Playing QB2 'good learning experience' for Arizona Wildcats backup Brayden Dorman

At this time last year, Noah Fifita was QB2.

Fast-forward a year later, Fifita is one of the biggest names at the quarterback position in college football and one of the faces of Arizona’s football program.

Fifita stayed patient, and his preparation and determination never wavered. That laser focus earned him the starting quarterback job when starter Jayden de Laura suffered an ankle injury at the start of Pac-12 play and left Arizona’s previous coaching staff no choice but to keep Fifita on the field after two impressive performances against a pair of Top 10 teams and a blowout win at Washington State.

“The hardest part is being patient and trusting that your time is going to come,” Fifita said.

Fifita knows the backup quarterback life well. He lived it, and it paid off. Current backups Brayden Dorman, who signed with Arizona’s 2023 recruiting class as a four-star prospect from Colorado, and walk-on Cole Tannenbaum, a redshirt sophomore from Brentwood, California. The Wildcats also recently signed former San Jose State quarterback Anthony Garcia, who will join the team this summer.

The 6-5, 225-pound Dorman briefly entered the transfer portal due to “the uncertainty of the future,” after former head coach Jedd Fisch left for Washington.

“After meeting with Coach (Brent) Brennan and the rest of the staff, I wanted to give them a shot. So far throughout the spring, it’s been the right decision and I’m extremely happy with the decision that I made,” Dorman said. “Getting to know Coach Brennan, (offensive analyst Lyle Moevao) and the rest of the staff even more — and the way they push you and want to make each one of us better as a collective group, has been really good.”

Fifita said Dorman and Tannenbaum “have done a fantastic job learning and we’re all kind of in this same boat, learning this new offense.”

“They’ve helped me in ways I can’t explain,” Fifita said of Dorman and Tannenbaum.

Added Fifita: “Even when the (starters) are struggling, other groups come in and dial it up down the field, so I give a lot of credit to these two as well as Coach Lyle and (offensive coordinator Dino Babers).”

QB1 has also taken pride in spreading wisdom to his fellow quarterbacks this spring.

“It’s been a really good learning experience, especially learning from a guy like Noah,” Dorman said. “The way he puts in the work, puts in the hours and being a role model for Cole and I.”

Player-to-coach helmet communication here

The NCAA recently approved coach-to-player helmet communication in games for the upcoming season.

Also approved last week: the implementations of two-minute warnings near the end of the second and fourth quarters. The latest updates to college football have long been in the NFL and are added one year after Michigan’s sign-stealing scandal dominated headlines in the months leading up to the Wolverines winning the national title.

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Starting this season, each team can have one player on the field with a helmet that’s able to hear coaches; that helmet will be marked with a green decal on the back. The communication from the player to coach will be turned off when the ball is snapped or when there are 15 seconds left on the play clock.

Arizona has experimented with coach-to-player communication in its practices. The Wildcats have “gone through a couple growing pains so far, but we’re figuring out,” Fifita said.

“It’s a new time for everybody, coaches and players,” Fifita added. “So we’re trying to figure it out together.

“I like it because it’s kinda new. It’s cool to hear your voice in your helmet. At the end of the day, the biggest part is communication, so whether that’s signals or in the helmet, as long as everyone is on the same page, that’s what matters.”

When asked about the latest update to college football, “I keep getting asked that question and it seems to be a big topic of conversation,” UA coach Brent Brennan said.

“I got asked that twice today and it’s really not that big of a deal,” Brennan said. “Maybe because it’s practice and it’s going to feel different on game day, getting used to that.”

Added Brennan: “I think it’s good that we’re doing it, because everyone has arguments on stealing signals and all that stuff that’s been going on in college football forever, so everyone had to get creative with how we communicate on the field. I think it’s going to be great that way. I’m interested to see if it’s plain and simple the only benefit that you don’t have to signal plays anymore.”

Arizona is still mixing in signals “for when it gets choppy or we’re playing in loud environments,” Brennan said.

“There’s still signals and we’re still in the new era of the helmet communication, so we’re still trying to learn all the new aspects of that,” Fifita said.

Extra points

Arizona long snapper Kameron Hawkins announced on X (Twitter) Tuesday afternoon that he’s entering the transfer portal with two years of eligibility remaining. Hawkins, who still practiced with Arizona on Tuesday despite entering the portal, has been competing with Tucson native and Western Kentucky transfer Trey Naughton for the starting long snapping role left by Seth MacKellar. Arizona recently picked up former Ohio long snapper Justin Holloway for the 2024 season.

Arizona star wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan exited practice over the weekend with a leg injury, but walked off on his own power. At Tuesday’s practice, McMillan had a boot on his left foot, using a single-leg scooter to get around.

Said Fifita, on McMillan’s absence: “When T went down, it was cool to see everybody step up. Receivers stepped up, Montana, Malachi Riley coming up to me making sure I knew I could depend on them when things got rough. Even the O-line, you saw the O-line pick each other up. The running backs are saying, ‘We gotta come together as a team.’ Obviously when you’re practicing without probably the best player in the country, you’re going to have to pick up in other areas. Seeing all the guys come together and nobody flinches, it was reminiscent of last year.”