Catching up with Brian Jeffries, longtime voice of the Wildcats
Brian Jeffries has called more than 1,500 Wildcat football, basketball and baseball games.
Arizona student-athletes are returning to the field, thanks to a Sept. 24 vote by Pac-12 university presidents and chancellors to bring back fall sports, starting with football.
Fans, however, will not be returning to the stands, at least in 2020. That means, more than ever, they will be depending on Brian Jeffries, director of broadcasting and the voice of the Wildcats, for their football fix.
In his 30-plus years on the job, Jeffries has called more than 1,500 Wildcat football, basketball and baseball games and has been part of the Arizona Athletics family, which includes nearly 500 student-athletes competing in 21 sports. Over the years, Arizona teams have won 22 national championships and produced 102 Academic All-Americans.
But none of Jeffries' broadcasts over the past three decades has been quite like the broadcasts that he is preparing for this season, as he won't be able to feed off the energy of the crowd or interview coaches and players in person.
In the video below, Andy Ober, assistant news director with University Communications, talks with Jeffries about how he spent the last several sports-free months, his preparations for the season, the safety protocols in place for upcoming broadcasts, and his feelings on how the football team will fare when it returns to action in November. (Hear more from Jeffries in the "Bear Down with Brian Jeffries" series on the Arizona Wildcats YouTube channel, where he interviews coaches, administrators and student-athletes representing the University's slate of men's and women's sports.)