Arizona promoted offensive assistant coach Lyle Moevao to running backs coach, head coach Brent Brennan said on Monday.
Moevao replaces former Arizona running backs coach Alonzo Carter, who was recently named head coach at Sacramento State. Carter will coach Arizona's running backs during the Wildcats' matchup with SMU in the Will & Trust Holiday Bowl.
Moevao has been in an analyst and assistant role since Brennan's first season in 2024. He was Arizona's quarterbacks coach until offensive coordinator Seth Doege was hired last December. Moevao moved to assistant running backs coach this season and "has been an integral part of coaching that position, along with Zo, over the last year."
"It's been a great fit, the guys love him," Brennan said of Moevao. "The transition has been seamless. It's really important. The response from the players when I told them was outstanding. We're really excited about that. ... With the way college football staffs are built now, with everyone having an assistant position coach, depending on who that guy is, sometimes they take more of a load than others.
"Lyle was involved in every aspect of process for those running backs and those players will tell you that. We're going to miss Zo, because he's a great coach and a great person, but we're excited about the opportunity that he has. Just an incredible opportunity for (Carter) to return kind of close to where he's from and be a head coach at a Division I school."
The 38-year-old Moevao played quarterback at Oregon State from 2006-09 and passed for 3,410 yards and 21 touchdowns. Moevao quarterbacked the Beavers to a win over No. 1-ranked USC in 2008, while the last pass attempt of his college career was in a loss to Arizona in 2009, in the same game quarterback Nick Foles started his first contest at the UA. After playing professionally in France and Japan, Moevao started his coaching career.
From 2013-16, he was a graduate assistant coach at Oregon State under Mike Riley and Gary Andersen, while Brennan was the Beavers’ wide receivers coach. Moevao was a defensive analyst under Brennan at San Jose State for the last three years before coming to Arizona.
Arizona running back Kedrick Reescano (3) cruises nearly untouched into the end zone, scoring against Baylor during the fourth quarter of their Big 12 game, Nov. 22, 2025, in Tucson.
When the Wildcats upset 10th-ranked Utah in Salt Lake City last season, Arizona's assistant coaches wore "No Fefe" (Samoan for "no fear") shirts to honor Moevao's late mother, Sheila Alofaituli, who often used the rally cry to inspire Moevao during his career at Oregon State. Moevao's mother died leading up to Arizona's win over Utah. Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita Sharpied "Sheila" on his wrist tape for the Utah game.
In August, Moevao got choked up recalling the gesture by Arizona's coaches and players.
"It was special, man," Moevao said. "I didn’t know it was going to happen. ... When I was with my family, I was like, 'OK, they’re getting ready for a big game against Utah. The last thing they're worried about is me and my situation back home,' because the coaches gotta worry about the game plan, the players gotta worry about the game plan. That’s the real deal. Family and football."
In Moevao's first season as an assistant running backs coach, Arizona running backs Ismail Mahdi and Quincy Craig earned Big 12 Player of the Week honors. The Wildcats have 1,805 yards and 20 rushing touchdowns this season — 15 from the trio of Mahdi, Craig and Kedrick Reescano, who has nine touchdowns this season. Reescano is in his second season at Arizona after starting his career at Ole Miss.
Arizona offensive assistant coach Lyle Moevao watches his players during an Arizona football fall camp session on the Dick Tomey Practice Fields in Tucson on Aug. 12, 2024.
Even though the Wildcats are losing Mahdi to graduation, Reescano and Craig are expected to return for 2026. The Wildcats also have freshmen Cornelius Warren III and Wesley Yarbrough expected to return next season. Arizona signed four-star Fresno, California running back Brandon Smith for '26. Smith recently led Central East High School to a California state championship.
Doege said Moevao "is a tremendous teacher" and "the times that I've gotten the chance to walk into the room when he had the running backs and Zo gave him the opportunity to teach, I was just really impressed."
"His communication skills, he's a former quarterback, so he knows the big picture," Doege said. "I think that's of value at any position. Guys who've played the position get labeled as 'quarterback guys.' He's done such a great job of relating to those running backs, and they trust him.
"Why do they trust him? He knows what he's talking about, and they can get him better. That's key to kids nowadays. Status and names don't resonate anymore. When you get into a room, can you make them better? How can you make them better? Your communication has to be clear, you gotta be direct in what you know and what you believe in and you gotta be aligned with the entire organization and that's Lyle.
"This guy is 100% behind us and 100% bought into what Coach Brennan is about and 100% into what I'm about. This dude has had my back since the day I showed up. I'm really excited about it and I know the running backs are pumped, I know the team is pumped.
"He's one of the guys around the building that everybody knew what type of caliber coach he was. He just needed an opportunity. He finally got the opportunity. He's going to be really good for us. I'm really excited about the hire."
Extra points
— Brennan said "there could be" opt-outs for the bowl game. The Wildcats have several draft-eligible players, including defensive backs Dalton Johnson and Treydan Stukes, who recently accepted an invitation to play in the Reese's Senior Bowl leading up to the NFL Draft next month. Former Arizona offensive lineman and first-round pick Jordan Morgan opted out of the Alamo Bowl in 2023 to prepare for the NFL Draft. Brennan said, "We'll know more after Christmas. ... Those are family decisions. I understand that and I respect it. That's the world we live in."
— Doege said underclassmen who've ascended in bowl practices include right tackle Matthew Lado, wide receivers Gio Richardson and Isaiah Mizell, Yarbrough, Warren and third-string quarterback Sawyer Anderson.
— With the two-week transfer portal window set to open on Friday, Jan. 2, the same day as the Holiday Bowl, "that's going to be a little bit of chaos," Brennan said. Added Brennan: "Our focus has been on roster retention and that part of it."
— Doege said Arizona's biggest needs in the offseason are tight ends, offensive linemen and wide receivers. Arizona is losing its top two tight ends in Sam Olson and Cameron Barmore, but returns season-opening starter Tyler Powell, who suffered a season-ending leg injury on the first play from scrimmage. The Wildcats are losing four starters on the offensive line in left tackle Ty Buchanan, left guard Chubba Maae, center Ka'ena Decambra and right tackle Tristan Bounds. Veteran receivers Kris Hutson, Javin Whatley and Luke Wysong are also graduating after this season.
— Arizona defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales said cornerback is a position of priority, but said Jay'Vion Cole, who has the second-most interceptions in the Big 12 this season, "is the best returning corner in the Big 12."
— Gonzales said defensive backs Gavin Hunter, Dajon Hinton and Coleman Patmon have been rising standouts in Arizona's bowl practices.
— The Big 12 announced that its conference media days will return to The Star in Frisco, Texas, for the next two years in 2026 and ’27. The upcoming Big 12 Media Days will be on Tuesday, July 7 and Wednesday, July 8 this year.
