To avoid injuries and poaching of players, Arizona modifies spring football game

The days of college football teams splitting up the roster for a traditional spring game are in the past.

Around 20 Power 4 football programs have shuttered their spring games. Some programs are hosting a spring game, but not broadcasting the event on the conference network channel.

The Arizona Wildcats modified its spring game into the Red-Blue Spring Showcase, a free, interactive practice for fans on Saturday night at Arizona Stadium. Arizona is “going to do some live stuff” and have an 11-on-11 segment to put a bow on its five-week practice schedule this spring.

Arizona will use 75 yards of the field at Arizona Stadium for practice and an Easter egg hunt (with 3,000 plastic eggs) that begins at 5:45 p.m. preceding the showcase at 6. Between the 25-yard line and the Lowell-Stevens Football Facility, fans can check out a beer garden and enjoy live music. There’s also a “Kid Zone” with inflatables, face-painting and balloons. After the showcase, fans can watch the movie “Cars” on the video board at Arizona Stadium.

“That (on-field) part of it is something that hasn’t been done here before,” said Arizona head coach Brent Brennan. “We’ve been a part of it before (at San Jose State). It’s a really fun thing for the fans, because they’re on the field and they’re standing right there next to the team and are up close and personal. It changes a little bit of the way you play.”

Brennan said there are two reasons the Wildcats and many other college football programs are modifying their spring games. Brennan said “the biggest reason is (NIL) collectives (from other schools) and agents are watching spring games” for standout to players to potentially approach on social media and sway them to another program, whether it’s for playing time or financial benefits, “based on what they saw in the spring game on television.”

With the transfer portal officially open for the spring window, which closes for new entries on Friday, April 25, “it has created this shady niche and all of a sudden rosters are getting destroyed because someone played really well in the spring game and someone saw it on social media and television,” Brennan said on ESPN Tucson’s “Spears & Ali” this week.

Now that collegiate athletics is four years into the NIL era, in addition to revenue sharing expected to be introduced following the House vs. NCAA settlement, dealing with agents now “runs the gamut” in college football, Brennan said.

“Some of the agents we’re talking to are incredibly high-level and incredibly reputable people, very experienced people in that line of work,” Brennan said. “Then some people are newbies and, in some cases, are taking advantage of the young men they represent. It’s all new and accelerating very quickly on both our players, our coaches and just college football in general.

“There’s a whole bunch of people that are trying to enter the marketplace and are trying to make a quick buck off the young men that play the game. That can be the ugly part of it. ... As we work through it, the guys that want to be a part of this thing and want to build this thing, that’s who we’re going to move forward with.”

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The second component to the modified spring football game is preserving the players’ health.

“It’s such a fine line,” Brennan said. “How much do we tackle and play live? How much do we protect our team?”

Brennan is empathetic for the fans who want to see a 60-minute game in the spring and a traditional scrimmage.

“The hard part is, I get it,” Brennan said. “Our fans want to see Noah Fifita throw touchdowns in Arizona Stadium. But my thing is, I want to see him throw touchdowns at Arizona Stadium in September, October and November. April isn’t a big thing because of the injury risk. We try to be really smart about that. We’re smart about the sports science and taking care of our bodies and all of these things with our strength and conditioning staff and training staff.

“The spring game has definitely changed because of the poaching of players through back channels and shady dealings, and then also the investment in the players.”

Instead of shutting down its spring game entirely, Arizona turned its annual event into a night for UA fans to mingle with players and the coaches.

“We’re going to have lots of ways for us to get a chance to get fans to meet our players and our staff and get a feel for who we are and what we’re all about,” Brennan said. “It’s really important that we do a great job of engaging with those folks.”

Arizona linebacker Taye Brown said he’s “excited to get out there with the fans and see everybody come out and see the fun things we have going on.”

The Wildcats are also expected to have around 125 alumni and former players in attendance on Saturday. Over 70 recruits are scheduled to be on visits for the Red-Blue Spring Showcase.

“I’m excited for Saturday,” Brennan said. “I think it’s going to be a great day for our fanbase. I think that part of it is going to be fun because there’s going to be so much going on. ... How much stuff can we cram into one day that can give our fans and students a chance to be around our team and see our team play and get excited for Arizona football?”