Arizona football signs best recruiting class since 2022

The first day of the Early Signing Period for college football came and went Wednesday without much drama, at least for Arizona. The Wildcats signed the 20 players they expected to, avoiding any last-minute decommitments.

But that didn’t mean attempts weren’t made by other schools to try and pry away one or more of the UA’s top recruits.

“If no one’s calling your players the night before signing day you’re on the wrong players,” general manager Gaizka Crowley said Wednesday.

Arizona’s 2026 recruiting class is ranked by 247Sports as 35th in the country, its best since 2022, and 4th in the Big 12. It features six 4-star prospects, one more than the ’22 class that was the best in school history, and nine prep recruits ranked in the top 1,000 nationally. The Wildcats’ first full class under Brent Brennan, last December, had just one 4-star signee.

“I think we’ve got a great coaching staff here, I think they’re great people,” Brennan said. “They’re great recruiters. I think kids are excited to play for them. I really do. I think we have an awesome institution for kids to go to college at. I think there’s a great vibe here on campus. I got out there in the sunshine. It was beautiful. Sunshine, 60, 65 degrees. I was in a T-shirt and shorts walking around campus. I was like, why would you not want to go to school here. It’s December, half the country is in puffy jackets and beanies, we’re walking around in flip flops and board shorts.”

The class is highlighted by quarterback Oscar Rios, running back Brandon Smith and wide receiver RJ Mosley, all 4-star recruits. But the Wildcats also signed a pair of 4-star offensive linemen, including one they flipped from Kansas State on Sunday, and a combined 10 offensive and defensive linemen.

“We are trying to add some girth to this football team,” Brennan said. “I do feel great about the skill players that we added, but you win up front. I think that played out for us this year in terms of what our D-line was able to do, and what our offensive line became. And so that’s just always the number one order of business for us is doing everything we can to make sure we have great people on the offensive and defensive line.”

The top defensive signees are 4-star Texas cornerback Xaier Hiler and defensive linemen Prince Williams and Keyrin Harris. Williams is the Gatorade Nevada High School Player of the Year.

All three have been committed since the summer, when Arizona was coming off a disappointing 4-8 record in 2024 and still months away from the surprise 2025 performance.

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

Of the high school players signed in the 2025 class, only two (defensive lineman Mays Pese and linebacker Myron Robinson) started a game this fall. A few others logged meaningful snaps on offense, defense or special teams, but for the most part Arizona leaned heavily on its transfer additions.

Brennan said the transfer portal will always be part of the equation, but his preference is for the Wildcats to develop their own talent as much as possible.

“I think you have a better chance to develop the chemistry and the connection that you need to build championship football programs if you can do it with players that have been in your program for two, three four or five years, and then supplementally adding players that can be impactful when you have a need,” he said. “We’re still going to be developmental. That would be the way we prefer to build it.”

With the signing class done, Arizona now turns its focus on whatever bowl game it will play in. That will be revealed Sunday, with the most likely destination the Holiday Bowl in San Diego on Jan. 2 against an ACC opponent.

“Once we get done with today, everything is going to be 100 percent focused on winning our 10th game,” Brennan said. “That’s all that’s going to matter in this building. No one’s going to be talking about anything else.”