Arizona promotes LBs coach Danny Gonzales to DC, hires DL coach Joe Salave'a

Arizona didn’t have to look far for its next defensive coordinator. Additionally, the Wildcats hired one of the greatest defensive linemen in program history to lead the UA’s defensive front.

The Wildcats promoted linebackers coach and former special teams coordinator Danny Gonzales to defensive coordinator and hired Miami defensive line coach and associate head coach Joe Salave’a for a similar role.

Salave’a replaces defensive line coach Joe Seumalo, who is no longer with the program, after one season. Seumalo followed Arizona head coach Brent Brennan from San Jose State to the UA last year.

Gonzales is Arizona’s seventh defensive play-caller since the 2019 season, joining Marcel Yates, Chuck Cecil (interim), Paul Rhoads, Don Brown, Johnny Nansen and Duane Akina, who returned to coaching UA’s defensive backs, a role he held in 2023.

Gonzales is the second coordinator hire for the Wildcats this season, along with new offensive coordinator Seth Doege, who replaced Dino Babers. The Wildcats still need to hire a special teams coordinator.

Before joining Brent Brennan’s staff at Arizona last year as a linebackers coach and special teams coordinator, Gonzales was the head coach at his alma mater, New Mexico, for four seasons and posted an 11-32 record. As a player, the Albuquerque native was a punter and safety for the Lobos.

After a stint as a graduate assistant at New Mexico, Gonzales was promoted to safeties and special teams coach for the following three seasons from 2006-08. Gonzales joined Rocky Long’s staff at San Diego State as the Aztecs’ safeties coach from 2011-16, before becoming SDSU’s defensive coordinator in 2017.

For two seasons in 2018 and ’19, Gonzales was Arizona State’s defensive coordinator and associate head coach under Herm Edwards. Under Gonzales’ direction, ASU linebacker Merlin Robertson was named the Pac-12 Freshman Defensive Player of the Year and became the first Sun Devil freshman to lead the team in tackles since Jason Shivers in 2001.

In 2019, ASU ranked 22nd nationally in rushing defense and 19th in yards per carry (3.4). The Sun Devils were also 18th in college football in takeaways (22) during the ’19 season.

This season, Arizona’s defense was plagued with injuries and played without three defensive captains in linebacker Jacob Manu, safety Gunner Maldonado and nickel back Treydan Stukes — who all suffered season-ending leg injuries — in the second half of the season. Due to the accumulated injuries, the Wildcats relied on several inexperienced players and shifted their 4-2-5 base defense to a dime package.

The Wildcats had the third-worst scoring defense in the Big 12 and surrendered 31.8 points per game. Arizona also had the second-worst rushing defense in the conference and allowed 175.3 rushing yards per game. The Wildcats lost eight games by a combined 191 points this season.

Gonzales will now lead Arizona’s defense that returns seven starters: defensive backs Stukes, Dalton Johnson and Genesis Smith, linebacker Taye Brown, defensive tackle Chubba Ma’ae and defensive ends Chase Kennedy and Tre Smith.

The Wildcats lost productive starters in Manu (Washington), cornerback Tacario Davis (Washington) and Ta’ita’i Uiagalalei (Washington) and Maldonado (Kansas State).

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Between the transfer portal and the 2025 recruiting class, Arizona has 21 scholarship defensive newcomers for the upcoming season.

UA great Salave’a returns

Salave’a, an American Samoa native and Polynesian Football Hall of Fame inductee, was a part of Arizona’s Desert Swarm defense as a defensive tackle from 1994-97 and was a team captain for his final two seasons at the UA. Salave’a was a two-time All-Pac-10 selection under late UA head coach Dick Tomey.

The Tennessee Titans selected Salave’a in the 1998 NFL Draft. Salave’a played three seasons for the Titans and was a part of the Super Bowl 34 team that lost to the Rams in 1999. After the 2001 season, Salave’a played for the San Diego Chargers, Baltimore Ravens and Washington Redskins from 2003-06. In eight seasons in the NFL, Salave’a appeared in 100 games with 28 starts, registering 117 tackles and 7.5 sacks.

After his playing career, Salave’a took his talents to coaching and started at San Jose State as a defensive line coach under Tomey, who was the Spartans’ head coach. Brennan was the Spartans’ tight ends coach and co-offensive coordinator during Salave’a’s time at San Jose State.

Salave’a returned to his alma mater to become Arizona’s defensive line coach in 2010 under former head coach Mike Stoops. Salave’a was hired before the Wildcats’ loss to Oklahoma State in the Alamo Bowl in 2010 and coached at Arizona for Stoops’ last season in 2011, before the UA head coach was fired halfway through the season. Salave’a was not retained by former Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez in 2012.

Salave’a joined Washington State’s staff led by Mike Leach and was eventually promoted to assistant head coach. Salave’a mentored former WSU standout defensive end Hercules Mata’afa, who was a consensus All-American in 2017.

In 2017, Salave’a was hired by Oregon as a defensive line coach and co-defensive coordinator, then followed head coach Mario Cristobal to Miami for a similar role in 2022. Salave’a and Pro Football Hall of Famer Jason Taylor coached the Hurricanes’ defensive line the last two seasons.

Under Salave’a’s direction, Oregon ended the 2019 season Top 25 in scoring defense, rushing defense, total defense, sacks and tackles for loss.

Salave’a recruited and developed Oregon defensive end and former five-star recruit Kayvon Thibodeaux, who just finished his third season with the New York Giants. Thibodeaux is the first defensive player in Oregon history to become a consensus All-American.

Recruiting Polynesian players has been a hallmark of Arizona’s football program since Tomey’s first season in 1987, and Salave’a has been one of the most prominent ambassadors for football in American Samoa and Hawaii.

In 2001, Salave’a started the “Joe Salave’a Foundation” to help Polynesian youths play football through free clinics.

In 2005, Salave’a’s foundation was honored by Congressman Eni Faleomavaega and former U.S. President George W. Bush at a White House Ceremony for Asian-Pacific Heritage Month.