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FRISCO, Texas — When Arizona strolled into Ford Center at “The Star” for the final session of Big 12 Media Days on Wednesday, there was a different vibe — and it’s not because the conference moved media days from Las Vegas to the Dallas area.

There was a different tone with the Wildcats compared to last year.

Arizona is no longer the new kid on the block in the 16-team Big 12, along with Pac-12 transplants in Arizona State, Utah and Colorado.

UA second-year head coach Brent Brennan and Arizona’s six player representatives — quarterback Noah Fifita, offensive lineman Rhino Tapa’atoutai, defensive end Tre Smith and defensive backs Treydan Stukes, Genesis Smith and Dalton Johnson — didn’t wear leis around their necks like last season.

Instead of Arizona polos and leis created by Tetairoa McMillan’s grandmother, the UA players had a business look and donned suits. Smith called his all-black suit with Prada shoes and tie clip the

Even though the Big 12 shied away from its preseason media poll, Arizona is widely considered a bottom-half — maybe a bottom-quarter — team in the conference.

Last season, Arizona was voted to finish fifth in the Big 12 and even garnered three first-place votes, after Brennan retained the nucleus of the Wildcats’ 10-win team that won the Alamo Bowl, including Fifita and McMillan, arguably Arizona’s best offensive playmaker in school history.

However, the Wildcats concluded the season 14th in the conference. Meanwhile, Arizona State, which was voted to finish last in the Big 12, won the conference and qualified for the College Football Playoff.

Arizona went from a CFP hopeful to a bottom-dweller in its new conference, and after one of the best seasons in UA history, the Wildcats had their worst record since the 1-11 season in 2021.

As a result, Arizona didn’t garner as much attention at Big 12 Media Days this year compared to last year. Instead of a large contingent of Big 12 reporters around the Wildcats like last year, the UA players and Brennan spoke to less than 10 reporters during a 30-minute breakout session.

At Big 12 Media Days, Brennan said last season “was unacceptable for our staff, our program and our university, and we’ve been busy fixing that ever since.”

Among the most pertinent changes, “I think it starts with the decision we made with the coaching staff,” Brennan said.

The Wildcats will have three new coordinators this season: up-and-coming offensive play-caller Seth Doege, defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales and special teams coordinator Craig Naivar.

“I think it starts with them,” said Brennan.

The Wildcats also replaced defensive line coach Joe Seumalo with UA legend and “Desert Swarm” member Joe Salave’a, who is one of the top defensive line coaches in college football, along with tight ends coach and play-caller Matt Adkins with Josh Miller.

Over half of Arizona’s 105-player roster will also be new. The Wildcats are adding 55 scholarship newcomers to their 2025 roster. Brennan said “probably 75%” of the wide receiver and running back rooms have newcomers.

“There’s a lot of change there, but there’s also a good influx of what we consider high-level talent guys that have played a lot of snaps in college football and have really good experience that I think are going to contribute greatly to what we’re trying to get done,” Brennan said.

Brennan said Wick — err, Smith — has been a consistent high-energy, high-effort player. Following a breakout season last year, Smith will hold a more prominent role in Arizona’s defense, especially with safety Gunner Maldonado transferring to Kansas State.

Smith explored his options in the transfer portal after last season, but opted to return to Arizona for his third season in Tucson.

“A lot of fun to coach and made a lot of plays last fall for us and you know he was a guy that the people came hard after in the portal, but he stayed true to Arizona like Fifita did and we feel great about him, too,” Brennan said of Smith. “So there’s a lot of players and people gonna have fun watching this fall.”

In Arizona’s first season in the Big 12, which was also Brennan’s first year in Tucson, the UA head coach said last year was “educational.”

“I would say we learned a lot in our first year at Arizona,” Brennan said. “The biggest thing maybe I learned is just transition is challenging, transition is hard. There’s lots of things that I could have done better as a head football coach, as the leader of the program, that I have a better understanding now of what that looks like and exactly which way we’re going to do it.”

When Arizona returned from the holiday break in January, “we started with a really simple, fundamental thought and that was we want guys that want to be at the University of Arizona, that are tough and believe in this program and really, truly want to be here,” Brennan said.

Instead of doing everything possible to keep the team together from the successful 2023 campaign and ride the momentum that Jedd Fisch built, which Brennan had to do last year, the Wildcats started from scratch and retained players that fit Brennan’s culture and added newcomers recruited by the current regime.

“The idea that we’re going to chase guys in and out of the portal every year, we’re going to be doing all that stuff, I just don’t think that gives you a chance to build the kind of connected, committed football team we want to build at the U of A,” Brennan said. “The way we started the season, what did we learn? I learned that transition is tough and the only way to move forward is the people that want to be there, that are totally committed and really connected.”

Something that hasn’t changed: Fifita’s leadership of the offense and team. Brennan shouldered the blame for the descension of Fifita, who led the Big 12 in interceptions last season and struggled in Arizona’s offense under Adkins and offensive coordinator Dino Babers.

“I think the step back for Noah Fifita is my fault, not his,” Brennan said. “We didn’t do a good enough job running the football, and we didn’t do a good enough job protecting him. ... We’ve made some moves in the direction of making that better right now. I think when we get to December, everybody in the conference and maybe everybody in America is going to be talking about Noah Fifita.

“When you watch how he delivers the football, he’s one of the cleanest throwers I’ve ever seen and I’m excited to see what he’s going to do in Seth Doege’s offense. This is a perfect fit for him and it’s his time to shine. ... T-Mac’s going to crush it in the NFL. We put enough wideouts in that room. We put enough skill positions around him in an offensive front. You’re going to love what you see from Noah.”

Along with “Fifita being a year older, a year more mature” and “the consistency of our coaching staff,” Brennan is confident that the Wildcats will exceed expectations this season.

“I think it’s a lot cleaner right now than it was a year ago,” Brennan said. “I’m optimistic about how this season’s going to go.”