Arizona, new head football coach Brent Brennan ink 5-year, $17.5 million contract

New Arizona football head coach Brent Brennan's contract will pay him $17.5 million total over five years, pending approval from the Arizona Board of Regents. 

Brennan's contract terms were revealed Wednesday, minutes before the head coach's introductory press conference at Arizona Stadium.

Brennan will have a $2.2 million base salary in his first season in 2024, which will escalate to $2.4 million in 2025, $2.6 million in 2026, $2.8 million in 2027 and $3 million in 2028.

Brennan will earn an additional $500,000 annually for "peripheral compensation" for his participation in fundraising events and activities, speaking engagements, community events and football promotional activities. Brennan will also receive $200,000 from UA broadcast and marketing partner Learfield and $200,000 from Nike. Brennan "will have exclusive right to operate independent camps on the campus of the University of Arizona," per his contract. 

Among the Big 12's public universities, Brennan will be the lowest-paid coach in the conference in 2024. Brennan's compensation is just below that of UCF's Gus Malzahn, who will earn a $2.3 million in base salary. Salary information isn’t available for BYU and TCU, which are private schools. 

At the time of his departure earlier this week, Brennan's predecessor, Jedd Fisch, was in the second year of a five-year extension set to expire after the 2027 season. Fisch's contract was worth $18.3 million, including money from both the UA and auxiliary commitments tied to Learfield and Nike. Before Fisch accepted the same position at Washington, the Star learned the UA offered him a contract extension worth $5.1 million annually for five years, pending approval from ABOR.

But the regents' desire to proceed quickly, a source told the Star, was hindered by the UA's ongoing financial situation. In addition to a $240 million miscalculation of projected cash on hand for the university as a whole, UA President Robert Robbins told the Star after an ABOR meeting in November that the UA athletic department had yet to repay a $55 million internal loan provided by central administration during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In recent decades, the UA has regularly announced a new coach being hired or a contract extension prior to it being officially approved at a regents meeting; that's what it was able to do with Brennan's hiring this week. However, the Star learned there was concern about the optics of Fisch's restructured deal, leading to an overall air of caution — even though most of that money was to come from private donations.

When asked the difference in getting Brennan's contract approved by ABOR as compared to Fisch's extension, UA athletic director Dave Heeke said: "We needed to fill the vacancy. ... The board has been supportive of that, and we've done that." 

Added Heeke: "Hey, I'm a front-windshield guy, OK? I'm not going to spend a lot of time looking through the rearview mirror and trying to analyze the roadkill." 

Before the revised contract, Fisch was set to earn $3.4 million in 2024, $3.6 million in ’25 (along with a one-time $400,000 retention bonus), $3.65 million in ’26 and $4 million in his final season in ’27.

The UA will receive a $5.5 million buyout connected to Fisch's departure. Arizona will pay $1 million for Brennan's buyout at San Jose State.

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The salary pool for Brennan's assistant coaches will be $4.25 million per year. 

"Brent and I are committed to put together the right packages for the right assistants that come in here, that are going to make our program better," Heeke said. "So there's never been a limitation. There's really never been that limitation in the past. So we’re fully invested in getting the right people and doing that in a really financially effective and efficient way. And we'll continue to do that."

Heeke reiterated after Brennan's introduction something he wrote in his "Wildcat Wednesday" newsletter last week: That the UA will continue to spend on its "marquee programs" that are high-revenue generators — football and men's basketball. 

Brennan will receive a $250,000 retention bonus if still in his position on Jan. 30, 2026.

His incentive payments include $100,000 for appearing in the 12-team College Football Playoff, $125,000 for the second round of the CFP, $150,000 for the third round and $175,000 for playing in the national championship — $400,000 for winning the title. 

Brennan will receive $40,000 if Arizona finishes as a Top 3 team in the Big 12 standings, and $75,000 for playing in the conference title game in Dallas, along with $150,000 if the Wildcats win the Big 12 championship. Arizona joins the Big 12 this summer, departing the Pac-12 after a 45-plus-year run in the nation's westernmost "power" conference.

A postseason appearance of any kind will earn Brennan $50,000. 

If the Wildcats finish a season ranked in the Top 10 of the Associated Press Top 25 Poll or the College Football Playoff rankings, Brennan will earn $40,000. Brennan will land $10,000 if Arizona wins eight games in a season, which will increase by $5,000 for every win after the eight-win threshold.

If Arizona has a cumulative grade-point average (CGPA) greater than or equal to 2.8, Brennan will be paid $25,000; he will earn an additional $5,000 for every tenth of the decimal the Wildcats' CPGA increases up until $55,000 at 3.3.

Brennan's buyout begins at $10 million this year. It drops to $7.5 million in 2025, $4.5 million in 2026, $2 million in 2027 and $500,000 in 2028.