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The 20 players who joined the Arizona program signed two sets of documents: a financial-aid agreement and a revenue-sharing pact.

Did that new dynamic make the recruiting process radically different? Slightly different? Or is the essence of it still the same?

Brent Brennan and Gaizka Crowley, Arizona’s head coach and general manager, can’t speak for how other programs handle their business (pun intended). But they share a belief about what matters most.

It isn’t money.

If that’s the first topic of conversation between a coach and a recruit, or a coach and his family, that player probably isn’t going to become a Wildcat.

“Like he talks about all the time, we want players that want to be here,� Crowley said Wednesday. “We want players that love the city, that love the community, that love the school.

“We want a kid to be here for the right reasons. Because, as we all know, in a five-year football career it's not always going to go well, either on the team side (or) the personal side. It's a hard sport. So making sure the kid’s built from the right stuff, has the family foundation to be able to get through the tough times is more of what we're looking for.

“We want to support them in the financial aspect, but making sure that that’s not the only thing. Because as soon as times get tough, those guys are risks to leave.�

‘Recruits choose people’

I wanted to ask Brennan and Crowley about the newish world of recruiting after listening to a recent podcast interview with Adrian Wojnarowski, who last year left his job as ESPN’s NBA insider to become the general manager of the men’s basketball program at his alma mater, St. Bonaventure.

Appearing on Wojnarowski was asked about NIL — Name, Image and Likeness. It’s not the same as revenue-sharing, but it’s part of the financial package available to high-level student-athletes these days.

“If it’s the first thing somebody brings up,� Wojnarowski said, “it’s going to be a quick conversation.�

St. Bonaventure plays in the Atlantic 10 and is considered a mid-major. It doesn’t have the monetary resources that most power-conference programs have.

I’m not trying to compare Arizona football to St. Bonaventure basketball. The Wildcats are not a gridiron mid-major, as recent results illustrate.

But Arizona doesn’t have the same donor and booster support as, say, Ohio State. Or, perhaps a more relevant example, Texas Tech, before the House vs. NCAA settlement was finalized and is on the verge of making the College Football Playoff.

So how, then, did Arizona, coming off a 4-8 season, land a top-40 recruiting class in the nation and the No. 5 class in the Big 12 without Texas oil money to supplement its revenue-sharing allotment?

“I think recruits choose people, and I think we have incredible people in this building — our coaching staff, our support staff, the alignment we have with the administration at the University of Arizona,� Brennan said. “I think those things are what people choose. They believe in being coached by Bobby Wade or being coached by Danny Gonzales or whoever it is. I think that part of it is what was the most compelling (part) for these young people to choose the U of A.�

Even with the advent of NIL and revenue-sharing, recruiting is all about relationships. Those extend beyond coach and player. As Crowley put it: “At the end of the day, someone's mom or dad has to say yes.�

Arizona didn’t have a single signing-day decommitment/flip Wednesday. That says something about Brennan and his staff. And it’s not because no one else wanted the Wildcats’ recruits. Depending on the service you look at, the UA’s 2026 class has as many as eight four-star prospects.

One of them is quarterback Oscar Rios of Downey, California. When asked about him Wednesday, Brennan didn’t talk about Rios’ arm talent or his athleticism — at least not at first. Brennan initially emphasized Rios’ leadership skills and intangibles — what he’s like as a person.

“When you guys meet him, you will not believe the energy this young man has,� Brennan said. “He has this smile that lights up the room. He's got this contagious personality.

“He was one of those players that from the first time we met him, you could tell he just had juice — like, he had crazy juice. He had juice with the guys on our team. ... He just had a great way about him.�

Crowley, who’s an old-school scout at heart, said the assessment of a quarterback “starts with the person.� He cited current UA starter Noah Fifita as a shining example.

“Obviously, he's very skilled,� Crowley said. “But (it’s) his makeup, his mental acuity, his leadership, his competitiveness, his toughness.�

Ongoing education

Money isn’t a topic that Brennan and his staff ignore. They can’t. It’s impossible to win without being competitive in that space.

Brennan said revenue-sharing and NIL have “an impact in every single conversation� with recruits and their families — even as late as the night before Signing Day.

has brought some degree of clarity at least. Every school can participate in revenue-sharing for up to $20.5 million in the first year. Athletic departments can divvy up that money however they see fit. Each sport can then formulate a plan and make a budget for recruits, current players and incoming transfers.

But even when it comes to money ... it’s still about people.

Crowley said it’s critical to educate prospects and their families about how it all works — even something as basic as the difference between revenue-sharing and NIL.

(Even for so-called experts in my profession, that topic is a bit murky. The simplest way to think of it: Revenue-sharing is a player’s “contract.� NIL is his or her "endorsements.")

“I'm obviously in it all day,� Crowley said. “But for a lot of parents, they're hardworking people. They're just happy their kids are getting a scholarship. So that's a big (deal) for us — just making sure they're educated in that space.�

The education doesn’t stop once players arrive on campus. Arizona has a program called “Beyond Football� that helps players learn life skills — including what to do with their newfound income.

“When the kids come on visits, we want to make sure that the parents feel that we have them supported,� Crowley said. “That's financial literacy, tax planning, investing, budgeting, how to set up a bank account, how to get a debit card.�

Student-athletes don’t just have to manage their time nowadays. For better or worse, they have to manage their money, too.