The many sides of Noah Fifita: 15 interesting stories about the Arizona QB

So, we asked Brennan for his favorite story about Arizona’s humble quarterback since working with him since January 2024.

“I think it’s probably when I first met him,” Brennan said. “I had just been hired and I just met with the team. It was a whirlwind. It was so hectic and crazy and they put me in the front seat of a golf cart and they’re bringing me over to HR to sign some papers or whatever. My wife was on the back of the golf cart, I had no idea she was there. … There was a lot going on.

“I also didn’t know that Noah Fifita jumped on the back of the golf cart. I was in this HR meeting for about 15 minutes and my wife walks in and interrupts. I was like, ‘What are you doing here?’ She said, ‘Hey, Noah is outside. He’d like to talk to you.’ I paused the HR meeting and went outside and talked to Noah for about 15 or 20 minutes. Everything I heard about him was what it was: genuine, competitive, high character, high work ethic and we just had this great open and honest conversation. He’s trying to get to know me and I’m trying to get to know him. That might be my favorite one.”

A close second was when Fifita and record-setting wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan — Fifita’s longtime best friend and teammate — “walked into my office, shut the door and told me they were staying (at Arizona),” Brennan added.

As for Fifita’s favorite story since joining the Wildcats and carving out a career at Arizona that may not be replicated, it’s tough for him to pick.

“It’s been such a long journey,” Fifita said. “It’s been five years and I’ve enjoyed every second of it. There’s been ups, there’s been downs. If you had to talk about a memory, the first ones that come to mind are games and the feelings you go through during games. The Territorial Cups come to mind, especially the two victories in Tempe, those are great memories for us. The Alamo Bowl, even the Holiday Bowl that we lost.”

Furthermore, sharing the last eight months with his younger brother Dash Fifita, a freshman linebacker for the Wildcats, “is something that I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”

“It’s been great, being able to play college football with him, being able to go through the winter and summer workouts, spring practices,” Fifita said. “Me being able to go through the whole grind, but to sit back and be a big brother and do his thing, I don’t think I’ll ever forget these moments.”

There are still some blank pages in Fifita’s storybook career at Arizona, including the 2026 season, his final hurrah in Tucson. The ‘26 chapter could feature marquee wins, winning the 100th edition of the Territorial Cup during the season that’s celebrating 100 years of “Bear Down, Arizona.”

“This chapter is unwritten,” Fifita said. “For me, the goal is a Rose Bowl. That’s what we’ve been working towards for five years. That’s what I’ve been dreaming about and praying about for five years. That’s the potential of this team. We have the people and the personalities to do it. Coach Brennan has been preaching process over outcome. That’s something we live by and something I respect so much. … That’ll give us a chance to go do what we want to do.”

Brennan provided his favorite Fifita story. Here are 14 more Fifita stories from UA players and coaches:

Offensive coordinator Seth Doege: “I think about some of the warrior moments in the season. When I look at Noah, I look at him like a little brother that I love. I’ll never get the opportunity to coach a kid like this ever again. I pinch myself sometimes because I don’t want to get caught up in the monotonous part of training and going through practices and coaching a quarterback. I get to coach one of the most special people in the world, and I want to take every experience with him and take it very intentional.

“Whenever someone says, ‘I really like your quarterback.’ My first response is always, ‘He’s a warrior.’ Why do I say that? I think about the Kansas (game and) the two-minute (drive) where he ran that dude over on a second-down draw call. He almost knocked himself out just so the clock would stop. He gets back up, we score and win the game. I think about the SMU game and I ran him and he almost broke his leg and nobody knew and we almost came back and won that game, because Noah didn’t flinch.

“I think about the Colorado game where we ran a zone-read on the first play of the game and the high safety gets clipped and sprains his MCL, we ended up going up 52 points and I had to run the ball for two quarters so we didn’t embarrass anybody. I think about the stories like that and that’s why I respect him so much. He plays the game the right way and he exemplifies the position and how it’s supposed to be played. He’s a prime example of what a quarterback should be. To me, that’s probably what I love most about him.”

Defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales: “Last year, when we were playing Kansas, it was 20-17 and he said, ‘Coach, get me the ball back, we’re down three, we’re winning this football game. Just give me the ball back.’ As the defensive guys were walking off the field, he goes, ‘That’s all I needed.’ Game over. Went right down the field and scored. Best part about it, he walked past me with 24 seconds left and said, ‘Don’t screw it up.’ That’s fantastic, his competitiveness. I cannot wait to see who’s sitting there as the three (Heisman Trophy) finalists in New York in December, because Noah Fifita will be one of them.”

Tight ends coach Josh Miller: “Every experience with Noah is a special one, because he is such an elite human being. The way he treats my wife, the way he treats my kids, he plays pickleball with them or he’ll put them up on his shoulder. The way he loves all of our kids in our building, it’s super special.

“The one story I really appreciate, and obviously I don’t work with him as intimately as Coach Doege, but we were doing this exercise this spring, if Coach Doege or Coach Gonzales fainted during a game, who would call the offense or who would call the defense? That day, I called the plays for a 10-minute period.

“In that 10-minute period, we got a couple of drives and had some success. It allowed me to appreciate who he is as a human off the field, but it made me truly understand how truly special he is on the field. Yeah, I see the throws and all of these things, but the intimacy between the coordinator and QB, I found a deeper level of appreciation and respect of how special he is. That was also a really special moment for me.”

Wide receiver Chris Hunter: “Off the field, this dude is insane. There have been so many moments where we’re trying to plan things. For instance, this past year was the Super Bowl with the Seahawks and Patriots, and I hosted this time. I’m trying to get what the guys need to eat and plan, it’s my first time hosting something. He goes out of his way and goes, ‘Look, bro, don’t worry about food. I got you. I’ll get the food and you don’t have to worry about it at all.’ I’m just asking, ‘Why?’ I told him that I’m hosting, ‘so why are you pitching in?’

“He wasn’t looking for anything out of it, none of that. That’s just his true nature. This dude is one of the most humble people you’ll ever meet. Off the field, that’s just how he is. He’s always trying to help out. He’s picking up tabs, picking up on all these things. That’s just him being a servant of the Lord. That’s how his brain works.

“On the field, it was from the spring game this year. We’re super competitive and we were tired of the defense getting on us that day. It was during a two-minute drive and it was second or third down and in the huddle, ‘Look, we’re going to call this double move, Chris, I’m throwing it up to you. I don’t care what I see, just make a play.’

“That’s the one I caught in the corner of the end zone and our equipment staff tried to call me incomplete, but we saw the replay and I was well inbounds. That’s the confidence Noah has that he puts into people. He does that for everybody in the huddle. The energy he brings, that’s just who he is as a player — even more so this year.”

Wide receiver Tre Spivey: “We watch a lot of movies together and we do a lot of movie reviews. I feel like some of the arguments that come out of our movie reviews are hilarious, man. Me and Noah, we go back and forth on so much stuff. We think differently on so many things, whether it’s pop culture or other things. Our movie reviews and game nights, those are my favorite moments with Noah.”

Tight end Cole Rusk: “One story that means the most to me was when I first came and ran routes, we got together and you know that first time — I’m a transfer, so I want to show these guys that I can move. I was able to run routes with him and he said, ‘You move well and this year is going to be awesome.’

“He just gave me that confidence. That meant a lot to me and still means a lot. I was able to build our relationship after the first time we worked out together. He took me to eat after. He’s just a great guy. He deserves the world and he’s just a great guy.”

Linebacker Taye Brown: “At Big 12 Media Day, we just landed and we were eating somewhere and he got a burger without veggies. We asked him about it and he was like, ‘Yeah, I don’t do veggies and don’t eat them.’ I thought that was pretty crazy. I thought his diet would be pretty good, but he said it wasn’t and he doesn’t eat any veggies.”

Running back Quincy Craig: “He works so hard and there’s so much behind-the-scenes stuff that no one gets to see. Every now and then, I’ll be leaving the facility late and he’s walking back to the meeting room and I’m like, ‘Man, you’re still here?’”

Running back Kedrick Reescano: “Noah always takes the blame for himself. Let’s say we have a bad game or even if we won and the offense didn’t perform the way we should have, he’ll try to take it all by himself. I tell him, ‘We’re all feeling bad, bro, you’ll be alright. Don’t take it all by yourself. Let us take it with you.’ He’ll look at me, give me a chuckle and turn around and just leave. He’s not going to change any time soon.”

Left guard Rhino Tapa’atoutai: “My freshman year, we’re somewhere. I’m not going to say where we were, but we had no ride and it was in the middle of the night. We were like, ‘Who do we call?’ Jonah (Savaiinaea) called Noah and Noah came in like five minutes. It was in the middle of the night.

“Noah isn’t the type to go out, so for him to come in the middle of the night, it says a lot. Not only that, but we stopped at McDonald’s and he bought us food before we got home. I was like, ‘Man, I freaking hate this dude. Why is he such a good guy?’ At the end of the day, that’s how we were raised as Polynesians.

“Most of the time, we would’ve just gotten an Uber, but he was there in five minutes, probably less. I’ll never forget that moment, because he looked so tired, but he was focused on getting us home safe. I’ll never forget that story. That was my first time being with Noah. The rest is history.”

Right tackle Tristan Bounds: “There’s the Noah that you guys see, the guy who makes amazing plays on Saturdays and is a fiery competitor and leader of our offense and team. Then there’s the Noah that’s chilling at the house, kicked back.

“Here’s a story: we’re all at his house, playing (Call of Duty Black Ops) and we’re playing ‘Gun Game.’ Noah is pretty good. If you get knifed, it sets you back like five guns and it just takes forever to finish. (Center Zach Henning) were just head-hunting Noah with knives (in the game) the whole time and I’ve never seen Noah get that irritated.

“He’s usually such a calm, level-headed guy and always in the moment. But it’s cool to see that side of him. We get to see that a lot, spending time with him. The media doesn’t get to see that side of him, because he’s the same person every single day when he steps in this building.”

Defensive tackle Leroy Palu: “He’s always inviting us to his house to come swim. In our off-days or weekends, he’ll invite us over and get us all this food. Not a lot of people would do that. I love Noah. My favorite stories are hanging out with him on the weekends.”

Assistant defensive line coach and ex-Wildcat Ronnie Palmer: "I got hired in the spring of last year. I walked out to Cherry Garage and I’m parking to go into the indoor (facility). The first player I met was Noah Fifita. He was holding the door open for everybody. He introduced himself to me right out the gate, and I knew who he was, but I had the coaching apparel on and he introduced himself. I told him I was an assistant D-Line coach, played here back in the day and I was a captain.

“He stopped me and said, ‘That is one of the best things you can get, to be a captain amongst your peers.’ That’s who he is. He’s a leader who is so humble and you really want to run through a wall for him. You love those Willie Tuitama type of players and that’s who Noah is for these kids. I’ll always remember that. He was the first person I met.

“The way he carried himself, he’s the first one in, last one out. He shakes people’s hands, from the janitor, to our head coach, to whoever is cooking the food. He’s a leader.”

Running backs coach Lyle Moevao: “You caught a glimpse from Coach Brennan’s story about him deciding to stay the first time. The decision to stay the second time, when Doege got hired, it was interesting. He took a family trip out to New York to kind of clear his mind before making a decision. He came into my office and closed the door and he shared the story of how he went to New York with his brother, his girlfriend and a few other people. They just walked around New York, had fun and got away from football and all that stuff.

“Everyone in Tucson, including us, is trying to figure out what is his decision. He told me how he came to a decision. He went into a church with his girlfriend and they were looking for answers, just like anybody would. He turned to his religious background, which is awesome. He went in there, said a few prayers and as they were walking out, there were some plaques on the wall of people of the church, longtime members, and he looked at one in particular and I forgot what the first name was, but the last name was Brennan.

“Him being who he is, he was like, ‘That’s it. I’m coming back.’ One detail I got to add, there was a candle in this old church that lit up brighter than the others. He walked over and looked at the last name and it was Brennan. That’s one part of the story where I’m like, ‘Good for you.’ He could’ve said whatever. He could’ve said, ‘I ran into Carl’s Jr. and met a guy with the last name Brennan.’ But hey, I’m glad it’s Brennan and nothing else. We laughed about it and then he announced a few days later.

“That guy, I look forward to creating many more stories with him. … He’s a way better person than he is an athlete, which says a lot about him as a person. We’re enjoying this last year with him and creating as many of those stories as possible.”