Bear Down Brotherhood: Arizona Wildcats 'closer than we've ever been'

Loyalty.

It’s a word that’s defined as “a faithfulness that is steadfast in the face of any temptation to renounce, desert, or betray,” according to Merriam-Webster.

First-year Arizona head coach Brent Brennan had “loyalty” 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 — notably quarterback Noah Fifita and wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan — which was played during a timeout break of a UA-UCLA men’s 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 Arizona’s former leader Jedd Fisch — whose three-year turnaround saw Arizona go from 1-11 to 5-7 to 10-3 — leaving for a higher-paying job at Washington, the core players who led the Wildcats to the Alamo Bowl eschewed the trend of today’s 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 “Block A” and generated momentum for the most anticipated UA football season in recent years, with Brennan at the helm and Arizona’s first season in the Big 12.

Arizona safety Gunner Maldonado, in a video posted on Arizona’s social media accounts, said, “what happened in January is a good example” of the Wildcats’ “Bear Down Brotherhood.”

Junior right tackle Jonah Savaiinaea said the Bear Down Brotherhood “is a sign of connection, how close we are.”

For some, like team captains in nickel back Treydan Stukes and center Josh Baker, who both have been with Arizona “for the long haul” after starting in Tucson during the dark stages of the Kevin Sumlin era, their commitment to the UA “was forged through the fire.”

Noted Brennan: “Not having success, struggling, working together and keep pushing, then have the success last year.”

Arizona’s togetherness “has a lot do with the guys who are our highest-profile players also (being) the best team guys,” 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 “have great awareness of the importance in keeping everyone together and leaning into that brotherhood,” said Arizona’s head coach.

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Arizona offensive coordinator Dino Babers was an assistant under late UA coaching legend Dick Tomey and coached on that Wildcats’ ‘98 team.

“Coming out of the gate, this might be one of the closest football teams I’ve ever seen,” Babers said.

“I’ve been with teams that have been extremely close and I can go through all of them — and I’ve got a lot to go through,” he said. “I’m not sure if this team is the closest. We’ll see, because we’ll have ups and downs and trials throughout this season and we’ll see how it goes until the end.”

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: “It’s always about the team. The team, the team, the team,” Fifita said. Tomey’s mantra was adopted from Michigan coaching icon Bo Schembechler.

“That’s how we’re built and what we take pride in,” Fifita said. “If we’re going to do what we want to do this year, it’s about us, it’s about the team and not one individual.”

With the collection of individuals that make up the Arizona football team, “the program is in a completely different spot than it was when I got here,” Stukes said. Arizona conceivably could’ve 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.

“The national attention we’re getting is in a different spot,” Stukes said. “It’s 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 we’re finally seeing the fruits of the work we’ve put in since way back when.”

After seven-plus months of hoopla, the Wildcats — and the Bear Down Brotherhood — will take the field under the lights of Arizona Stadium for the first time this season.

“It’s super exciting. We’re finally here,” Fifita said. “Through all of the things we had to go through as a team, we’re closer than we’ve ever been.

“You talk about the culture, it’s continued to grow. I’m really excited to finally play with these guys, compete at the highest level and we’re looking forward to taking this one week at a time.”