'Extremely tough' Arizona running backs learning roles in new offense

The stars unexpectedly aligned last season for Arizona running back Kedrick Reescano.

Reescano transferred to UA as a redshirt freshman following a season at Ole Miss, but the Houston-area native wasn’t sure how he’d fit into the Wildcats’ rotation, especially with veteran transfers in seniors Quali Conley and Jacory Croskey-Merritt.

Opportunity came knocking.

Croskey-Merritt, after a dazzling performance in the season opener against New Mexico, missed the remainder of the season due to concerns about his eligibility. Junior running back Rayshon “Speedy” Luke redshirted after four games, so Arizona’s four-man rotation at running back was trimmed to Conley and Reescano.

“One of the things (head coach Brent Brennan) said to me as soon as anything happened, he said, ‘You’re at the right place at the right time,’” Reescano said. “’Go out there and do what you do.’ For me, I (didn’t) put so much pressure on myself because I had Quali in the room who was able to help me transition into that leadership role. It wasn’t really a big jump.”

Reescano finished the season with 78 carries for 359 yards and a touchdown and was the second-leading rusher for the second-worst rushing attack in the Big 12. Reescano’s touchdown against Northern Arizona was the first of his collegiate career. He’s the only scholarship running back returning to Arizona in 2025. Conley and Croskey-Merritt are out of eligibility, and Luke and Brandon Johnson entered the transfer portal. Luke is now at Fresno State.

The Wildcats added five scholarship running backs in the offseason — four of them are practicing this spring: Texas State transfer Ismail Mahdi, Utah transfer Mike Mitchell, Portland State transfer Quincy Craig and Dallas-area native and freshman Cornelius Warren III. Brennan said Arizona’s running backs are “a really exciting group.”

Mahdi is in the mix to start this season after rushing for 2,322 yards and 14 touchdowns at Texas State. The 6-foot, 216-pound Mitchell, an Orange Park, Florida native, had 47 carries for 158 yards and a touchdown last season at Utah. In three seasons at PSU, Craig rushed for 1,233 yards and 10 touchdowns, while hauling in 55 catches for 530 receiving yards and eight touchdowns.

“That running back group is going to be a lot of fun to watch,” Brennan said. “There’s a good mix of youth and experience in there with some high-level players returning that we’ve inserted into that mix.”

Adjusting to Arizona’s fast-paced, no-huddle offense under offensive coordinator Seth Doege isn’t as challenging for the 6-foot, 213-pound Reescano, because he played in a similar system at Ole Miss “as far as tempo, going off signals” under head coach Lane Kiffin.

Through five practices this spring, Arizona has flashed “sidecar” formations with two running backs in the backfield. Running backs are also expected to be more involved in Arizona’s passing game, especially with swing passes and screens. Last season, Arizona had 422 receiving yards from its running backs, the lowest for the Wildcats since 2018.

Arizona’s running backs are “creating a standard” this spring, Doege said.

“That room is extremely tough,” said Arizona’s offensive coordinator. “Every single one of them bring a little bit of a different skillset to the table, so it’s going to be unique to go through this process of spring ball and the summer and figure out how we’re going to use them as a unit. Mahdi is fast, Quincy has a feel in space, Ked can do it all — a little bit more powerful — and Mike is super explosive. Then we got the young guys coming in, and we’ll see what they can do.

“It’s going to be unique to see how that continues to progress and then I have to do a great job of understanding what they do best and try to put us in position to have success each play with that specific runner in.”

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Bali Boys

In January, Reescano and Arizona safety Genesis Smith took a two-week trip to Bali, Indonesia, in southeast Asia as part of the UA’s CIELO (cultural and inclusive experiential learning opportunities) program, which focuses on community engagement, research and global experiences for students.

It was Reescano’s first time outside of the U.S. and “the trip was life-changing” for the UA running back, he said.

“You get to go to another place and you don’t have to worry about anything, because you’re outside of your element,” Reescano said. “It’s just you over there and you don’t have anything else to worry about back here. ... It was truly life-changing. You had to have been there for me to explain it.”

Reescano said Bali is “culturally advanced over us,” because “if we miss a meeting or we’re late to something, that’ll stress us out.”

“Looking at them, that stuff really doesn’t matter,” he said. “There’s bigger things in life. Just don’t beat yourself up over stuff like this, you just own it and fix it.”

Reescano and Smith visited the PKP Community Centre, a refuge for women and children escaping violence. One of the women they talked to shared a story about her father forcing her into prostitution at a young age.

“At the end of everything, she said, ‘Everything happens for a good reason,’” Reescano said. “I was like, ‘Dang, this lady is strong.’”

Added Smith: “This woman was talking about her life story and it was really touching to hear about where she came from and stuff like that.”

Smith and Reescano did “20-30 things in two weeks,” and “it was a really fun experience,” Smith said.

“It was a great time,” he said. “Definitely got to see a lot of different perspectives and how they live life out there and the different privileges we have here that not everyone else has. Coming back, it made me want to embrace what I have here and take no moment for granted and be where my feet are at all times and give back, because people in other spots aren’t able to do so.”

Extra points

— Smith, on being teammates with Kansas State transfer wide receiver Tre Spivey III, his longtime friend and ex-teammate at Hamilton High School in Chandler: “I’m happy to be with him, happy to compete with him and make each other better day in and day out. I’m just happy he’s here to make our team better.”

— Arizona is hosting its coaches clinic on Friday and Saturday. Former Wildcat Antonio Pierce will be the keynote speaker on Friday. Pierce was fired as the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders after one season. Before his stint with the Raiders, Pierce was the associate head coach and defensive coordinator at Arizona State under head coach Herm Edwards. An NCAA investigation revealed multiple recruiting violations. After Pierce’s resignation at ASU, he received an eight-year show-cause penalty by the NCAA. This week will be his first trip to Tucson on the behalf of the UA in several years. Former ASU assistant coach and NFL head coach Marvin Lewis is also expected to be a speaker. Coaches looking to attend can apply at BrentBrennanFootballCamps.com.