Although Robert McDaniel was committed to nearby Cal for two months, the quarterback’s relationship with Arizona Wildcats head coach Brent Brennan and his staff, which goes back to when Brennan was at San Jose State, was too good to pass up.
McDaniel, who committed to the Wildcats on Sunday, said, “When Coach Brennan and his staff was at San Jose State, I built a really, really good relationship with them and they became really close to me. That relationship was built over time.”
Arizona offensive coordinator Dino Babers “pushed it over the edge” for McDaniel.
“He’s a great coach. I learned a lot from him during the few times I was there, on the whiteboard,” McDaniel said. “His fire matches the same exact fire that I have.”
In three seasons at Hughson High School in Northern California, the 6-1, 195-pound McDaniel has thrown for 4,971 yards, 62 touchdowns and 12 interceptions with a 59.7 completion percentage in 31 games. He’s rated by 247Sports.com as the 34th-best quarterback in the 2025 recruiting cycle; Rivals.com gave McDaniels a 5.5 rating.
McDaniel is the second commit of Arizona’s 2025 recruiting class, along with three-star Danville, California, tight end Kellan Ford.
In 2025, McDaniel will join a quarterback room potentially led by two-year starter Noah Fifita, albeit the star will be draft-eligible following the 2024 season. The Wildcats also have former four-star quarterback and Colorado native Brayden Dorman in the wings, along with San Jose State transfer Anthony Garcia and walk-on Cole Tannenbaum.
McDaniel joined ESPN Tucson’s “Spears and Ali” on Tuesday to discuss his commitment to Arizona, growing up in Hughson, his quarterback background and life as a goat farmer. Here’s most of the interview:
What was the experience like during your official visit to the UA?
A: “It was a big eye-opener, just receiving that kind of coaching and being able to show what you know, and being corrected and being coachable is a big deal. Being able to show what you know, what they can do to help you is the best part about it.”
How would you describe yourself as a quarterback?
A: “I like to have an uptempo offense with our offense at our high school. We have an uptempo deal where we run no-huddle and catch the defense off pace and make sure they’re tired and we’re not tired, we just keep going. That’s the type of offense I like to run.”
What are your impressions of Arizona head coach Brent Brennan?
A: “He’s a great coach. He’s a player’s coach. You hear that term quite a bit. But when I was there, there’s all these players and he basically has his door open for any of the players to walk in and just have a conversation with the coach. Normally you don’t really see that a whole lot. Coach Brennan is a player’s coach and you can really see what he’s trying to do at the U of A.”
What’s Brennan’s message to high school recruits regarding UA football beyond this upcoming season?
A: “He’s told me that Arizona is a great place to be and it’s only going up from here. Based off last year’s team, their goal is to piggyback off that and keep everything moving.”
How would you describe the city of Hughson?
A: “Really small town, about 7,000 people. A lot of people show up for the football games on Friday nights, it gets really packed and it’s great for the town. It gets loud and gets crazy on those game days, and it’s really huge for the town.”
What’s something you’re trying to work on before coming to Arizona?
A: “Going in as a senior, going into that leadership role because we lost quite a bit of seniors from last year and we’re going to need that motivation to come back stronger as a senior group. We have three guys who are going to be four-year starters and we’re going to need to step it up. ... As a team, we need to consistently focus on moving down the field early in the game. We’re known as the come-back team, but if we can start out quick, I don’t think a lot of teams can hang with us.”
When did you realize playing quarterback was what you wanted to pursue?
A: “I started playing quarterback when I was in eighth grade and I didn’t think I would be in this position. A year ago, I didn’t do any of this stuff, like going to camps. But I played baseball, and it all started in eighth grade. Our quarterback got hurt and I had a baseball background, then everybody got on the line and I started throwing the football and just stuck with it. I got an opportunity to play varsity freshman year, and the rest is history.”
Who’s a quarterback you emulate your game after?
A: “I love Aaron Rodgers, he’s my favorite. It was a bummer to not watch him play last year, but I’m excited to watch him play this year. He can command a team and he’s a winner.”
What do you like to do away from football?
A: “I recently picked up golf. I’m trying to get that down. That and football.”
So you golf, but are there any other hobbies you enjoy outside of football?
A: “Crazy fact: I have a bunch of goats at my house. I live on a farm, so we have a lot of chores to do and a lot of time with goats. There’s not a whole lot of time outside of football where I’m not working with goats. We have a lot of animals at my house.”
How many goats are we talking about?
A: “About 150. ... I feed them twice a day and sometimes we have to give them some treatment stuff, like stuff for bugs and just maintaining them.”
Why do you have so many goats?
A: “We sell them for shows, like county fairs and ‘jackpots,’ which is travel showing, where you take an animal and show it around the country or wherever you’re at. That’s what we sell them for.”
