Arizona gets boost as Fifita, McMillan to return

Blake Baumgartner, ESPN Staff WriterJan 20, 2024, 05:18 PM ET

Arizona and new coach Brent Brennan received a big boost to their potential football fortunes in 2024 as quarterback Noah Fifita and wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan will both be back for another season.

Fifita and McMillan made their announcements Saturday during a break in the UCLA-Arizona men’s basketball game.

The show goes on. pic.twitter.com/oVwMvCNTx1

— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) January 20, 2024

Fifita and McMillan were key cogs in an offense that finished fourth in the Pac-12 with 448.0 yards per game and fifth in passing (308.3) last season as the program won its last seven games and secured its first 10-win campaign since 2014.

In a league that had tremendous quarterback play across the board, Fifita found his niche in helping the Wildcats (10-3) break out. After entering the lineup in late September following Jayden de Laura‘s ankle injury in a 21-20 win against Stanford, Fifita was sixth in the Pac-12 in passing with 2,869 yards to go with 25 touchdowns (tied for fifth in the Pac-12) and just six interceptions.

Meanwhile, McMillan’s 90 receptions and 1,402 receiving yards ranked second in the league behind Washington’s Rome Odunze.

In Jedd Fisch’s three seasons in Tucson (2021-23), the program improved from one win to five and then to 10. Fisch parlayed that success into getting the Washington job on Jan. 14, succeeding Kalen DeBoer, who left for Alabama following Nick Saban’s retirement.

Brennan takes over for Fisch after spending the last seven seasons at San Jose State, where he went 34-48 overall but is coming off a pair of winning seasons. He will now shepherd the program through its transition from the Pac-12 to the Big 12.