At this time last year, Noah Fifita was QB2.
Fast-forward a year later, Fifita is one of the biggest names at the quarterback position in college football and one of the faces of Arizonaβs football program.
Fifita stayed patient, and his preparation and determination never wavered. That laser focus earned him the starting quarterback job when starter Jayden de Laura suffered an ankle injury at the start of Pac-12 play and left Arizonaβs previous coaching staff no choice but to keep Fifita on the field after two impressive performances against a pair of Top 10 teams and a blowout win at Washington State.
βThe hardest part is being patient and trusting that your time is going to come,β Fifita said.
Fifita knows the backup quarterback life well. He lived it, and it paid off. Current backups Brayden Dorman, who signed with Arizonaβs 2023 recruiting class as a four-star prospect from Colorado, and walk-on Cole Tannenbaum, a redshirt sophomore from Brentwood, California. The Wildcats also recently signed former San Jose State quarterback Anthony Garcia, who will join the team this summer.
The 6-5, 225-pound Dorman briefly entered the transfer portal due to βthe uncertainty of the future,β after former head coach Jedd Fisch left for Washington.
βAfter meeting with Coach (Brent) Brennan and the rest of the staff, I wanted to give them a shot. So far throughout the spring, itβs been the right decision and Iβm extremely happy with the decision that I made,β Dorman said. βGetting to know Coach Brennan, (offensive analyst Lyle Moevao) and the rest of the staff even more β and the way they push you and want to make each one of us better as a collective group, has been really good.β
Fifita said Dorman and Tannenbaum βhave done a fantastic job learning and weβre all kind of in this same boat, learning this new offense.β
βTheyβve helped me in ways I canβt explain,β Fifita said of Dorman and Tannenbaum.
Added Fifita: βEven when the (starters) are struggling, other groups come in and dial it up down the field, so I give a lot of credit to these two as well as Coach Lyle and (offensive coordinator Dino Babers).β
QB1 has also taken pride in spreading wisdom to his fellow quarterbacks this spring.
βItβs been a really good learning experience, especially learning from a guy like Noah,β Dorman said. βThe way he puts in the work, puts in the hours and being a role model for Cole and I.β
Player-to-coach helmet communication here
The NCAA recently approved coach-to-player helmet communication in games for the upcoming season.
Also approved last week: the implementations of two-minute warnings near the end of the second and fourth quarters. The latest updates to college football have long been in the NFL and are added one year after Michiganβs sign-stealing scandal dominated headlines in the months leading up to the Wolverines winning the national title.
Starting this season, each team can have one player on the field with a helmet thatβs able to hear coaches; that helmet will be marked with a green decal on the back. The communication from the player to coach will be turned off when the ball is snapped or when there are 15 seconds left on the play clock.
Arizona has experimented with coach-to-player communication in its practices. The Wildcats have βgone through a couple growing pains so far, but weβre figuring out,β Fifita said.
βItβs a new time for everybody, coaches and players,β Fifita added. βSo weβre trying to figure it out together.
βI like it because itβs kinda new. Itβs cool to hear your voice in your helmet. At the end of the day, the biggest part is communication, so whether thatβs signals or in the helmet, as long as everyone is on the same page, thatβs what matters.β
When asked about the latest update to college football, βI keep getting asked that question and it seems to be a big topic of conversation,β UA coach Brent Brennan said.
βI got asked that twice today and itβs really not that big of a deal,β Brennan said. βMaybe because itβs practice and itβs going to feel different on game day, getting used to that.β
Added Brennan: βI think itβs good that weβre doing it, because everyone has arguments on stealing signals and all that stuff thatβs been going on in college football forever, so everyone had to get creative with how we communicate on the field. I think itβs going to be great that way. Iβm interested to see if itβs plain and simple the only benefit that you donβt have to signal plays anymore.β
Arizona is still mixing in signals βfor when it gets choppy or weβre playing in loud environments,β Brennan said.
βThereβs still signals and weβre still in the new era of the helmet communication, so weβre still trying to learn all the new aspects of that,β Fifita said.
Extra points
Arizona long snapper Kameron Hawkins announced on X (Twitter) Tuesday afternoon that heβs entering the transfer portal with two years of eligibility remaining. Hawkins, who still practiced with Arizona on Tuesday despite entering the portal, has been competing with Tucson native and Western Kentucky transfer Trey Naughton for the starting long snapping role left by Seth MacKellar. Arizona recently picked up former Ohio long snapper Justin Holloway for the 2024 season.
Arizona star wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan exited practice over the weekend with a leg injury, but walked off on his own power. At Tuesdayβs practice, McMillan had a boot on his left foot, using a single-leg scooter to get around.
Said Fifita, on McMillanβs absence: βWhen T went down, it was cool to see everybody step up. Receivers stepped up, Montana, Malachi Riley coming up to me making sure I knew I could depend on them when things got rough. Even the O-line, you saw the O-line pick each other up. The running backs are saying, βWe gotta come together as a team.β Obviously when youβre practicing without probably the best player in the country, youβre going to have to pick up in other areas. Seeing all the guys come together and nobody flinches, it was reminiscent of last year.β