New Arizona Head Coach Shockingly Listed as Someone Facing 'Significant Pressure'
The time for preseason pontification is almost over as Arizona is now less than one week away from taking the field for their Week 1 matchup against New Mexico on Saturday.
For the Wildcats fans who are just starting to check in before the year begins, they are entering their first campaign in the Big 12 Conference led by head coach Brent Brennan after Jedd Fisch departed for Washington.
Normally there aren't a lot of expectations for teams entering their first season with a new coach in charge, but because Arizona was able to retain a ton of talent that includes top players in the country at their respective positions, some people are viewing them as contenders to win the conference title.
Information coming out of camp has been painting a good picture.
Star quarterback Noah Fifita seems to be grasping the new offense led by Dino Babers, and with Tetairoa McMillan back from his injury, the offense is looking much more prolific. Others were able to shine in his absence, too, giving the Wildcats a potentially deep wide receiver room.
If Arizona is able to walk into the Big 12 and compete for a championship, that would be incredible, but is anyone going to blame Brennan if that doesn't happen?
It doesn't seem likely, but Jon Wilner of Tucson.com shockingly put him on the list of six coaches who are facing "significant pressure" heading into the upcoming season.
" ... the Arizona job is hardly a reclamation project ... The downside risk for Brennan is arguably greater than the upside potential — his challenge is to prevent a marked regression. In our view, seven wins is probably the minimum needed to avoid low-level grumbling," he writes.
Wow, that is quite the standard placed upon this program all of a sudden.
Yes, Arizona was able to put together an incredible year by winning 10 games and beating Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl, but that was the first time they had won that amount since 2014, and it was the first winning season in seven years.
It would certainly be a disappointment if this team wasn't playing in a bowl game this season, but it seems a little much to say that Brennan is a coach under pressure.
To be fair, Wilner put the heat index for the first-year Wildcats head coach at "room temperature" and said his list isn't highlighting those who could be fired.
Still, it seems a bit premature to mention Brennan on something like this.
Despite getting back their high-profile players and landing some transfers, Arizona is still a team that was negatively impacted by the portal when Fisch left and took some talented players of his own off this roster.
All of this speculation can be put to bed if the Wildcats go out and take care of business on the field, and if they are able to live up to their best-case projections, then that will be the last time he finds himself on this list.
