Long before Arizona head coach Brent Brennan and BYU head coach Kalani Sitake were Big 12 counterparts, they were colleagues.
Brennan was Oregon State's wide receivers coach while Sitake was the Beavers' associate head coach and defensive coordinator in 2015.
Brennan and Sitake lived in the same neighborhood and spent hours together off the field in Corvallis, Oregon.
Then, Brennan knew that Sitake was destined to be a head coach one day.
"He always had incredible command of the team," Brennan said of Sitake. "He had a great way about him. He has a great ability to be honest with people, but also demanding. That showed up in our time together. It's been for me watching the success that he's had. ... He's a really good football coach and an even better human being."
BYU head coach Kalani Sitake protests a call from the sideline during the second half against East Carolina in Greenville, N.C., Sept. 20, 2025.
Sitake left the Beavers and became BYU's head coach in 2016. His first-ever win at BYU? A victory over Arizona to kick off the season at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale.
Since becoming BYU's head coach, Sitake is 77-43 and has had winning records in seven-plus seasons, including this year. In the last two seasons, the Cougars are a combined 16-2.
"The consistency of leadership matters," Brennan said. "As much consistency as you can build over time, you have a chance for the messaging and for there to be great alignment."
Brennan added having "great alignment" with the players, the coaches, Arizona athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois and UA president Suresh Garimella gives the Wildcats the opportunity "to build the sustainable football program we know that we can build at Arizona."
BYU is in a position as a football program that Arizona is striving for: consistent winning and having an identity. The Cougars have the top defense in the Big 12 — eighth-best in college football. BYU has the second-best rushing attack in the Big 12, averaging 234 yards per game. The Cougars also have the fifth-best offense in the Big 12.
"They're probably one of the best within our conference, so we need to be able to match culture with them and just play our game," said Arizona wide receivers coach Bobby Wade. "That's extremely important."
On the flip side, Saturday is arguably the biggest test of the season for BYU, as the Cougars return to Tucson for the first time since 2018, when BYU spoiled Kevin Sumlin's debut as Arizona's head coach.
Arizona's defense is Top 10 nationally and is the only unit in college football that hasn't allowed a passing touchdown. The Wildcats and Cougars have the two best defenses in the Big 12, however, Arizona is tops in the conference in defensive efficiency. Additionally, Arizona's offense is coming off its most productive performance since the 2023 Territorial Cup.
Despite losing several players to the NFL, including Tetairoa McMillan, Jonah Savaiinaea and Tyler Loop, along with a handful of impact players to the transfer portal such as Jacob Manu, Tacario Davis and Ta'ita'i Uiagalelei, "Coach Brennan did a great job of setting redline as the standard for everything that we do and actually following through with that," Wade said. The Wildcats rolled up their sleeves and added 60-plus newcomers — many of whom have been key factors in Arizona's 4-1 start, which is the best since 2019.
Arizona head coach Brent Brennan and the Wildcats watch the public feed of a video review on a fourth-down spot in the fourth quarter against Kansas State, Sept. 12, at Arizona Stadium.
"It's easier to say it, it's more difficult to walk it in every facet of this game; recruiting, offseason, acquiring talent, evaluation — all of these things that make this program now, is based off the redline," Wade said. "We're making sure that we push that in everything that we do. I'm proud of it, proud to see the changes that he has made. ... We're walking this walk and we're walking it with him."
Arizona linebackers coach Josh Bringuel said Brennan "has had unbelievable success over the years at different universities because of who he is as a person and the culture he cultivates within his team."
"That's how you build programs, not just year to year," Bringuel said. "A culture develops over time, and you're starting to see that blossom."
Arizona's culture is "in a great place," Brennan said. The Wildcats' up-and-coming culture will go toe-to-toe with a team that is one of the standards of culture for a football program in the Big 12.
"Culture is such an overused word these days, but it's such an important part of building a football program," Brennan said. "It's something that your players and your coaches have to fight for every day, and I think ours do. I think everyone knows exactly what we want it to be and what it's supposed to look like. When people are outside of that, they don't fit. ... The culture of a football team is always a work in progress, but I like where we're at and I like the direction we're heading with it."
