The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
Kevin Beard
I like Greg Hansen. I feel like I should just get that out of the way right up front. My father hates him (but undoubtedly has read every word he has written for the last 30 years). I still remember a field trip to the newspaper when I was 12 the highlight of which featured a stop by Mr. Hansen’s desk. He is as indelibly linked to the Wildcats, in my mind, as anyone besides the great Lute Olson.
Having said that …sometimes Greg Hansen is just plain wrong. The article in which Mr. Hansen tries to placate the fan base’s ire over the disastrous 2024 football season by describing the previous season’s success as misleading, is a disservice to all the current and former players and coaches involved. It took years of recruiting, game planning, weight room sessions and practice to accomplish what they did. Fisch didn’t land a better gig by tricking the Washington AD. Jordan Morgan didn’t get drafted in the 1st round by deceiving the Green Bay Packers. Akina wasn’t promoted to DC by mistake. The Cats were good, plain and simple, they were just a damn good football team.
My main point of contention is his disparaging remarks on Pac-12 football. You say the teams we beat weren’t that good and they demonstrate as much with their respective records following losses to Arizona. I would like to point out that they were beating each other. The league was good from top to almost the bottom. Eight teams played in nine bowl games. Those games featured convincing wins over ranked opponents like Liberty, Louisville, Oklahoma, and Texas. The losses were to some really good teams like Texas Tech, Notre Dame, and Michigan. I think the biggest demonstration of the Pac-12’s quality should be in the NFL draft. There were six QBs drafted in the 1st round. Half of those players were from the Pac-12 and a 4th was a former Pac-12 player.
I think your stance on the quality of the league shouldn’t apply to football but rather basketball. Arizona lost a game at home to an unranked awful Pac-12 opponent. After a loss like that Arizona should never have been even in consideration for the AP top 25 let alone one of the top seeds in the tournament. I’m fearful that the poor quality of the league will be on full display this basketball season. I just hope that it will produce a Wildcat team that is better prepared for March Madness.
I’ve never written an opinion piece like this. Even if I disagree the only thing I would ever do is text the article to a buddy followed by a meme showing my disapproval (usually Tim Robinson dressed as a hotdog screaming the word wrong). The reason this article bothers me as much as it does is because it could be read as an excuse for the catastrophe that is Brent Brennan. I believe he is the worst mistake in Arizona history. Just a few months before being hired he was 1-5 at San Jose State and on the verge of being fired. And sure, I know he finished the season well but he still has a dismal winning percentage as a Spartan. He has a losing record as a head coach! He loses more often than not. He is a loser. Losing is what he does. I mean the AD and President responsible for his hiring were both unemployed a month after he got the job.
I’m a big fan of Hansen but in this case he was wrong and this mistake could lead some misinformed Arizona fan to think that Brennan deserves some leeway. He does not. He will not succeed. He has never been successful and he never will be. If the university could afford it, he would already be gone.
