When Seth Doege was asked about Arizona defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales being nominated for the Broyles Award, the first-year UA offensive coordinator was quick to respond.
Doege's answer: "As he should be."
Gonzales was recently named one of 63 nominees for the Broyles Award, which is an annual award given to the top assistant coach in college football. Arizona State defensive coordinator Brian Ward was also nominated for the Broyles Award.
"That's a team award," Gonzales said. "Coaches shouldn't get credit. They should get blame. We get good money to set this thing up. ... Coaches should get blamed, players win games. That's a program award. It's a cool honor."
Gonzales later added, "From (head coach Brent Brennan) giving me an opportunity, the great players we have on all three sides, it's a great honor. Everybody gets a piece of that. It's really cool."
In Gonzales' first season as defense coordinator, Arizona is 21st in college football in total defense, sixth in turnovers gained, 14th in tackles for loss, second in team pass efficiency, 24th in scoring defense, sixth in passing yards allowed, sixth in interceptions and 18th in first downs allowed.
Arizona defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales hands out fives to his unit after a stand against Weber State, Sept. 6, 2025, at Arizona Stadium.
Arizona's 23 takeaways this season is tied for the sixth-most in college football this season. The 23 takeaways are 11 more than the team created last season — and the most since the Wildcats had 25 in 2017.
Just four of Arizona's 11 opponents this season have more yards in the second half than the first half — two of them (Weber State and Colorado) were blowout wins that had reserves playing in the fourth quarter.
Arizona's defense has allowed a combined 35 points in the first quarter of the Wildcats' last three wins against Kansas, Cincinnati and Baylor. After the first quarter of those games, the Wildcats have only surrendered 23 points in a combined nine total quarters — an average of 2.5 points per quarter.
"It's fun to be an OC when the defense is good," Doege said. "We can struggle in the game and still be in the game. You've seen that this year. There'll be times where we have lulls offensively and our defense bails us out and keeps us in games and we finally figure it out and find a way to win in the end.
Arizona defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales laughs during a press conference with head coach Brent Brennan and associate head coach/defensive line coach Joe Salave’a at Arizona Stadium on Jan. 10, 2025.
"That's just what Danny does and the standard he set the moment he got hired and the culture that he built. ... I've gotten to sit in those meetings in the spring and fall camp, and I knew a long time ago that we were going to be good on defense, nobody else did, but I had to go against it every day."
Added Doege: "You're always going to have a chance as an offense to go win the game. ... There's no doubt in my mind, he deserved that nomination and, in my opinion, the award. He's the top assistant in the country, there's no doubt."
Friday will be Gonzales' second go-around as a defensive coordinator in the Territorial Cup. Gonzales went 2-0 against the Wildcats as a defensive play-caller under former ASU head coach Herm Edwards, before he accepted the head coaching job at his alma mater New Mexico.
"I think it's one of the greatest rivalries in college football," Gonzales said of the Territorial Cup. "It goes all the way back to 1899."
When Gonzales was interviewed leading up to the 2019 Territorial Cup, he said he's a "big Prop 200 guy," citing the 1958 proposition to change Arizona State College to Arizona State University, which many in Tucson voted against.
Arizona defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales and the defensive unit watch the big-screen replays during a review on targeting by linebacker Jabari Mann against Weber State in the second quarter on Sept. 6, 2025, at Arizona Stadium. Mann was eventually assessed the penalty and ejected from the game.
In an era with artificial intelligence and deep-fake videos, Gonzales joked on Tuesday, "You probably saw all of the 'AI' stuff over the last couple of days online."
"I talked mad stuff about this place," he said. "You gotta be all-in where you are. ... I should've came out with a shirt that said Prop 200, because I was talking about all of the anti-200 stuff. It's really cool and I think it just adds to it. (The rivalry's) got some intense moments."
