Arizona’s roster is going to look very different in 2025, but then again in the current state of college football that’s probably going to be an annual thing for almost every school.
For the Wildcats, the roster overhaul was necessary after going 4-8 in Brent Brennan’s first year in charge. Ranked to begin that season, a 3-1 start was followed by six losses in seven games as injuries piled up and the UA’s overall level of talent wasn’t enough to compete in the Big 12.
Arizona has since signed a recruiting class that features more than 20 prospects, though in order to bounce back from 2024 the NCAA transfer portal is where it will get most of its reinforcements. And so far, so good in that area.
As of Tuesday the Wildcats have signed—or gotten public commitments from—15 players, almost all of which are expected to play a vital role next season. They have added nine on offense and six on defense, addressing positions of need across the field:
- RB Ismail Mahdi (Texas State)
- WR/TE Cameron Barmore (Mercyhurst)
- WR Kris Hutson (Washington State)
- WR Tre Spivey (Kansas State)
- WR Luke Wysong (New Mexico)
- OL Tristan Bounds (Michigan)
- OL Jordan Brown (Georgia Tech)
- OL Ty Buchanan (Texas Tech)
- OL Ke’ana Decambra (Hawaii)
- DL Deshawn McKnight (UT Martin)
- DL Chancellor Owens (Northwestern State)
- LB Blake Gotcher (Northwestern State)
- CB Jay’Vion Cole (Texas)
- CB Marcus Dansby (San Jose State)
- S Jshawn Frausto-Ramos (Stanford)
Arizona is far from done shopping in the portal, as there are plenty of open spots left with the new 105-player roster limit that will be in place for the 2025 season. The Wildcats have brought back three of their own transfers in safeties Genesis Smith and Dalton Johnson and cornerback Treydan Stukes, but otherwise the effort will continue to rebuild the roster for a push to compete in the Big 12.
Here are some notable takeaways from Arizona’s initial batch of portal pickups:
The offense is going to be almost all new
Noah Fifita announced he is returning for 2025, eliminating any need for Arizona to have to spend a large chunk of its personnel budget on a transfer quarterback. Instead that money is being spent on surrounding him with weapons and protection, two things he was mostly lacking this past season.
The departure of Tetairoa McMillan to the NFL, along with three other receivers to graduation or the portal, means 40 percent of the catches and half of the yards and touchdown receptions have to be replaced. Arizona has responded by so far adding four targets for Fifita, who will be running a new system as offensive coordinator Seth Doege plans to implement more of a spread/Air Raid attack.
Hutson and Wysong both had big 2024 seasons and should thrive in the quick-passing game out of the slot, while Spivey could become the top outside threat. Barmore, who is 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds and had 2,299 receiving yards and 28 TDs in his career at Mercyhurst, projects more as a tight end with the Wildcats and could be the next Tanner McLachlan.
Mahdi is the perfect running back for a spread system, and he’s already shown he can thrive in one as that’s what Texas State ran the past two seasons. He gained more than 2,300 yards and averaged over five yards per carry in 2023-24 and also was valuable in the passing game.
None of that matters without a line that can protect Fifita and open holes for the run game, and Arizona has made a huge push to address this. The four offensive linemen added so far include three that have started in up-tempo offenses. Expect a few more linemen additions as the Wildcats have to replace at least three starters up front and many of those that remained with the program might not fit the blocking schemes needed for this offense.
A defense built on familiarity, FCS exploits
The three biggest offseason acquisitions for Arizona’s defense have actually been ones that it got back from the portal. The withdrawals of Johnson, Smith and Stukes provide a huge boost to both the secondary but also the overall leadership of that unit. We still don’t know who will be running the defense, as Duane Akina is moving back to coaching defensive backs and Danny Gonzales could take over as coordinator, but no official announcement has been made.
Gonzales has spearheaded the portal recruiting for that side of the ball and the early returns indicate a willingness to go after hidden gems from the FCS level as well as players with a past connection to Arizona coaches.
The Wildcats have added two players from Northwestern State and one from UT Martin, schools the average college football fan likely haven’t heard of, but all three can ball. The highlight of the group is Gotcher, an FCS All-American who led all of Division I with 162 tackles (no one on Arizona had more than 94) and who had at least 10 in all but one game in 2024.
Both cornerback pickups spent time at San Jose State and shined for the Spartans under Brennan and assistant Chip Viney, while Frausto-Ramos was recruited to Stanford by Akina.
Arizona still needs much more size on the D-line, though McKnight (6-foot-3, 285) and Owens (6-3, 260) are a great start.
Arizona is trying to win now, not later
As much as Brennan wants Arizona to be a program built on player development, after his first season he can’t afford to lean on younger players who may some day be really good. Not if he wants to make it to the third year of his 5-year contract.
Improvement has to be immediate, not eventual, and that is evident in the portal pickups the Wildcats have gotten so far. Of the 15, 11 come to Tucson with only one season of eligibility remaining including all four offensive linemen and four of the five offensive skill players.
The 2025 season opener is more than eight months away, and the roster is far from set, but it’s very possible that when the UA hits the field for the first time against Hawaii it will be doing so with seniors at a minimum of 15 starting spots on offense and defense.
The starting 22 for the 2024 opener against New Mexico featured five seniors, same as in 2023.
