If there’s one thing that’s for sure, it’s that there’s never a dull moment in the offseason for Arizona Football. After a 4-8 season, many believed the roster would be gutted, and that head coach Brent Brennan may even be packing his bags. Instead, he doubled down, hiring a young, dynamic offensive coordinator in Seth Doege, bringing back star quarterback Noah Fifita, and putting together an exciting class of high school and transfer portal commits.
With the offensive side of the ball sured up, Arizona announced on Thursday that Danny Gonzales has been promoted to defensive coordinator, and that Desert Swarm legend Joe Salave’a is returning to Tucson to coach the Wildcats’ defensive line, giving what Brent Brennan thinks is, “a chance to have everybody in the right seat.”
Danny Gonzales is no stranger to dialing up defenses. He served as the defensive coordinator at San Diego State in 2017, and led the defense at Arizona State in 2018-19. Before leading Arizona’s linebacker and special teams last season, Gonzales spent four years at the helm of the New Mexico Lobos.
“It’s an elite job in this country. It’s one of the best jobs in the country, and I’m excited to be here,” said Gonzales on Friday.
For Joe Salave’a, when he landed in Tucson on Thursday evening, he wasn’t just arriving for the next stop on his coaching journey. He was coming home.
“This has always been a place that was close to my heart because of the experience of the folks that poured into me. I never really was detached, I always try to keep up with it, but never really had the opportunity…when Brennan reached out, it was surreal because I can go back to how this place was built upon and my journey.”
“It wasn’t until the plane started to descend that I saw Coach Tomey’s face. Rich Ellerson. The former teammates that I played with, some that have already passed. Very surreal. What we’re sitting at wasn’t here, and I was sharing with Coach Brennan just how grateful that I am to be able to have this opportunity to be allowed to be here. It’s probably going to take a couple days to let it all sink in.”
While the dust is still settling and Arizona is still building out its coaching staff and transfer portal class, Danny Gonzales already has some ideas for the Wildcats. After spending last season with Arizona’s linebackers, Gonzales says he doesn’t have a specific scheme he plans to run, but instead wants to build the defense around the best players in the room.
“We’ll go through our room. We’ll put our top 22 together, and then whoever our best players are – if we have four D-linemen that we think are elite, then that’s what we’re going to major in. If we have three D-linemen and three linebackers we think were elite, that’s what we’re going to major in. We’re going to have four-down front, five-down front, three-man front, I mean, what gives you the best chance to be successful every week.”
With the injuries Arizona battled on the defensive side of the ball last season, a more fluid approach like that allows Arizona to pivot based on who is healthy from week to week, as well as tailor its defensive packages based on opponents’ offensive schemes.
Even thought Salave’a says it’s going to take a couple days for everything to “sink in” and re-acclimate to Tucson, he also already has plans for what he wants out of Arizona’s front seven.
“We’re going to get back to that gratitude. We’re going to breath that to our players. The discipline, and just the joy to be able to come and be a part of this journey because we’re going to get going and it’s going to be exciting.”
“The pedigree of the play at the trenches is toughness, the mentality, and the competitive spirit. Those are the things we’ve got to make sure that everybody’s on board with. Baring the Xs and Os, we want to be able to count on guys that are willing to do the dirty work.”
And while so much has changed since Joe Salave’a suited up in an Arizona uniform, one thing that has stayed consistent is the Polynesian Pipeline to Tucson.
“I think it helped propel and elevate the program. I think Coach Tomey saw that a miles away, even way back in the University of Hawaii, the thing when you’re dealing with Polynesian culture is loyalty and the warrior mentality. And Coach saw that and brought that here over from the islands.”
With Danny Gonzales staying put in Tucson, and Joe Salave’a back home, the last piece of the coaching staff puzzle for Arizona is a special teams coordinator. After Danny Gonzales split time between the linebackers and special teams unit last season, Brent Brennan wants someone who will focus solely on the specialists. The Wildcats have also put together an impressive transfer portal class, adding 24 players from the P4, Division I, and FCS levels.