Backup plan: Braedyn Locke brings reliability at quarterback behind Noah Fifita

When Seth Doege arrived at Arizona to become the Wildcats’ offensive coordinator, one of the first topics of conversation with head coach Brent Brennan was not about quarterback Noah Fifita, it was about the players behind QB1.

Arizona’s offensive play-caller said Fifita, entering his third season as the Wildcats’ starter, is “a really special quarterback as the starter.”

“But what happens if your starter isn’t available?” Doege asked. “Is your season over? To me, developing and putting more importance into the backup quarterback role was huge for me.”

The Wildcats signed Gilbert product Luke Haugo and Dallas-area standout Sawyer Anderson for their 2025 recruiting class and returned walk-on Mason Bray, the son of the late UA captain Heath Bray.

While the aforementioned quarterbacks had stellar high school careers — especially Anderson, who set the Dallas-Fort Worth record for most career passing yards (14,674) at Parish Episcopal High School — none have taken a snap at the collegiate level.

When Doege explored the transfer portal in the offseason to build up Arizona’s quarterback room, he needed a bona fide backup that could understudy Fifita, help mentor the younger quarterbacks and remain ready in case Fifita is unable to play.

Wisconsin transfer and redshirt junior Braedyn Locke checked all the boxes.

“If anything were to happen and he had to go in the game, I feel very confident that we can still score points,” Doege said of Locke.

Locke had an illustrious career at Rockwall High School in Rockwall, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, and passed for 11,182 yards, 128 touchdowns and 28 interceptions in three seasons.

Learning from The Pirate

Locke signed with Mississippi State in 2022 to play for the late head coach Mike Leach, a pioneer of the Air Raid offense, who also coached Doege in the early stages of his career at Texas Tech. In the one season Locke played for the Bulldogs, MSU beat Arizona in Tucson.

Locke said Leach, known as “The Pirate,” “is one of a kind.”

“He’s unapologetically himself every single day,” Locke said. “I enjoyed every day with him. He was fun to be around, for sure.”

Personality-wise, the Texas-raised Doege and quirky Leach are dissimilar; however, “one thing that I love about Doege and Leach is that they keep it very simple,” Locke said. More importantly, “they’re obsessed with winning,” added Locke.

“Leach was never obsessed with how many passing yards we’re going to throw for — which from the stats, it might not be believable,” said Locke. “He was never obsessed with stats, he just wanted to win; Doege is very similar to that. I laugh sometimes and tell Doege sometimes, ‘You’re having a Leach moment,’ when he starts ripping our guys. They’re similar in some ways. I don’t know if you can emulate Mike Leach, but from a philosophical standpoint, there are a lot of similarities.”

Locke transferred to Wisconsin in 2023 and completed 240 of 448 passes for 2,713 yards, 18 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in two seasons. Locke had a 359-yard, two-touchdown performance in Wisconsin’s 52-6 win over Purdue.

A fresh start

So, why would Locke transfer to Arizona to become Fifita’s backup, when he could start at several other schools?

“In the portal, a lot of it is about timing. Arizona was a place that just came in at the right time for me,” said Locke, who was recruited by Doege out of high school, when Arizona’s offensive coordinator was an assistant at USC. “You’re confident in yourself, you’re confident in this team and you believe this team can be something special and do special things, and I just wanted to be a part of it.”

At Doege’s previous stop at Marshall, the Thundering Herd’s starting quarterback was Braylon Braxton, a dual-threat weapon who became the Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year after starting the year as a backup. Braxton led Marshall to a Sun Belt championship and a 10-3 record.

“We won a conference championship in that league because, technically, our quarterback was really, really talented,” Doege said. “I’ll never go into a season feeling like my backup is just OK. ... I’m always going to feel like I need to go into a season with a guy who can win games, and if he were to play, you won’t have to change up everything you’re doing and the team feels strong that you can still score points and win games.”

As Fifita’s backup, “the most important part of (Locke’s) role is being a great teammate, and he’s a great teammate,” Doege said. Anderson “is attached to this dude’s hip 24-7” and has learned from the fellow Dallas-area native.

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“Sawyer’s progress has been through the roof, too, because he’s been around Locke and Locke has taken him under his wing and is teaching him everything he needs to know,” Doege said. “I’m excited about him.”

‘Confident ego’

Even though Locke is a supportive teammate and backup, he has — what Doege called — a “confident ego.”

“That confident ego makes them who they are,” Doege said. “I’ve never been around a quarterback and was like, ‘Man this guy is the most humble person ever.’ Silently, they have an ego. Locke has an ego. Locke believes in himself and he knows he can play this position. To play the role he’s playing in to the be the (backup) and to be ready at any given moment, you have to be a great teammate. He’s been a great teammate. He’s mature and he can process extremely well.”

Wait, ego? Fifita? He’s a well-documented example of humble leadership.

“If you were to ask, ‘Which quarterback is better than Noah?’ and you asked him that question with just you and him, his answer is himself,” Doege said. “That’s the ego part. He believes in himself so much that he thinks in his mind — which I agree — that he’s the best quarterback in the league.”

In the seven-plus months of working together, Doege said Fifita “is a great teammate, he’s humble to the media, to his teammates, to his coaches and to anybody in the community.”

“But when he straps that helmet on, he believes that he’s the best in the world, and that’s what I love about him,” Doege said.

Fifita said his “ego is just winning.”

“That’s all I care about,” said the Arizona quarterback. “I care about the team’s success and the team winning. Stats, in my opinion, don’t matter. Winning is all that matters. Whatever I can do to contribute to that is all that matters to me.”

Ever since Locke transferred to Arizona in December, “there’s been a mutual respect for each other,” Locke said.

“I have so much respect for his body of work and what he’s done for this university,” Locke said of Fifita. “I’m blessed to be around him every day. I’m thankful to be here and be a part of this deal.”

The camaraderie between starter and backup “goes well when you have two professionals,” Fifita said.

“We both want to win and we both believe in ourselves that we can win,” he added. “At the end of the day, I feel confident in saying the whole team trusts whoever is behind center. ... There’s a reason he has a lot of experience under his belt, the way he throws the ball. One of the smartest guys I’ve been around. I’ve learned a lot about scheme and I’ve learned a lot of about defense, just picking his brain.

“It’s been great to have somebody you trust on the sideline when you’re in, so when you come off (the field), you can talk about things he saw from a different point of view. From that aspect, it’s been great.”

If there’s anyone who knows the backup quarterback lifestyle, it’s Fifita, who was Jayden de Laura’s backup for a season-plus in 2022 and ‘23 until de Laura suffered an ankle injury in Arizona’s Pac-12 road opener at Stanford in 2023. Since then, Fifita has controlled the reins of the offense.

The 6-foot, 214-pound Locke and Fifita are “different players in some aspects,” but regardless of who’s under center, whether it’s Arizona’s third-year starter or a transfer backup, the mission remains the same.

“The goal is to put the ball in the right players’ hands, score points, gain yards and create positive plays,” Locke said. “It doesn’t matter who’s in the game, that’s always the goal and the standard.”

Extra points

– Doege, on Fifita learning a third offense in as many years: “It’s like he’s been through it for years now. We spend a lot of time together. It’s encouraging for me. I knew this and expected this, but when you see it, it gives you confidence and you can see that our hard work is paying off because he’s playing at a high level.”

– Fifita said Arizona’s quarterbacks are “big golfers” and bond over playing golf together. Fifita said the quarterbacks play golf at La Paloma Country Club and other courses in Tucson. Fifita didn’t disclose who’s the best golfer among the UA quarterbacks. Said Fifita: “We play scrambles. We’re not good enough to play our own ball.”

– In Arizona’s second training camp session on Thursday, Fifita completed a 60-yard touchdown to wide receiver Chris Hunter on the first play of a team period. Fifita and Hunter also connected on a 40-yard touchdown to begin a team period on Wednesday.