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Noah Fifita Says Seth Doege Saved His Career Before Return to Lubbock
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- Noah Fifita Says Seth Doege Saved His Career Before Return to Lubbock
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Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita says offensive coordinator Seth Doege saved his football career after a 2024 season in which the Wildcats fell from 10 wins to four, per CBS Sports.
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Fifita leads the Big 12 with a 74.2 completion percentage and a 174 passer rating, and he passes for 295 yards a game, seventh best in college football.
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Doege, a former Texas Tech quarterback, will return to Lubbock as an opposing coach for the first time on Saturday, Oct. 31, when Arizona plays at Texas Tech.
The Coordinator Who Restored a Quarterback's Confidence
Arizona senior quarterback Noah Fifita has a plain answer for what offensive coordinator Seth Doege did for him.
"Coach Doege changed my life," Fifita said. "He saved my football career. In a way, I'll never be able to repay him."
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Doege took over as offensive coordinator ahead of the 2025 season and found Fifita at the lowest moment of his football career. The quarterback questioned whether he could play at this level, and he needed Doege to show him the way. The results followed. Fifita threw 18 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 2024, then 29 touchdowns and six interceptions in 2025.
A Hard Fall After a 10-Win Season
Doege recruited Fifita at Servite High School in Anaheim, California, while at USC, and begged the staff to give him a chance. Doege regarded him as the best thrower of the football in Southern California. USC would not take a chance on an underrecruited, undersized quarterback, so Fifita joined high school teammates Tetairoa McMillan, Keyan Burnett and Jacob Manu at Arizona.
As a redshirt freshman, Fifita unseated incumbent Jayden de Laura and led the Wildcats to a historic 10-win season. That proved Doege's evaluation right. Then coach Jedd Fisch left for Washington. First-year coach Brent Brennan tried to keep the existing core happy while putting his stamp on the program, and it did not work. Arizona dropped from 10 wins to four, and from No. 8 in passing offense to No. 42. Fifita played his worst football.
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After that season, Brennan drew a line in the sand. He wanted only people in the building who wanted to be part of Arizona football, and he started by hiring Doege.
The Plan Doege Gave Him
Doege had coached at USC and at Ole Miss under Lane Kiffin before Charles Huff gave him his first play-calling job at Marshall in 2024. The Thundering Herd won their first conference title in 10 years. Offers followed, but Arizona "just felt right" to Doege, who cited Brennan and his history with Fifita.
In an early film session, Doege brought up a batted Fifita pass that would have been a 60-yard touchdown with a way around the defender. Fifita braced for a grilling. Doege told him something else.
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"Man, you did everything right on this play. The defender just happened to get a hand on it."
Doege saw what Fifita was rather than what he lacked. His batted-ball rate was no higher than taller quarterbacks', and he saw the field with tremendous vision. Doege describes his offense as more of a flex or pro-style raid, with Air Raid passing concepts, plenty of formations and a pro-style running game. With McMillan gone, the offense leaned on Fifita's processing and decision-making.
"The dude can be really special; he just needs a plan," Doege said.
The Best Season of His Career
Fifita never considered leaving Arizona after his frustrating sophomore year. In 2025 he threw 11 touchdowns without an interception over a four-game stretch and led a five-game winning streak to close the regular season, including a 23-7 win over rival Arizona State. This season he has taken over as the program leader in passing yards and wins. He has thrown for at least 275 yards and two touchdowns in each of five straight wins, and he is one of 11 Power Four quarterbacks averaging at least 9.0 yards per attempt.
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"I think the national narrative around Noah is slow and late to the game," Brennan said. He added: "He's special, and it should be broadcast on every station in the world about how awesome he is."
One week Fifita beat Doege to the check at breakfast. Later that day, Fifita took his fiancé and several offensive linemen to his favorite Teppanyaki restaurant, a Sunday night tradition, and the restaurant turned him down at the register. Doege had already called to pay hours earlier. "That bill was crazy," Fifita laughed.
Homecoming in Lubbock
Doege, a West Texas native recruited by Mike Leach to run the Air Raid, threw for 8,209 yards and 67 touchdowns over his final two seasons at Texas Tech, in 2011 and 2012. His parents and in-laws still live in Lubbock, and his grandparents wear the Block T every day. Arizona is 6-1 and No. 22 in the AP Top 25 released Oct. 25. Texas Tech, the reigning Big 12 champion, is 6-1 and No. 13 in the same poll. The Wildcats are 15-5 over their last 20 games and last played for a conference title in 2014.
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"There's something extra for me, I'd be lying if I said there wasn't," Doege said. He says it comes without animosity and that he truly loves his quarterback.
"I would love for him to win on the turf that was blood, sweat and tears for me," Doege said.
"For whatever reason, as weird as it sounds, that would be special for me."
