Arizona's overhaul of linemen adds size, depth to Wildcats for 2025

When it comes to rebuilding a football roster, quarterback is traditionally the first place to start.

Arizona head coach Brent Brennan said, “There’s some truth to that,” but the Wildcats already have one of those in multi-year starter Noah Fifita.

“The best place to start is on the (offensive line) and (defensive line),” Brennan said during National Signing Day on Wednesday.

“If you can run the football and stop the run, you’re going to be in every football game,” Brennan said. “How do we give ourselves more of a chance in running the football? How do we give ourselves a chance to stop the run and hold up in those situations?”

Arizona was second-to-last in the Big 12 in rushing offense and 14th in rushing defense. Arizona’s size and depth were two major factors in both departments.

“It just felt like we weren’t quite as big as some of (the other Big 12 teams),” Brennan said. “Some of our guys were, but in terms of the depth and the consistency, it wasn’t as much. It was something we had to address.”

Added Brennan: “I firmly believe the games are won upfront on both sides of the ball, and I think that’s a place we had a lot of room to grow last year.”

Among the 53 players Arizona signed in the offseason, 22 of them are offensive and defensive linemen. The combined weight of the offensive linemen and defensive linemen is 6,741 pounds, the size of four fully-grown polar bears or one mid-sized hippopotamus.

The Wildcats signed a combined four offensive and defensive linemen on Wednesday: San Francisco product and guard Peter Langi, College of San Mateo offensive lineman Siale Uluave and defensive tackle Ezra Funa and Austin, Texas native Porter Patton.

Langi’s younger brother, offensive lineman Michael Langi, is committed to Arizona’s 2026 recruiting class.

The older Langi, who also played at Archbishop Riordan in San Francisco, signed with the Washington Huskies and former Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch in December, but was granted a release from his national letter of intent. The 6-5, 330-pound Langi also held offers from Alabama, Texas A&M, Auburn, Florida State, Florida, Colorado, LSU, Penn State, Texas and USC, among several others.

Arizona was “disappointed” with Langi’s commitment, but when his recruitment opened up in December, “we were excited to get involved,” Brennan said.

The 6-5, 350-pound Uluave “brings size and aggression and road-grading ability,” said Arizona offensive line head coach Josh Oglesby.

When adding linemen in the transfer portal and the junior-college ranks, Arizona’s coaches valued total snaps played and game experience, especially on the offensive line, which returns just two starters in guard Alexander Doost and left tackle Rhino Tapa’toutai.

“As we were looking at this player versus that player, this kid has played 1,000 snaps and this guy played only 100,” Brennan said. “There’s something about his experience that we put more value in as we’re building it.”

Not only did Arizona target starters on its offensive line, the Wildcats needed depth, too, after deploying seven different starting lineups on the offensive line and playing 11 different players, “which is a lot by any stretch of the imagination,” Oglesby said.

“It wasn’t that our first line that had issues, it was the overall depth component,” said Arizona’s offensive line coach. “Hopefully we don’t have to deal with the injury situation that we had.”

The UA coaches “knew we had to create an incredible amount of competition in that space, so that competition forces that (position) to elevate,” Brennan said. “That’s what we were focused on going into this thing. ... We’re really excited about all of those kids.”

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Oglesby is “excited for the experience that we’ve added to the room, the size we’ve added to the room and the overall vibe of the room,” he said.

“It’s cool to see new the additions fit in with the guys that have already been here,” said Oglesby.

UA signs Texas state champion RB

Arizona’s two running backs in its 2025 high school recruiting class hail from the biggest markets in Texas.

The Wildcats received a verbal commitment from three-star Dallas-area running back Cornelius Warren III, who selected the Wildcats over Purdue and Memphis. Arizona signed Houston-area running back Wesley Yarbrough in December.

Warren, who also plays slot receiver, just finished his senior season at North Crowley High School in Fort Worth, Texas, where he rushed for 3,341 yards and 48 touchdowns in three seasons. Warren also had 37 receptions for 580 yards and four touchdowns.

Warren led North Crowley to an undefeated season (16-0) and a Class 6A state championship, a 50-21 win over Austin Westlake at AT&T Stadium. Warren had 23 carries for 217 yards and a touchdown in the state championship.

The 5-9, 165-pound Warren signed with UNLV in December and held offers from Baylor, Houston, Texas Tech, Miami, Ole Miss, Utah, Oregon State and Marshall, where Arizona offensive coordinator Seth Doege coached before joining Brent Brennan’s staff. Warren was released from his national letter of intent after UNLV head coach Barry Odom left for the same role at Purdue.

After losing four running backs from the 2024 season, Arizona has six scholarship running backs for ‘25: Kedrick Reescano, Texas State transfer Ismail Mahdi, Utah transfer Mike Mitchell, Portland State transfer Quincy Craig, Yarbrough and Warren. The Wildcats also have walk-on fullback and Tucson native Kayden Luke.

After transferring from Ole Miss last year, Reescano had 78 carries for 359 yards and a touchdown as a backup to Quali Conley.

In two seasons at Texas State, Mahdi had 406 rush attempts for 2,322 yards and 14 touchdowns. He also had 31 kick returns for 760 yards and a touchdown. The 5-9, 180-pound Mahdi led FBS in all-purpose yards (2,169) in 2023 and was a two-time All-Sun Belt First-Team member in the last two seasons.

As a redshirt freshman last season, the 6-foot, 216-pound Mitchell had 47 carries for 158 yards and a touchdown for Utah.

In 21 games over three years at Portland State, Craig tallied 1,233 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns, while hauling in 55 catches for 530 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. Yarbrough had 458 rushes for 2,767 yards and 32 touchdowns in three seasons at Crosby High School.

The running backs Arizona signed are “a group of guys that love football,” said Arizona running backs coach Alonzo Carter in a video on the UA football social media accounts.

“All four of those guys are winners,” Carter said of Mahdi, Mitchell, Craig and Warren. “They have a winning background, a tremendous amount of production at every level, whether it’s high school or the (college) level. ... To be able to add them, with the addition of Wesley Yarbrough who we signed in the first signing period, I’m really excited. Then you bring a guy like Kedrick Reescano that’s already in the room, we should be real good next year.”

Excluding players from the transfer portal, Arizona has nine players from Texas in its 2025 recruiting class, the most Texans in a UA recruiting class since 2005.

Extra points

• The Wildcats will have 33 midyear enrollees this spring, “which is much different than we had a year ago, because we missed the first portal window based on when we were hired.” Added Brennan: “Now those players are here and they are players we’ve chosen to be here. We can’t wait get going.”
• Brennan said Arizona hosted 59 official visits in 25 days. Brennan said, “It’s like nothing we’ve ever experienced. It was intense and it was exciting.”
• Brennan said Arizona athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois met with a majority of the players the UA signed while they were on official visits. Said Brennan: “She’s a busy person. Sometimes, she’d come to lunch and have lunch with the families and get to know everybody. Her effort was outstanding.”
• Arizona’s 2025 recruiting class ranks 61st nationally — 14th in the Big 12, according to 247Sports.com. Rivals ranks Arizona’s ’25 class 42nd in college football.