Loyalty.
Itβs a word thatβs defined as βa faithfulness that is steadfast in the face of any temptation to renounce, desert, or betray,β according to Merriam-Webster.
First-year Arizona head coach Brent Brennan had βloyaltyβ emblazoned in white letters on a navy blue T-shirt he wore during his final news conference before the No. 21-ranked Wildcats host New Mexico for the season opener Saturday night at Arizona Stadium.
Loyalty was also said in the video that announced the return of several Arizona stars β notably quarterback Noah Fifita and wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan β which was played during a timeout break of a UA-UCLA menβs basketball game at McKale Center back in January.
That moment, forever etched in Arizona football lore, kept life in the Arizona football program after one of the most memorable seasons in program history. The Wildcats became one of four UA teams ever to win 10 games and received their highest end-of-the-season Associated Press ranking (11) since the 12-1 Holiday Bowl squad in 1998.
Despite Arizonaβs former leader Jedd Fisch β whose three-year turnaround saw Arizona go from 1-11 to 5-7 to 10-3 β leaving for a higher-paying job at Washington, the core players who led the Wildcats to the Alamo Bowl eschewed the trend of todayβs college football landscape. Rather than jump into the transfer portal and follow Fisch to Seattle or seek potentially better-paying NIL opportunities at other schools, they stayed loyal to the βBlock Aβ and generated momentum for the most anticipated UA football season in recent years, with Brennan at the helm and Arizonaβs first season in the Big 12.
Arizona safety Gunner Maldonado, in a video posted on Arizonaβs social media accounts, said, βwhat happened in January is a good exampleβ of the Wildcatsβ βBear Down Brotherhood.β
Junior right tackle Jonah Savaiinaea said the Bear Down Brotherhood βis a sign of connection, how close we are.β
For some, like team captains in nickel back Treydan Stukes and center Josh Baker, who both have been with Arizona βfor the long haulβ after starting in Tucson during the dark stages of the Kevin Sumlin era, their commitment to the UA βwas forged through the fire.β
Noted Brennan: βNot having success, struggling, working together and keep pushing, then have the success last year.β
Arizonaβs togetherness βhas a lot do with the guys who are our highest-profile players also (being) the best team guys,β Brennan said.
When Fifita, one of six team captains for Arizona this season, and McMillan decided to stay for one more season, it trickled down to the veterans who βhave great awareness of the importance in keeping everyone together and leaning into that brotherhood,β said Arizonaβs head coach.
Arizona offensive coordinator Dino Babers was an assistant under late UA coaching legend Dick Tomey and coached on that Wildcatsβ β98 team.
βComing out of the gate, this might be one of the closest football teams Iβve ever seen,β Babers said.
βIβve been with teams that have been extremely close and I can go through all of them β and Iβve got a lot to go through,β he said. βIβm not sure if this team is the closest. Weβll see, because weβll have ups and downs and trials throughout this season and weβll see how it goes until the end.β
The camaraderie for this rendition of Arizona football is akin to the Tomey era, the winningest stretch in program history. The Wildcats have practiced what Tomey preached: βItβs always about the team. The team, the team, the team,β Fifita said. Tomeyβs mantra was adopted from Michigan coaching icon Bo Schembechler.
βThatβs how weβre built and what we take pride in,β Fifita said. βIf weβre going to do what we want to do this year, itβs about us, itβs about the team and not one individual.β
With the collection of individuals that make up the Arizona football team, βthe program is in a completely different spot than it was when I got here,β Stukes said. Arizona conceivably couldβve been gutted and entered full rebuild mode amid a seven-game winning streak. Instead, the Wildcats have their highest preseason AP ranking since 1999 and is considered a team that could find its way to a Big 12 Championship and possibly even a ticket to the 12-team College Football Playoff.
βThe national attention weβre getting is in a different spot,β Stukes said. βItβs all a testament to the guys in the room that just the process of any new stuff that got in here, believing in one another, loving each other and weβre finally seeing the fruits of the work weβve put in since way back when.β
After seven-plus months of hoopla, the Wildcats β and the Bear Down Brotherhood β will take the field under the lights of Arizona Stadium for the first time this season.
βItβs super exciting. Weβre finally here,β Fifita said. βThrough all of the things we had to go through as a team, weβre closer than weβve ever been.
βYou talk about the culture, itβs continued to grow. Iβm really excited to finally play with these guys, compete at the highest level and weβre looking forward to taking this one week at a time.β