Arizona head coach Brent Brennan reacts after a touchdown against Kansas State in the first half of an NCAA college football game, Friday, Sept 12, 2025, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Brent Brennan, decked out in a full race suit and helmet, angles his body through the window and slides into the NASCAR cockpit.

A track official helps the Arizona football coach with the safety harnesses and head restraint, attaches the steering wheel and shows him how to fire the engine. After a few sputters, Brennan roars the engine down pit road and heads up the bank of Phoenix Raceway, completing several laps as a spotter feeds him information through the headset.

“That was awesome,” Brennan said. “It was neat to be able to sit in one of these cars and feel what it’s like with the parallel branding of redline and our football program with redlining these cars, which is what these guys do every day on a professional level.”

Brennan arrived at Arizona two years ago, ready to push the Wildcats to their limits.

Like his attempt to start the NASCAR engine, his tenure got off to a sputtering start.

Despite rising expectations following the three-year Jedd Fisch era, Arizona labored through a 4-8 first season under Brennan.

Hoping to find a spark, Brennan hired former Mike Leach disciple Seth Doege as offensive coordinator and promoted Danny Gonzales to defensive coordinator.

The Wildcats returned prolific quarterback Noah Fifita and beefed up the other skill positions with speedy players. Arizona also added several players to a defense that took a step back in Brennan's first season.

The results have been impressive so far.

Arizona opened the season with a lopsided win over the Hawaii and followed that by blowing out Weber State of the Football Championship Subdivision. Beating two lower-level teams is expected as a Power 4 program, but the Wildcats backed those up with an impressive 23-16 win over Kansas State in a nonconference game scheduled before Arizona joined the Big 12.

That puts Arizona at 3-0 heading into Saturday's Big 12 opener at No. 14 Iowa State.

“I feel like there’s definitely been a lot of growth this year,” Arizona defensive back Genesis Smith said. “As far as responding, it’s showing out there.”

They've done it by pushing the redline.

Brennan's push in Tucson has been to get his players to stretch their limits, to reach 100 mph 100% of the time. It's worked so far this season on the field and, for Brennan, on the track.

On the field, the Wildcats have used their maximum effort mentality to give the program its best start since 2015.

Brennan's ride around Phoenix Raceway's mile oval last weekend was part of a non-financial collaboration between Arizona athletics and the NASCAR track running through the shared redline theme.

“The players have really committed to living the redline,” Brennan said. “It's simple. It's our standard, everyone knows what it means. It doesn't matter what they're doing, they need to give effort, they need to execute, they need to be accountable.”

It's worked so far this season. Now the Wildcats have to keep pushing the limits.

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