and won the Alamo Bowl.

Brennan was hired in January 2024 and missed the first transfer portal window in December 2023. Plus, former head coach Jedd Fisch leaving for the same role at Washington opened up a 30-day transfer portal window for ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥. Brennan “got the job at a terrible time,â€� Gonzales said.

“You’ve got 138 football programs scouring your roster, contacting them, and we’re begging them to stay,� Gonzales said. “That’s a mistake because you don’t beg anybody in this game. It’s like having a wife or girlfriend; if you’re not treating her right or she’s not treating you right and you beg her to stay, shame on you. ... It displayed.

“On top of that, we did a terrible job of coaching them. Across the board, we weren’t a good football team. If you have enough talent, it’s on the coaches. Coach B recognized that and we reset it. Like Coach Doege said, you make decisions that hurt people, but it’s for the betterment of the program because no one is bigger than the team.�

Brennan said he spent “the first six months on the job kissing everyone’s ass, asking them to stay.â€� It’s a challenge to coach a player who’s also in the transfer portal. Cornerback Tacario Davis, who transferred to Washington after last season, was in the transfer portal during the spring and still practiced with the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥.

“It was just a horrible foundation for what we’re trying to get done there,� Brennan said. “The second year, we just feel much more stable in it. I think because of that, a lot of the players have chosen to stay, our retention has been high and then also the acquisition of new talent’s been really positive. So we’re in a great spot. I love that.�

When Gonzales looked back on the decisions Brennan made in the offseason, the defensive coordinator echoed the mantra of late UA coaching icon Dick Tomey and Michigan legend Bo Schembechler: “the team, the team, the team.�

“It couldn’t be more right, and (Brennan) made those decisions,� Gonzales said. “I think our football program is in a good place because of it. I think we have the right people in place to make Tucson something special. ... We’ve got the right people leading this program, namely Brent Brennan. When you win games, players win games; coaches don’t. Coaches can screw them up and lose games.

“If you have enough talent, which we do, players win games. ... I can’t wait (for the season). I’m so tired of running into (Doege’s) guys, and the kids are grumpier than me because I don’t get to play and neither does (Doege), and we live through them, so we’re ready to go and try to take the soul of somebody else.�

Moving forward with new culture, standard

In ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™s 4-8 season last year, the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™ losses were by a combined 191 points, and their average margin of defeat was 23.8 points. The disaster of 2024 is seldomly brought up in the Lowell-Stevens Football Facility nowadays.

“Once I got on campus, that stuff kind of washed (away) and he was ready to move on,� Doege said. “Not many people talk about last year as much. It would be here and there, (but) our focus is to move forward. When I got here, it was attack to try and make this thing right and put a product out there that Tucson can be proud of. ... We’re trying to create a culture and a standard here that we can sustain.�

The players feel the culture shift, too. Stukes is the only player on ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™s roster who can say they played for three different coaching staffs during his time in Tucson. Stukes said, “just being around the building and being around some of the new guys that are here, I just see a true love for football everywhere I look.â€�

“Nobody complains or whines about how long camp is or how long practice is,� he said. “We just keep going back to work and try to get better. That’s just a sign of a really good team and a lot of good individuals.�

The vibes around ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Stadium don’t suggest the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ won just four games last season. Players, coaches and staffers “believe in Coach Brennan, we believe in each other and we’re excited to go prove ourselves right,â€� Fifita said.

“We don’t shy away from last year,â€� said the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ quarterback. “We know what we said was going to happen and obviously we’re light years away from what we said. God doesn’t make mistakes, so we learn from it, we grow from it and we’re excited at what the future holds. ... A lot of the world doesn’t believe in what we can do, but the people in our building do, and that’s what really matters.â€�

The ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ “learned a lot in our first year at ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥,â€� Brennan said.

“The biggest thing I learned is just transition is challenging, transition is hard,� Brennan said. “There’s lots of things that I could have done better as a head football coach, as the leader of the program, that I have a better understanding now of what that looks like and exactly which way we’re going to do it.�

Maybe this go-around won’t have so many rage-quit moments. If it’s a duplicate of last season, Brennan could conceivably not have the option to restart in the offseason either. If the former happens, Brennan could generate momentum for 2026 and continue to put his fingerprints on the program.