Every time I think of Phoenix, this comes to mind:
It is fascinating that the population of central Arizona continues to explode as the livability of the climate worsens, but let us look past the existential dread and think about football instead.
I feel comfortable saying that the state of Arizona loves football more than the media will suggest they do.
A major reason for this is that the most visible football teams in the state have a history of mediocrity between the Cardinals, Arizona Wildcats, and Arizona State Sun Devils.
State Farm Stadium in Glendale is the home of the Fiesta Bowl (of which Tostitos should have been a permanent sponsor, but I digress) which has had a great history as a BCS/NY6 bowl location including multiple National Championship Games as well as hosting the Super Bowl 3 times on top of being the permanent home of the Cardinals.
The state is also home to 3 teams in the Indoor Football League:
Northern Arizona Wranglers | Prescott Valley
Tucson Sugar Skulls | Tucson
Arizona Rattlers | Phoenix
The Rattlers have operated continuously since 1992 (other than 2009 as the AFL shut down for that season) as a member of the original Arena Football League and moved to the IFL in 2017.
The one real blemish on college football in the state came across 2017 and 2018 as all of the NJCAA football programs in Arizona collectively shut down citing cost concerns.
The schools involved in this were:
Glendale Community College
Scottsdale Community College
Phoenix College
Mesa Community College
These first 4 exist under the umbrella of the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD).
Eastern Arizona College
Pima Community College
Arizona Western College
Although it was the MCCCD which led the movement to cancel football, their programs reported much lower expenses than the more independent bottom 3. The situation was far from unanimous, and the appetite for football remains, so we will see what happens in the future. I haven’t seen the 2022/23 enrollment figures yet, but outside of Arizona Western College, enrollment at the other 6 schools has dipped considerably since 2017 or 2018, however those figures seem primarily related to COVID than the dissolution of football programs.
NAIA
As for football programs which do exist, Arizona is home to 2 NAIA programs a mere 13 miles apart to the northwest of Phoenix.
Arizona Christian University has existed since 1960, but the football program only hit the field in 2014. The school is primarily a member of the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) while playing football as a member of the Frontier Conference since 2023. Previously their football membership had been with the Sooner Athletic Conference.
They have had a healthy amount of success, often winning 8 games while a member of the SAC which included playoff appearances in 2022 and 2020 (Spring 2021). The team had a difficult introduction to the Frontier last season with only a single conference win. They will be hard-pressed to better that record this season, but the inherent entropy of college athletics is part of the fun.
Their neighbor to the west only opened its doors in 2017 as a secondary campus of Ottawa University in Ottawa, Kansas. Though academically known as Ottawa University-Surprise, athletically they are generally referred to OUAZ. The school places a strong emphasis on intercollegiate athletics and is also a member of the GSAC while their football program has remained in the SAC.
Both schools present as having well-funded football programs and have recently constructed on-campus football facilities, though they aren’t extravagant.
FCS
Arizona is one of a number of states in the West which have no Division 2 or Division 3 football programs, and have only 3 at the Division 1 level.
At the FCS level we find the University of Northern Arizona Lumberjacks, a member of the Big Sky Conference.
Located in Flagstaff, only 140 miles north of Phoenix, the school sits in an area that most would not expect from Arizona. It is at a higher elevation, more rocky than sandy, and with a relative abundance of trees, it isn’t terribly surprising that their athletics program would be connected to logging.
Constructed in the 1970’s, the Walkup Skydome is named after James Lawrence Walkup who was the President of NAU from 1957 to 1979. It is one of two similar structures that I am aware of (the other being at the University of Northern Michigan - the Superior Dome) with an interesting wooden lattice structure supporting the roof and although it looks dated in some ways, it still has much more character than many modern indoor stadiums. The facility is also home to NAU’s Men’s & Women’s Basketball programs as well as Indoor Track & Field.
Unfortunately, the football program has not seen much success as a member of the Big Sky Conference dating back to 1970 with only 2 conference championships - 1978 and 2003.
The head coach of that 2003 team, Jerome Souers, guided the program for 21 season from 1998 to 2018 but could only manage a single playoff victory out of 5 appearances. Though they have not had a winning season since 2017 (excluding a truncated 3-2 Spring 2021 season in lieu of Fall 2020) there is still an air of competitiveness around the program as they beat the National Championship Game runner-up Montana Grizzlies at home as well as taking 3 of their final 4 games of the season. The Big Sky and Mountain West conferences tend to be tightly contested in-conference and there is always an element of chaos to individual games as the season goes on.
FBS
The football programs of the two big schools are in different places, though both have issues lurking in the background.
For the Arizona Wildcats, they're coming off a 10-3 season that was arguably their best of the century (10-4 in 2014 being the only contender) but HC Jedd Fisch left in the offseason to replace Kalen DeBoer at Washington. Surprisingly, the Wildcats top players on offense - QB Noah Fifita & WR Tetairoa McMillan - chose to remain in Tucson instead of following Fisch and likely finding more NIL funds up in Seattle. Fifita also admitted in an interview to being contacted about transferring for money in the middle of the season, which is blatant tampering that many fans would like to see policed and punished.
With the loss of Fisch, the Wildcats brought in Brent Brennan from San Jose State as their next Head Coach.
Brennan went 34-48 over 7 seasons including 7-win seasons 3 of the past 4 seasons, though he did go winless in bowl games. He has also brought in former Syracuse HC Dino Babers as his Offensive Coordinator, which is an interesting addition, though it is hard to know exactly what that offense will look like.
With their move to the Big12, Arizona is expected to compete for a conference title, but it won't be a cakewalk even without Texas or Oklahoma around. Although the conference may not have any programs that will be considered in competition for a National Championship, the season should still be a lot of fun.
The school has been public about accounting issues that led to major financial losses which have taken some of the luster away from the success of their programs, but on the field they are in a good place right now. They fired their Athletic Director, replacing him with Desireé Reid-Francois who was brought in from the same position at the University of Missouri and appears to be well-regarded.
As I am writing this, the University of Arizona announced that their President, Robert Robbins, will be stepping down at the end of his term in 2026. This may seem far away, but given the difficulties that have arisen under his watch, it also feels too far away to be meaningful right now.
Robbins did state that if his successor is found before he steps away, he will assist in the transition amicably, and so the school should try to sort out the leadership position before the year’s end.
Heading back to the Phoenix area, the Arizona State Sun Devils have different issues to worry about.
They have struggled to find wins on the field recently, but with the youthful HC Kenny Dillingham at the helm, it does feel like their fortunes should turn in the near future. The team flashed some feistiness, and if QB Jayden Rashada is back to 100%, their offense could surprise some people.
Dillingham is really a poster child for the youth movement in football coaching.
Born in 1990, he began as the QB coach at Chaparral HS (AZ) in 2007 and remained there through his time attending Arizona State. After a year of taking on more responsibility at Chaparral as Offensive Coordinator, he returned to ASU as an Offensive Analyst for 2014 & 2015 working under Offensive Coordinator Mike Norvell. From there he joined Norvell in moving to Memphis for 3 seasons, climbing the ladder from a GA position to OC. After a year coordinating Auburn’s offense under Gus Malzahn, Dillingham rejoined Norvell at Florida State for 2 seasons before moving west to Oregon for 2022. After a decade of success and ascension, he was deemed to be ready to be a Head Coach and assumed that role at his alma mater for 2023. His story may be enough to convince some high school and college coaches to be more open to young individuals who are passionate about coaching.
The big issue for Arizona State right now has been the drawn-out process of finding a new Athletic Director. The school claims that the reason for this is that they are working to update some of their internal operations before making a decision, but the position may not be terribly desirable as they would be walking into a situation with a need to either improve or construct basketball facilities as well as weathering any punishment related to an ongoing NCAA investigation into COVID Dead Period recruiting violations. This is a difficult time to commit to major facility projects with the uncertainty around potential lawsuit settlements and a shifting media rights marketplace.
The Big12 does feel like a good fit for both schools as the conference does drift towards “defense-optional” football at times. Neither school is at risk of closure, they are among the largest in the country in terms of enrollment, but both require restructuring and refocusing to reach their potential.
And here’s some more information about how Phoenix even exists.
Great writeup. As a Lumberjack, NAU's been on the cusp of making the playoffs forever but they compete in what sometimes feels like the SEC equivalent of the FCS (Big Sky Conference). They lose a lot, but most of the losses are within one possession.
Arizona looked poised for a huge breakout in the Big XII but with Fisch leaving for Washington, who knows? They're still technically on better footing than ASU even with the coaching turnover.
I hope Dillingham can turn around ASU. While Arizona isn't Georgia, Texas, or Florida, there's no shortage of high school talent here and its always kind of frustrating to see local kids flourish at places like Alabama, LSU, or elsewhere. Dillingham, with his connections to Phoenix-area high schools, might be able to keep more of those kids here than previous coaches. He still has a long way to go because of ASU's AD situation and because Herm Edwards decimated the program.
And as a Cincinnati native and Arizona resident, its going to be strange seeing UC play home and away games against ASU and UofA.