Nick Foles joins Arizona's growing lineup of sports broadcasters | Greg Hansen

Tucson football fans will have a familiar voice to follow beyond Arizona Stadium. Nick Foles, the former Arizona quarterback who starred for the Wildcats from 2009 through 2011, has moved into a new phase of his career as a football broadcaster. The Philadelphia Eagles quarterback who won Super Bowl 52 in 2017 is now one of two analysts handling pregame and postgame coverage for Netflix’s NFL broadcasts. His arrival adds another prominent former Arizona athlete to the national sports media landscape.

Foles worked his first Netflix game last Thursday, when the Los Angeles Rams played the San Francisco 49ers. For Tucson residents who watched him during his Arizona years, the transition offers a chance to see the former Wildcat explain the game from a different position. Foles played quarterback at Arizona during a period that also included Rob Gronkowski, who was his teammate in 2008 and 2009 before becoming one of Fox’s most recognizable football personalities. The two former Wildcats now appear in separate national broadcasting roles, extending Arizona’s influence well beyond the field.

Foles is joining an unusually deep group of former Arizona athletes who have become prominent broadcasters. Tedy Bruschi works as an ESPN NFL analyst, while Richard Jefferson is ABC’s leading NBA analyst. Other former Wildcats in the business include Terry Francona and Sean Elliott, both with ESPN, and Steve Kerr, who works with CBS. Arizona has long carried the nickname Point Guard U because of its history at the position. With that many former athletes appearing on major sports networks, another possible identity is beginning to emerge: Sportscasters U.

The connection between Arizona athletics and broadcasting also runs through the people who document the teams in Tucson. Brian Jeffries recently began his 40th season as the play by play voice of Arizona football. Nearby in the Casino Del Sol Stadium press box, Tom Duddleston marked his 44th year leading the university’s statistics crew. That group records Arizona’s statistics play by play and season by season, and Duddleston also heads the men’s basketball statistics operation. He served as Arizona’s sports information director through the 2013 season. The university honored his long service by placing his name on a wall inside the football stadium’s press box.

Foles’ move into television comes as Arizona athletics continues to send former Wildcats into high profile roles across sports. The department, however, also experienced a change behind the scenes last week. Phil Maben, who had been part of Arizona’s development staff since 2013, accepted a job as deputy athletic director at the University of Hawaii. Maben’s family also has strong Tucson and Arizona connections. His wife, Brandy Collins Maben, was a captain on Arizona’s 2008 NCAA championship swimming team and previously competed as an all city swimmer and track athlete at Sabino High School. She later served as an Arizona assistant swimming coach from 2012 through 2017.

Another former Arizona standout is trying to return to competition after a difficult stretch. Aari McDonald, the Wildcats’ point guard on the 2021 Final Four team, signed last week with the Minnesota Lynx, who led the WNBA with four regular season games remaining. McDonald had not played in the league since July 2025 because of a series of injuries. The third overall selection in the 2021 WNBA draft, she has played for Atlanta, Indianapolis and Las Vegas during five WNBA seasons and has averaged 8.3 points in her career. Her highest annual salary has been $89,303. The two players selected before her, Texas center Charli Collier and Finland’s Awak Kuier, have also had trouble establishing full time WNBA roles.

Arizona’s athletic reach is visible at the youth level as well. The First Tee of Tucson has sent 13 players to the PGA Tour Champions’ PURE Insurance Open since 2014. The tournament returns next weekend at Pebble Beach, where Jim Furyk and Bernhard Langer are among the past winners. This year, First Tee player and coach Preston Flores, a Salpointe Catholic senior, was invited to compete in the amateur portion of the three day event. Flores teaches and plays at Fred Enke and Randolph golf courses. The local program reaches about 900 girls and boys each year at seven Tucson courses, and executive director Judy McDermott describes Flores as a popular figure among the participants.

The Wildcats also remain represented in the NFL, although not at the same level as some other Big 12 programs. Arizona had 17 former players on NFL opening day rosters, ranking eighth among Big 12 schools. Utah led with 30, followed by TCU with 29 and Texas Tech with 22. Kansas State had seven, Kansas had 10, and Arizona State had 13, tied with Colorado and UCF. The conference had 11 quarterbacks in the NFL, but only two were starters, Iowa State’s Brock Purdy with San Francisco and Texas Tech’s Patrick Mahomes with Kansas City. Even the business side of professional sports has Arizona ties. Class of 1973 graduate Arte Moreno owns the Los Angeles Angels, while 1974 graduate Woody Johnson owns the New York Jets. Moreno’s Angels were completing an 11th consecutive losing season, and Johnson’s Jets were coming off six straight seasons with 11 or more losses. Moreno bought the Angels for $184 million in 2003 and has apparently agreed to sell the club for $4 billion to Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke. Johnson bought the Jets for $643 million in 2006.