When Jedd Fisch broke through in his 3rd season at Arizona, going 10-3, it looked like the Wildcats could start pushing for Big 12 Championships. It took Nick Saban's retirement and Kalen DeBoer's taking the Alabama coach position for the Wildcats to lose their head coach, as Jedd Fisch instead took the Washington job after it appeared that Fisch would stay put.
Arizona then turned to San Jose State head coach Brent Brennan as their next head coach after 7 seasons leading the Spartans. When the Wildcats went 4-8 in Brennan's first season and lost 3 of the first 5 games in Big 12 play, it raised questions about whether he may not be the man for the job. The team then went on a tear, winning the final 5 games of the regular season.
Brent Brennan's extension is a home run for Arizona
On Friday, Arizona made the decision to extend their head coach, giving Brent Brennan a 2-year extension that will run through the 2030 season.
Leadership on lock 🔒 pic.twitter.com/CG19M2XxGL
— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) February 6, 2026
Extending Brennan makes perfect sense, and getting a deal done before the season is massive for the Wildcats. To start, Brent Brennan is now locked in through 2030 which gives everyone looking to join the program a clear idea of what the long term plan will be.
Brent Brennan being extended likely raises his buyout, but the details aren't fully available on the new deal. After his second season, Brennan would only owe the University $4.5 million if he took another job, which made it easy for any program to poach him away.
This season was a great reminder by Brent Brennan not to judge a coach by their first season, as he proved he can build a winner. Now the Wildcats will hope to keep him long-term while he'll hope to push some of the big schools in the Big 12 to become a yearly contender.