Arizona is going to have a different look to their team this year after Jedd Fisch was poached away by previous Pac-12 conference foe Washington this offseason following their impressive 10-win showing.

The good news for the Wildcats is they are in good hands with Brent Brennan taking over.

As they entered camp with their opener now less than a month away, this was a great opportunity to see how his philosophy might be translating to this group of players that has plenty of stars who are returning and some transfers coming in from San Jose State who followed their head coach.

What was interesting about how the staff played out when Brennan came to Arizona was he didn’t bring his offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven with him, instead opting to hire recently fired Syracuse head coach Dino Babers to take over that role.

Babers first got into coaching on the offensive side of the ball as a running backs coach at Eastern Illinois in 1987. He shifted around a couple different schools as wide receivers coach before coming to Arizona in 1995 where he eventually became the offensive coordinator from 1998-2000.

After three stints as a head coach, he is now returning back to the Wildcats under Brennan.

Getting things operational under a new coordinator for everyone involved will present some growing pains, something that was evident in practice on Friday.

It was documented that their offensive line had some major struggles during that session, but even their star quarterback Noah Fifita was missing some easy throws he normally makes.

However, Babers doesn’t seem to be too concerned with what took place because he attributed the issues to their installation of new offensive plays as the reason why things were out of rhythm, per Jason Scheer of 247Sports.

When everyone is on the same page by the time Game 1 rolls around, Scheer notes that this offense should provide opposing defenses with multiple challenges. Although they are keeping much of the same terminology that Fisch had last season, the overall offense will be different.

All in all, issues caused from an install aren’t a cause for concern.

The only thing that could be a problem is if the players aren’t able to pick up on things at a rapid pace.

This would prevent them from hitting the ground running in the opener, but the expectation is that their all-world wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan should be back in the mix which will help them when they take the field.

An Arizona winery has made the USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards 2024 for best tasting rooms in the country.

Los Milics Vineyards, in the southern Arizona community of Elgin, is the No. 2 tasting room in the U.S.. The list came out July 31.

A panel of experts, including editors at USA TODAY and 10Best.com, selected the nominees. The public then voted for their favorites.

Pavle Milic, co-owner of FnB restaurant in Scottsdale, opened Los Milics tasting room in Elgin in 2022. Before that, Milic and Mo Garfinkle purchased 20 acres of land in southern Arizona to establish their vineyard in 2018. With that, Milic’s decade-long dream came to fruition.

“First, we thank the panel of experts who nominated us for this honor,” Milic said in a press release. “Secondly, a huge thank you to everyone who voted for us. We are grateful to all of you for your belief in Los Milics Vineyards and your support.”

What to know about Los Milics Vineyards

In 2022, Milic hired the architectural firm of Chen + Suchart to design a tasting room akin to an art installation at the vineyard. The result is a beautifully modern and minimalist space with floor-to-ceiling windows that reveal dramatic views of the grapevines and the Mustang Mountains.

For those wishing to stay overnight, the winery has nine one-bedroom, one-bathroom casitas.

Los Milics also has a tasting room in Old Town Scottsdale.

This is not Los Milics’ first award. In 2023, the Elgin tasting room was named one of the three best new wine tasting rooms in USA TODAY’s list of 10 best new winery experiences in the US.

“This award belongs to the entire Los Milics team who believe in our vision to bring a new wine tasting experience to Arizona,” Garfinkle said in the press release.

“Our goal has always been to make excellent wines and invite our guests to experience them in an exceptional setting with superb service. We are still a young winery, so for our tasting room to be voted the 2nd best in the US is a huge honor for us.”

Details: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursdays-Mondays. 423 Upper Elgin Road, Elgin. 520-221-0180, losmilicsvineyards.com.

Cheers: Phoenix bars named 2 of the best in US. Everything to know

Reach the reporter at BAnooshahr@azcentral.com. Follow @banooshahr on X, formerly Twitter.

PHOENIX – A tragic trend is on the rise in Arizona. Children are dying from exposure to fentanyl.

“It is heartbreaking,” said Kenneth McKinley, Director of Childhelp Arizona. 

The Arizona Department of Child Safety recorded 34 child deaths due to fentanyl last year. Eight of those children were under the age of five. 

“Almost on a weekly basis, I’ll get a call-out that says there’s a three-year-old, a two-year-old, a one-year-old at the emergency room at Phoenix Children’s and they’re administering Narcan,” McKinley said.

Phoenix Police say the rising use of fentanyl is due in part to its low cost. 

“Heroin, methamphetamines, they were higher costs. We’re seeing these pills as cheap as 50 cents. So, again, they’re very accessible, they’re very plentiful. Even the residue itself can be fatal,” said sargent Phil Krynsky of Phoenix Police.

“This can be found in locations where kids are supposed to frequent”

Not all cases of exposure come from a household where drug use is happening. 

“This can be found in locations where kids are supposed to frequent: parks, or just walking down the street with their parents, sitting at a bus stop. Sometimes individuals that see law enforcement and they ditch whatever drugs that they have, and again, they leave it behind because it’s not that high of a cost and it could be in the grasp of kids,” Krynsky said. 

Once the powerful drug is in that grasp, the aftermath of any exposure sticks with families. 

Family history of drug use is a contributing factor

“The families – I think – deal with a lot of blame and guilt and shame and that sort of thing and we know that there’s a connection to – even outside of drug exposure – there’s a connection between drug use, family history of drug use, and child abuse,” McKinley added.

Fighting the epidemic includes educating the public and working to break the cycle of drug use in families in every community. 

“Getting it out, letting us know, educating our children, and again getting people off the use of these drugs or at least letting them know that one pill that you take or you try could be your last one,” Krynsky says.

Officials encourage people to keep Narcan handy

In Arizona, any licensed pharmacist can distribute Narcan over the counter and it’s widely available through various organizations and agencies. 

Officials encourage anyone who knows a drug user to keep Narcan handy in case of an accidental overdose.