Arizona assistant coaches feel 'culture change' under Brent Brennan

Arizona defensive backs assistant coaches Dakari Monroe and Jamie Feldermann’s coaching journeys aligned for the 2025 season, but their paths to Tucson are different.

One played football at every level, while the other dove into the coaching realm straight out of high school.

Monroe played cornerback for the hometown San Jose State Spartans from 2015-18. His last two seasons at San Jose State, Monroe played under Arizona head coach Brent Brennan.

Monroe described his career at San Jose State as “up and down” because he had a different position coach every year he was there, “so I had some adjusting to do, but I still had a lot of fun and learned a lot about myself and the game of football,” he said.

The different minds and coaching perspectives turned out to be a positive for Monroe, who had 105 career tackles and seven interceptions for the Spartans and became a first-team All-Mountain West selection. He also had the ninth-most pass breakups (15) in college football as a senior.

“Every year, if you’re dealing with a different coach, you learn new techniques, new ways to look at the game, new coverage schemes, so I definitely learned a lot,” Monroe said.

The Spartans went 3-22 in Brennan’s first two seasons with Monroe as one of their starting cornerbacks. Despite the struggles in the first few seasons, Monroe remembered Brennan “changing the culture very quickly” at San Jose State, which resulted in three seven-win seasons. Considering the lack of resources at San Jose State, multiple seven-win seasons isn’t anything to scoff at.

“He created a family atmosphere for the team,” Monroe said of Brennan. “It was obviously a new style from what we were used to with the previous coach, so there was an adjustment period. The biggest thing I remember is the culture change.”

Now a defensive backs assistant coach at Arizona under Brennan, Monroe sees a similar impact in Tucson.

“It’s not that the culture wasn’t healthy when he got here, but he’s really good at bringing people together and have players play hard for him,” Monroe said. “When you love the guy next to you and you’re willing to do whatever it takes to win and you really care for that guy, it makes it very easy to play.”

After his last season playing for Brennan in 2018, Monroe signed with the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent and participated in fall training camp in 2019, the season they won their first Super Bowl with star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce and head coach Andy Reid.

Monroe was also teammates with longtime NFL defensive back and former LSU star Tyran Mathieu. Playing for the Chiefs “was definitely a fun experience,” Monroe. The most eye-opening part “was how big of celebrities those stars were on the team,” Monroe said.

“When you’re in the locker room, they’re just regular guys, but then you go out and everyone is asking them for autographs and yelling their names, so that was a little bit of shock,” he said.

When he realized that his NFL career was going to be short-lived, “I always knew I wanted to be around the game a little bit more, so that led me to coaching,” said Monroe, whose goal is to become a defensive coordinator at the FBS level.

For now, he’s the right-hand man of cornerbacks coach Chip Viney, who “takes a personal interest in my growth and career,” Monroe said.

“There’s not a day that goes by that me and Chip aren’t in some form of communication, so he’s been awesome for me,” he added.

Feldermann, a Brentwood, California native, started his coaching career after three knee injuries in high school. Feldermann enrolled at the UA and joined the team as a recruiting intern “with the intent to start coaching” under Ryan Partridge, Arizona’s former coordinator of high school recruiting, and former head coach Jedd Fisch.

Feldermann was one of Arizona’s recruiting interns for the Wildcats’ stacked 2022 recruiting class headlined by wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan and quarterback Noah Fifita.

Feldermann pursue coaching because “I love the game of football, the competitiveness about it and the problem-solving nature of things,” he said.

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“There’s always some kind of puzzle you’re trying to solve,” Feldermann said.

After Feldermann graduated last year, he was retained as a defensive assistant coach and is working with Arizona’s safeties alongside safeties coach Brett Arce. Feldermann is “very grateful (Brennan) kept me on as a coach,” said the UA assistant.

Arce also coached under Fisch and Brennan for the last four seasons, and has become “one of the biggest mentors of my coaching career,” Feldermann said.

“He has taught me a majority of what I know and it’s just a blast working for him every day,” said Feldermann.

Feldermann also absorbed a plethora of information and coaching tips from the 68-year-old Duane Akina, who is one of the most renowned defensive backs coaches of all time. Akina, who coached three Jim Thorpe Award winners, was Arizona’s defensive coordinator last season and helped develop the Wildcats’ defensive backs.

“It was surreal being able to work for him and learn from one of the greats at what he does,” Feldermann said of Akina. “His passion every day was unrivaled and I just learned a lot from how he sees the game.”

Feldermann, who wants to be a head coach at the FBS level, said “it’s been incredible to watch and learn” from the Fisch and Brennan staffs over the years.

Added Feldermann: “I’ve seen two head coaches, two different staffs and different philosophies in the way they build things.”

Practice 13 notes and takeaways

It was Friday the 13th at Davis Sports Center and Dick Tomey Practice Fields for the Arizona Wildcats’ latest training camp practice, even though it was technically Aug. 15.

Here are notes and takeaways from Arizona’s cloudy and overcast 13th training camp practice on Friday, as the Wildcats hit the two-week mark from their season-opening bout with Hawaii:

– After Arizona’s defense recorded five interceptions between 7-on-7 and team periods on Wednesday, the offense had a productive day on Friday, especially its freshman wide receivers in Gio Richardson and Isaiah Mizell. Richardson hauled in a 26-yard over-the-shoulder touchdown from quarterback Braedyn Locke near the front-right pylon.

– Richardson and Mizell also had multiple first-down catches in a 7-on-7 period. On a slant route, Mizell caught a pass from Locke and bursted for a long touchdown. Richardson is trending towards becoming a mainstay in Arizona’s receiver rotation. Mizell has Power 4 speed, but his 164-pound frame could benefit from a redshirt season and a full year in Arizona’s strength program.

– Washington State transfer receiver Kris Hutson picked up back-to-back first downs in a 7-on-7 period.

– Defensive end Tre Smith tackled running back back Ismail Mahdi in the backfield. Smith went up against Michigan transfer right tackle Tristan Bounds for the TFL.

– Sophomore kicker Michael Salgado-Medina made a 48-yard field goal. Walk-on freshman Tyler Prasuhn missed his 48-yard attempt. Neither Salgado-Medina or Prasuhn have created separation in Arizona’s kicking competition.

– Nickel back Treydan Stukes took his first reps in a team period on Friday. Stukes started alongside cornerbacks Michael Dansby and Jay’Vion Cole, free safety Genesis Smith and strong safety Dalton Johnson. Stukes had previously only taken reps in individual and 7-on-7 periods. Stukes kept up with wide receiver Javin “Nunu” Whatley in coverage on a deep pass.

Photos: Arizona fall football training camp, practice 13

Photos: University of Arizona football training camp rolls into Week 3