Greg McElroy analyzes ceiling for Brent Brennan at Arizona

The coaching carousel moved in such a way in the past week or so that it led to Brent Brennan becoming the next head coach at Arizona. Now, as he moves from San José to Tucson, Greg McElroy has several thoughts on his next opportunity.

McElroy assessed the Wildcats’ hire of Brennan during ‘Always College Football’ this week. After this past season on Jedd Fisch, he says we now know what the program is capable. With that being the case, he thinks Brennan is a quality choice based on the limitations he had to handle while with the Spartans.

“We just found out that the ceiling is actually pretty high. Not going to go as far as to say, Michael Jordan-style, that the ceiling is the roof,” said McElroy. “But I do think when you look at what Brent Brennan has done? He has spent his entire career on the west coast and he has some experience being at San José State. That program, historically, is probably one of the worst in the sport. An unbelievable depletion of resources, difficult competition there with all the pro teams in the market.”

“At Arizona? There’s a lot of things to really like,” said McElroy. “Now, there are some challenging financial situations. But the football facilities are ready to go.”

However, the job at Arizona is now different than it was even last season. After being a member of the Pac-10 and Pac-12 since 1978, the team is headed to the Big 12. That means new competition and, in the opinion of McElroy, a need to expand the base for their recruiting efforts.

“There’s a lot to like about that and I believe that there’s still a really high ceiling. But I think Brent Brennan is going to have to be really, really smart about not just tapping into the west coast but, also, tapping into the state of Texas,” said McElroy. “I think, for Brent Brennan, it’s going to be interesting to kind of balance that. Still do the things that you’ve always done? Or do you need to adjust, move, and kind of maybe pull from Houston, pull from Dallas, pull from San Antonio where there’s really good high school football.”

The success of last season is also going to apply pressure on Brennan at Arizona. After the team went 10-3 in ’23 with a Top-15 finish and win in the Alamo Bowl, it’s now up to him to hold the program together, specifically the roster, if they want to achieve what McElroy believes they could next fall.

“Based on what’s there at this second, the time that we’re taping this? Right now, 18 to 22 guys are returning. They are going to enter into ’24 with legitimate, legitimate expectations,” said McElroy. “I’m not talking about at the top of the Big 12 but an outside chance of maybe getting to the College Football Playoff.”

“I think Brent Brennen is the right personality that’s going to be able to connect well with the players. I think he’s going to be able to bring in and make sure that the guys that are cornerstone pieces to their operation? Those guys are going to have to buy in.”

A winning percentage of .415 is likely not what some fans were hoping for as far as a replacement for Jedd Fisch. Even so, his small successes over the past few seasons should provide some promise in what he can accomplish in a somewhat similar job with the Wildcats.

“It should make for a pretty nice transition. Brent Brennan is well-positioned for this opportunity,” said McElroy. “There’s no denying that Arizona is on the heels of their best performance in recent memory. Can he sustain it? A 34-48 record doesn’t jump off the page for Brent Brennan.”

“When you think about the challenges that they have at San José State? Putting forth a consistent winner? I don’t think anyone is going to be able to handle a difficult situation better than what Brent Brennan did in transitioning now to the head coach at Arizona.”