Arizona football GM Aaron Knotts has 'a great eye for evaluation and he's really smart'

If you ask Brent Brennan about the coaching movement in college football, he'll tell you it's reaching uncharted territory. 

During his news conference on Monday, as the 17th-ranked Arizona Wildcats prepare to square off with the SMU Mustangs in the Trust & Will Holiday Bowl, the UA head coach said, "We are in the craziest coaching carousel in the history of college football."

"There has never been one like this," Brennan added. 

Sometimes the coaching carousel affects the supportive — and essential — roles for a program. It did for Arizona, which is how the Wildcats ended up hiring new general manager Aaron Knotts, who was officially announced as the newest addition to the UA staff on Monday. 

After a dozen seasons at Washington, Knotts replaces former general manager Gaizka Crowley, who accepted the same position at Arkansas under first-year head coach Ryan Silverfield. Arizona director of scouting Fletcher Kelly also recently accepted a similar position at Arkansas, sources told the Star.

Both Crowley and Kelly were instrumental in assembling the 60-plus newcomers on Arizona's roster for Brennan's second season at the helm. 

"Gaizka has been a really important part of what we've done here, as is everybody," Brennan said. "I thought we had great work with Gaizka and Fletcher Kelly. Working with our coaching staff and the evaluation process and recruiting process, it gave us a chance to play good football this year, which is exciting." 

Added Brennan: "When we lose somebody, we try to get someone better. We won't know if they're better until we do the job with them for a little bit of time, then we have an idea." 

The Wildcats are hopeful for similar — or better — production from Knotts, who's "been around a lot of really great leaders."

Knotts spent 12 seasons at UW under former head coaches Chris Petersen, Jimmy Lake, Kalen DeBoer and Jedd Fisch, Brennan's predecessor at Arizona. Petersen, who is one of Brennan's mentors, hired Knotts in 2015. Arizona's chief of staff Ben Thienes was a graduate assistant for Petersen at Boise State and Washington.  

Prior to his 12-year stint at Washington, Knotts graduated from Miami (Ohio) and started his coaching career at his alma mater, St. Xavier High School in Louisville, Kentucky. As a player, Knotts was a standout fullback and led St. Xavier to a state championship appearance in 2007. 

In spring 2014, Knotts became a tight ends coach at Division III Centre College in Kentucky and joined Petersen's staff at Washington later in the year. Marshall Malchow, now Oregon's chief of staff, joined Petersen's staff and hired Knotts, who worked for Malchow as a recruiting intern at Louisville. 

Knotts' initial role was focused on high school relations and player personnel, before he became chief of staff in 2018, replacing Malchow.  

Knotts helped with day-to-day operations of the football program, future scheduling, recruiting, NIL, marketing, budgeting, capital projects and compliance, among other tasks. He also served as the NFL liaison for eight seasons from 2016-23. Knotts was hired to a three-person search committee at Washington, appointed by former UW athletic director Troy Dannen, who hired Fisch.

"When I got to Washington, I thought I was on the coaching path and then I ended up going into recruiting," Knotts said. "Later, I went into administrative and operations. Now I'm merging a lot of those things together in this role. You never know where you're going to go, but you just do the best job you can in whatever role you have." 

Knotts was in Tucson for Washington's loss to Arizona in 2014, which ended with a game-winning field goal by UA kicker Casey Skowron. He was also on UW's sideline for the Huskies' overtime win over Arizona in 2016 and the one-touchdown victory against the Wildcats in quarterback Noah Fifita's first start at Arizona in 2023. 

"A quarterback's first start, you're excited to play them, but he played so well, we were like, 'Man this guy is going to be a problem,'" Knotts said of Fifita. "We've had some tough-fought games here. I know it can be a tough place to play." 

Knott's time in Washington included five 10-win seasons, four New Year’s Six bowl games, three Pac-12 championships, two College Football Playoff semifinal appearances and a national championship appearance. The Huskies produced 45 NFL Draft picks — 11 first-round picks — during Knotts' tenure at Washington. 

"He's been a part of the program at Washington and has seen it be done a bunch of different ways," Brennan said. "I think there's value in that. We all learn from the people that we're around and the people that we crossover with. Everybody from Coach Petersen to most recently Jedd, there's value in that. ... He's got a great eye for evaluation and he's really smart, which is what you need in that position." 

Knotts said he "learned a lot of different ways of doing things" during his time at UW.

"There's a lot of ways to skin a cat and have success," he added. "I got to work with a lot of really cool coaches, a lot of really cool teams and we had a lot of success. Being able to see how teams build their roster and how they build their culture and do it at place where everybody else had to move and I got to stay, that was pretty cool. This is an awesome opportunity that I couldn't pass up." 

Knotts is still in the infancy stage of his new chapter at Arizona, but the newest addition to the UA football staff said "it's been awesome."

"Everyone has been so nice and welcoming," he said. "The weather has been awesome. I'm learning that I can shed a few more layers (of clothing), because I'm sweating already from practice, but it's a good thing and it's been awesome."

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Knotts said he's "excited about the momentum" of Arizona after the Wildcats ended the regular season 9-3 and have a chance to become the fifth team in program history to reach 10 or more wins. 

"It's a program on a rise," Knotts said. "There's a lot of things to be excited about. They've been explosive on offense and stingy on defense ... I think there's momentum and a lot of excitement."  

When the two-week transfer portal window officially opens for business on Friday, Jan. 2, Knotts will be tasked with leading the charge on assembling the third transfer portal class under the Brennan regime. 

The Star sat down with Knotts on Monday to discuss his role at Arizona and lessons learned from his previous stop at Washington. 

In your opinion, what made Petersen a successful coach at Washington?

A: "He's just the ultimate human being, person, coach. It all starts with that. He could be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, if that's what he wanted to do. The way that he treats people and his vision and structure, it intrigues a lot of people. He has a wealth of experience and knowledge in so many different areas." 

When did you realize you wanted to move away from coaching and dive into the front-office side of football programs?

A: "When I first got to Washington and learned all of the intricacies of the recruiting department and what these teams are doing and how it was mirroring the NFL organization. At one point, I thought I was going to be an NFL scout or executive, but then the model has been brought here in a lot of ways. It became a really unique thing to stay in college and be able to be involved with the coaches and personnel side and everyone else involved. It's a unique blend of the different roles I've had." 

How important is a general manager in the current college football landscape?

A: "It's ever-changing, and every team does it differently. Some teams still don't even have a GM, and other teams are at the forefront and ahead of the game. It's unique everywhere you go. More than anything, it's who you're working with and the people. That's what made Arizona so attractive, Coach Brennan and how tight he is with Coach Petersen.

"I know I'm going to be working for a great coach, a mentor and someone that is going to do things the right way. I was lucky enough to be a part of a lot of coaching staffs at Washington with similar people. You're drawn to the people. This is an awesome opportunity. My singular focus, if I could boil it down to one thing, is trying to make Arizona football have the best roster it can be in the years to come. It's a cool opportunity." 

What did you learn from Fisch during the two seasons you spent with him?

A: "It was awesome. Coach Fisch is one of the smartest and brightest people I've been around. I learned so much from him. Such a driven person and I just admire his work ethic, his ambition and how organized and detailed he is. He's got a vision and a role for everybody and it's clearly defined. He did things differently than other coaches I've worked for, so it gave me a new lens to see things through. I learned a ton from him during my time there." 

What is your top priority for the immediate future at the UA?

A: "Before you start recruiting, whether it's the portal or high school, you have to know what you have. I'm trying to assess and evaluate our roster first and foremost. That's multifaceted because I need to know the players and their skillset and who they are as people, and then I need to know the coaches in what they want from their position group and what they're looking for when they're evaluating, what their scheme is and how they fit in. ... All of that helps paint the picture of what we're going to find, whether it's high school or in the portal. Getting to know the roster is the biggest priority." 

UA's primary recruiting regions under Brennan have been Arizona, California and Texas. Did your time at Washington help prepare you for helping Arizona's recruiting efforts in those states?

A: "When I was in charge of recruiting at Washington, we were pretty much in the west-coast footprint. We were heavy in Arizona, Las Vegas, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington. The neat thing here is they're so close to Texas, and they have ties in the state of Texas, which is such a talent-rich state. Texas is so far away from Seattle, so we just dipped our toe in there, but not as much as here.

"Texas is such a big pool to be able to pull from. High school recruiting starts in your footprint and leaving no stone unturned in those areas, because you can build a really good roster in those states that are close to here — and obviously making the state of Arizona a huge priority, because there's definitely plenty of talent in the state."

Some schools rely on the transfer portal for roster construction, while some schools don't. What's your philosophy when it comes to the transfer portal? 

A: "You can't ignore it in this day and age. It has become a part of the fabric in college football. Some teams use it more than others. A lot of people build through high school recruiting and then you supplement a few pieces in the portal, which I believe in. ... A lot of people build through high school recruiting and that's where you get your building blocks.

"It would be naive to not think there's certain pieces or production that you're losing from your roster. ... It's hard to sustain your roster and culture by living in the portal. Making it supplemental is a huge priority.

"Every year is different depending on how much turnover you have, how well you did in high school recruiting, how young your roster is, how deep you are at each position. You have to be fluid and you have to adapt more than anything."