It\u2019s been almost two months since Arizona knew it was going to play in a bowl game, and more than three weeks since learning its destination and opponent. That\u2019s a lot of waiting.<\/p>\n
But now it\u2019s finally game week, with the Wildcats set to face SMU in the Holiday Bowl.<\/p>\n
The team flew to San Diego on Monday afternoon and will have a series of bowl-sponsored events leading up to Friday night\u2019s game at Snapdragon Stadium. While Brent Brennan wants his team to soak up all there is to in the bowl experience, the game remains the top priority.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbsolutely, enjoy this moment,\u201d Brennan said. \u201cEnjoy this opportunity. There\u2019s many of our players have never been to San Diego. So enjoy all the cool stuff that you get to do, but when it\u2019s time for football, there\u2019s nothing that matters more than that. The most important thing about this experience is us playing good football on Friday night against SMU.\u201d<\/p>\n
Below is what Brennan discussed at his final press conference before heading to San Diego:<\/p>\n
On being anxious to play: \u201cI think everybody feels that way. It\u2019s kind of like how you feel at the end of training camp. It\u2019s been a month in practice and just beating each other up, and you\u2019re excited to play against an opponent. And obviously, we\u2019re playing against a really good team. It\u2019s a big time game. It\u2019s a big time bowl game, national TV and all the fun stuff that comes with it. So there is a lot of excitement and anticipation for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
On if the long layoff is good or bad: \u201cI think it just depends on how you choose to look at it. If you have to play quick, then you\u2019re like, oh, I wish we had more time. Wish we had more time to develop our players. If you\u2019re on the plan that you\u2019re on you\u2019re like, well, let\u2019s just play the game already. So I think it just depends on how you look at it. For us, this has been a great month. A lot of young players in our program, a lot of guys getting opportunities to run around and really get coached. That part of it is just, I thought, really beneficial for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
On getting 13 extra practices: \u201cIn my opinion, it\u2019s a huge component of why great programs are consistently good, is because they just get that extra block of spring practice for the bowl game. We talked to all kinds of head coaches and other staffs about the best plan for that. And I think we did a good job of walking the fine line between it being too much and too much practice and just beating the hell out of each other for a month straight, but also like getting really good, intentional, physical work done.\u201d<\/p>\n
On balancing fun with work in San Diego: \u201cThis is way different than any road game that you play because of the festivities. I really think that bowl games are special, and the things that the Holiday Bowl is going to do for our team is something that they should enjoy, and it should be something that should be really special for them. I think any of us that have played bowl games or coached in bowl games, you remember all those parts of it the rest of your life. You might not remember a road trip to wherever in the middle of October, but you remember the bowl experience. And so I want our players to enjoy it. I want them to have a great time. And then it\u2019s time for football. I want us to be locked in, and I want us to get after it in the practice environment and then be great to play Friday night. In this moment, I want it all.\u201d<\/p>\n
On possible opt outs: \u201cSo far it\u2019s been good. You never know, right? That\u2019s the world we live in right now. Players went home for three and a half, four days, and so the conversations that they\u2019re having when they\u2019re away from the facility, away from their teammates, you just don\u2019t know what they are. And I think all those decisions are really personal and family decisions, and I want to be respectful of that, and I want to be respectful of all those kids\u2019 process. I\u2019m sure Coach Lashlee and SMU would love to know where we\u2019re at with that, but they can find out Friday night.\u201d<\/p>\n
On if any players planning to transfer will be with team: \u201cI think (Braedyn) Locke is the only one who\u2019s going to be ready to play.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the transfer portal opening on Friday and being the only portal window: \u201cThe way that you don\u2019t know how it\u2019s going to help is what will it feel like after spring practice? To me, that portal was always the most, I don\u2019t know the right word for it … I think it was just the most disappointing or challenging. Because a couple things. Number one, you could have brought a player in in December. You could have paid him much money, and then he can leave after four months in your program. And you\u2019re like, oh my gosh, what a bad investment that was. If you\u2019re trying to make great decisions with how you spend the rev share and how you do that then you got to make sure, there\u2019s no way to be 1,000 percent on it. And then I also think there\u2019s also those situations where everyone else goes to spring practice, and feels like well we have that need at this point, at this position. And then they say, like, well, where is a good player at that position? And then let\u2019s go back door and find a way to get to him. So then it gets a little bit complicated. So I like the idea of the single portal. Where it\u2019s at is fine with me. If they want to move it, that\u2019s fine, whatever, just as long as we know what we have for the year, for a year. And so I like the idea of us being kind of mostly through the portal as we as we get into February, because we\u2019re going to have a chance to build the chemistry, build the culture and build the team. And I think that\u2019s one of those things that\u2019s gonna be very, very important for Arizona football. We\u2019re gonna have to build great teams here, and so as we do that, we\u2019re gonna need time with those players here, on task and together and putting the work together and going through all the tough stuff together.\u201d<\/p>\n
On if Arizona\u2019s 2025 performance will help recruit the portal for 2026: \u201cI think naturally that helps. I think we played an exciting brand of football in all three phases this year. It\u2019s been fun to watch. I think we have some really outstanding players returning, so I think there\u2019ll be some people that are excited to play with those guys. But I also think we have a great recruiting staff. Our coaches are gangster recruiters. We\u2019re good at it. If you think about this team this year, that team was built off a 4-8 record. We did a great job of identification and then actually recruiting those players and getting them excited about playing football at Arizona. And so I feel really great about the combination of the new hires we made in recruiting, along with our coaching staff and our evaluation process, and then also our recruiting process to acquire players that we think can help us level up, help us continue to build a sustainable, consistent winning football program at the University of Arizona.\u201d<\/p>\n