Arizona Wildcats Football Suffering Brutal Exodus in Transfer Portal
The Arizona Wildcats came into the 2024 college football season with a bright outlook for the future. They were ranked in the top 25 and looked like a potential sleeper contender.
Unfortunately, right off the bat, it was clear Arizona was not the team they were hyped up to be.
The Wildcats managed to scrape together a rough 4-8 record after this past campaign was brutal from an all-around standpoint.
Nothing went right and the awful year has now completely changed the team's outlook.
Already this offseason, Arizona is reeling in the NCAA transfer portal.
So far, they have already lost 30 players to the transfer portal. This is an unprecedented exodus from a football program and it's a situation that will be hard to recover from for Brent Brennan and the Wildcats.
Here is the long list of players who have opted to enter the transfer portal this offseason:
CB Treyden Stukes, EDGE Cyrus Durham, S Dalton Johnson, EDGE Nolan Clement, CB Tacario Davis, S Gunner Maldonado, DL Nick Fernandez, EDGE Taitai Uiagalelei, OT Elijah Payne, CB Emmanuel Karnley, LB Kamuela Kaaihue, EDGE Tristan Davis, IOL Jonah Rodriguez, TE Keyan Burnett, WR Malachi Riley, WR Jackson Holman, CB Demetrius Freeney, LB Jacob Manu, WR Raymello Murphy, CB Jai-Ayviauynn Celestine, QB Anthony Garcia, RB Brandon Johnson, IOL Wendell Moe Jr., IOL JT Hand, RB Rayshon Luke, WR AJ Jones, DL Bryce Echols, TE Dorian Thomas, QB Brayden Dorman, S Genesis Smith.
Needless to say, that is a long list of players and it's going to be difficult to replace them all.
On the outside looking in, this could be the start of a major rebuild for Brennan and Arizona since it likely will take a couple of years to restock the amount of talent that is leaving the program.
However, the Wildcats will also have an opportunity to attack back and try to bring players in through the portal themselves.
Arizona will need to get aggressive in order to be competitive for the 2025 season.
This is part of the new college football setup with the transfer portal. Teams can go from contenders to rebuilding in the space of one year. The Wildcats seem likely to learn that the hard way.
Hopefully, the program can stick together and stay competitive and aggressive.
It's demoralizing to see this many players leave, but it's also an opportunity for a fresh start.
