Brent Brennan keeps finding ways to tie Arizona football to Tucson, and it’s not just a slogan. It’s become part of how the Wildcats are moving through this unbeaten-when-it-matters kind of stretch, with a 5-1 start that stands as the program’s best since 2014.
On the field, there’s plenty to like. Noah Fifita is giving Arizona one of the Big 12’s better quarterbacks, and the defense has been flying around with a pass rush that leads the conference in sacks.
Seth Doege and Danny Gonzales have each squeezed real production out of their units. But Brennan keeps circling back to something less visible and maybe just as important: the bond between the team and the city around it.
That connection showed up in a very literal way before Arizona’s trip to West Virginia, one of the longest in the Big 12. A helicopter crew from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base came out to practice and landed at midfield at the Tomey Practice Fields. Brennan said the visit was meant to reinforce the team’s “mission” for the week.
"Last week we had Colonel Corey and our friends from the Air Force bring the helicopter into practice and just the idea that we're traveling a long way. We had a very specific mission. We had a very specific game plan, and how we were going to execute that mission from start to finish."
The trip itself carried that same theme. Arizona wore dog tags on Saturday, another intentional touch from Brennan designed to keep the group locked in together while it was more than 2,000 miles from home.
"The dog tags were a fun way, I just thought, to tie the team together on the trip. Just using that, the dog tags and the idea - when people go into these situations in the real world, the thing that they're doing is that they're really fighting for the guy next to them. Just the idea of how connected, how committed can we be to each other on this road trip in West Virginia, and so that's where it came from."
The Wildcats answered with a 52-31 win over West Virginia, doing it despite plenty of adversity, including the absence of their three starting receivers and a matchup with former Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez.
Back home, Brennan made sure the support started flowing the other way. He bought 1,000 tickets for Arizona’s homecoming game against Iowa State, then set them aside for Tucson charities and organizations that matter to him, including the Boys & Girls Club, Kids of Steele and Ronald McDonald House. Local youth football teams and girls flag football organizations are also part of the group receiving tickets.
"I just thought it was a great way [to] continue to invest in the community here," said Brennan. "Those groups that were working with, the Boys and Girls Club, that was a part of my youth.
The Ronald McDonald House has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. My parents' involvement with the Ronald McDonald House in the Bay Area when I was growing up.
Kids of Steele, we had our annual camp with that organization and those young people, which I think is a really really great thing. And then the youth football in the area."
"We just want to make it available to as many people as we can, and I thought this was really an easy way to engage some groups that are important to me, but also give some people a chance to see this football team play."
Arizona Athletics is also helping widen the door. The school is selling tickets for its next three home games - Iowa State, TCU and Utah - for $10 as part of its “Buy Week” promotion, giving Tucson and Wildcats fans a cheaper way into the building.
The result is a noticeable hum around the program, even with another home game still nearly two weeks away. Arizona is feeding off Tucson, and Tucson is leaning right back in.
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