One month out from the start of the 2026 season, Arizona officially began preparations for this fall with the start of training camp. For roughly two hours Wednesday morning the Wildcats worked out on a trio of fields, spending most of the time outdoors in the upper-90s heat, in the first of 18 practices over the next three-plus weeks.
“It was hot, which we love,” UA coach Brent Brennan said. “I hope I hope it gets hotter. Turn up the heat so we can get get used to battling that and really making
an advantage for us. It’s awesome to be back out there. We’ve got a great group of young men here that are excited about attacking our process, getting ready for the season that is coming.”
Below is what Brennan, quarterback Noah Fifita—who got engaged over the weekend—and defensive lineman Tre Smith said about the start of training camp:
Brennan on having a lot of team periods in the opening practice: “We do feel like we’re further along because we have the same coordinators for the second year, and so there’s some carryover in terms of what we do schematically. And then I also think there’s a lot of new players that we need to just get playing. Like, we need to play football, and so we need to see them. Do they know what to do? How comfortable are they in the scheme? Do they have an understanding of Redline?
“I think when you get started, there’s so much to try and figure out, especially in this this era where you’re bringing in so many new players. Some of them you have for spring practice, the bulk of them, but then there’s also a new chunk that joins you in the beginning of June, that you haven’t been on the field field with yet. So it’s exciting to to get out there for the first day.”
On giving the backup QBs lots of reps: “I think as we continue to go, I think that that group of quarterbacks behind Noah, there’s going to be movement there. Every single day the competition, just like every other position, and I said this yesterday, every other position, we really want to pressurize the practice environment. We want there to be a lot of intensity in those reps, and for those to feel each other kind of breathing down each other’s necks, kind of forcing everybody to be really intentional about their process, about how they learn, how they’re performing, knowing that someone is coming for that opportunity every single day. It’s awesome because you have Noah, who’s such a great leader. He’s a great teacher. He’s patient with all of them. He tries to help and teach and coach those younger players, but those younger players all know that the competition is real.”
On young players establishing themselves early: “I think for for those young players, they have to demonstrate the just baseline to know what to do. That will play out more and more as as we get going. Are they making the most of the opportunities they get? I tell players that all the time, like especially when you’re a young player, the fastest way to get on the field is to know what to do, and it’s amazing how many times they struggle with that or they don’t really understand exactly what that is until someone else is playing in front of them.”
On if he still gets butterflies on the 1st day of camp: “Absolutely. I think for me it’s more of excitement. It’s excitement about the journey that lies ahead, and just it’s fun building a football team, and that’s what we’ve been doing for the last eight months. And now we get to this part where we actually get to really, really focus on football, knowing that the opportunity to play is on the backside of training camp.
“I was thinking about this morning. I was trying to count in my head how many years I’ve been going to training camp this time of year, and it’s been a long time. I stopped counting because the number was getting too high, and I was feeling some kind of way about that. I feel like it’s exciting every time, because every team is different. Every team is different. Every season is different, and we’re excited about this team.”
On it not looking like a 1st practice in terms of organization: “I think it is a little bit different because you also do get a little bit more time with the players in the offseason than you used to. And then it also depends on what the leadership of your team is. So when your best players and your leaders are driving the tempo of practice, they’re driving the drill to drill, they’re driving kind of the hustle and the effort and the Redline, everybody has no choice but to get on board.”
On center Zach Henning: “We’re excited about Zach. First of all, he’s an awesome, awesome human being. Just a great fit culturally. With the portal, you don’t always know that. You can’t guarantee that, because the recruiting process is, we talked about before, it’s like speed dating. You really don’t know as much as you would like to know about a player that you’re taking. But just his maturity, he’s tough. He’s incredibly intelligent. He’s really found like a great group of guys to hang out with. That O-line group has really brought him in, because you have other good guys that are leaders on that on that O-line. Doost and Tristan and and Rhino, like those guys have really brought him in, and Zach kind of fit right into that. And then what we liked about was it his tape was impressive. He started multiple games for (Washington) last year and really did a good job.”
On having big tight ends: “We’re always going to be a big tight end team. We like to play in 11, we really like to play in 12, and I think that group is going to be a lot of fun.”
On Tre Smith entering his 6th college season: “Tre’s such a thoughtful, thoughtful guy. It’s been really fun to be a part of this process, and I’ve been with him for all of it. I think that’s a unique thing at two different stops. The football with him is kind of the easy part because he plays so hard and he’s talented and he’s twitchy and he’s long. That’s the easy part. But to me, what’s most impressive about Tre is how he’s handled kind of the frustration and the disappointment with some of the injuries he’s had. I think that sometimes gets lost on people. Like that’s not easy. You work so hard, you put in so much time, so much effort, and then you have an injury that shuts you down for a season, and then you’re kind of left hanging because you’re still on the team, but you’re not playing, and you’re not in the practice, and you’re not in the workout, and everything changes for you all of a sudden, and I think Tre has done just an amazing job of handling that.”
On marital advice to Fifita: “I think my advice for Noah is just that being married is hard and it’s challenging, and you got to have a lot of patience and a lot of forgiveness, especially if your name’s Courtney Brennan, because you have to deal with a dipshit like me.”
Fifita on his last ‘1st day’ of camp: “It was a blessing to be able to get out there, and definitely trying to enjoy it a little more. This year’s been going by super fast, but being able to kind of be at that fall camp practice. My mom was there, my fiancee was there, and also my little brother running around. It was awesome to be there, and we got a lot of work to do together.”
On Henning: “He’s a true professional, in every aspect. His preparation’s unmatched. He lives in the center, and it’s awesome to see that because he’s already so smart. So when you take somebody that’s that cerebral and that smart, you add the preparation, the process aspect to it, you’re naturally going to get a great player.”
On his advice to the younger QBs in his room: “To be themselves, and I try to tell that every day. You’re competing, at the end of the day, it is a competition for sure, but you’re competing with yourself. You’re trying to be the best that you can be. You’re trying to control your reps, your opportunities, and at the end of the day, the best player is going to play. And I think they’re all doing a tremendous job in terms of process and in terms of their preparation. Because I think we are talking at a high level in the quarterback group.”
Smith on being compared to Treydan Stukes as far as coming back from injury: “Stukes is somebody I definitely look up to, and he just handled everything like a pro. But on top of that, just his mindset, like who he was as a human off the field as well as on the field, and seeing him go into a different mode when he steps in between the lines, that’s something I think about and would like to continue.”
On guiding younger defensive linemen: “I do my best to model the way for those guys. I’ve been here for going on three years now, and I’ve been in college for going on six. So I just do my best to be the best person I can, because at the end of the day, you got to start with yourself and just show them the ropes.”
On the defensive line helping the rebuilt secondary: “Pressure and coverage go hand in hand, right? So they do their job that helps us out, and we do our job and that helps them out. It’s not something that we’re worried about. It’s just raising the group overall, front end, back end.”
