Arizona's Jacob Manu 'the best linebacker in the Big 12'; Justin Flowe made 'exceptional progress'

He’s a little biased, but Arizona linebackers coach Danny Gonzales didn’t mince words when sharing what he thinks of Jacob Manu, the leader of his group — and the Wildcats’ defense.

“I think we’ve got the best linebacker in the Big 12,” said Gonzales, who joined the UA after serving as head coach at New Mexico. “I got no problem saying that.

“I think Jacob Manu proved last year how special of a player he is,” Gonzlaes added. “I say it without hesitation.”

Gonzales added Manu “has a high football IQ as any player that I’ve been around, which is a lot of fun.”

During Manu’s team-captain campaign as a sophomore, the “Will” linebacker became the first Wildcat to lead the Pac-12 in tackles (116) since Scooby Wright in 2014, and the first UA player to have over 100 tackles in a season since Colin Schooler in 2018. Manu earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors and was named to the Associated Press All-Pac-12 team.

In sync with his longtime high school and college teammates in quarterback Noah Fifita and wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, Manu helped galvanize the UA roster after former head coach Jedd Fisch and his staff left for Washington.

“The coaches that came in, we had nothing to do with those guys sticking together,” Gonzales said. “The spring practices and offseason workouts were an audition for the coaches on these guys.”

Manu and several members of last season’s Arizona squad announced their decision to stay for head coach Brent Brennan’s first season via a cinematically-produced hype video played at McKale Center during a timeout break at the Arizona-UCLA men’s basketball game.

“That’s one of the best things I’ve seen in my 25 years of coaching,” Gonzales said.

“I think this team has done a phenomenal job of one, being together with all of the distractions that are out there, with the transfer portal, academics, late spring ball, new coaching staff,” Gonzales added. “You’ve gotta give this football team credit, they fought through some of that adversity that’ll help as we get into game preparation come August.”

Manu and Gonzales, like Arizona’s offensive players and coaches, have worked together to marry concepts from the previous regime to the Wildcats’ updated defense under coordinator Duane Akina; The Wildcats will still run a 4-2-5 base defense, the scheme used the last two seasons under Johnny Nansen.

Gonzales and Manu have had a symbiotic relationship since they first started working together.

“Any coach that says they know it all, they’re full of it,” Gonzales said. “That was a great opportunity, and the relationship to build with Manu has been a lot of fun.”

But in linebacker parlance, who’s the “Mike” to Manu’s “Will?” It’s a question that goes back to last season, when the Wildcats cycled through four different starters at “Mike” linebacker, including defensive back Martell Irby, next to Manu in 13 games.

“Trying to find the next of that, we’ve had three guys step up and do some good things,” Gonzales said.

The duo of sophomores Taye Brown, who was consistently in the starting lineup during spring practices, and Kamuela Ka’aihue had “an exceptional spring” after spending their first season at the UA as special teams standouts. Speaking about second-year linebacker Leviticus Su’a, the Wildcats’ top-rated defensive player from 2023, Gonzales said “schematically, it’s not an issue, it’s a matter of full-speed reps.”

Justin Flowe, a former Oregon transfer, made “exceptional progress from some of the assignment mistakes he made last year, which is a huge-value bonus,” Gonzales said. Flowe’s 6-2, 225-pound body frame, explosive tackling and fearless mindset make him a valuable asset to the Wildcats. This spring, Flowe was tracked running 22 miles per hour, “so obviously he can run and has that skillset.”

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Flowe splashed into Arizona’s defense following the Mississippi State game in Starkville last season, when he tied Manu with a career-high 12 tackles, but sometimes freelanced and struggled in pass coverage, which led to his tapered production. To maximize Flowe’s strengths, Gonzales challenged Arizona’s linebacker to “limit focus.”

“If we can limit what he has to focus on, down in and down out and he knows exactly what we’re doing, he’s going to be a really good player and help us,” Gonzales said of Flowe. “He’s going to be a core four special teams guy because of his athletic ability. He’s got the potential to cover punts, he’s got the potential to block punts and do all those things. He’s one of the first ones down on kickoff.”

Added Gonzales: “It’s our job as coaches to put him in position to be successful and use that ability.

Gonzales said he heavily recruited flow “out of Upland High School (in Calfornia), and now I’m excited to get the opportunity to work with him.”

Flowe was noticeably effective as a blitzing linebacker this spring, disrupting multiple plays in the backfield for sacks and tackles for loss. Flowe as a downhill and pass-rushing linebacker, a similar role as Micah Parsons with the Dallas Cowboys, could be a cheat code for Arizona’s defense: See ball, get ball.

“We gotta find pieces that don’t confuse him, and make him play fast. That goes for our entire 11 on defense,” Gonzales said. “If they’re confused or thinking of what we’re doing, they’re not going to be as good as they can be.

“We’re giving him the ability to play fast and do things full speed,” Gonzales added. “Our job is to make sure those 11 guys know exactly what they’re doing, know what they’re doing and how to do it — and they can do it in a reckless manner. He’s a big piece of that.”

And blitzing is an essential component to how Gonzales’ linebackers are going to to play this fall.

“Of course we’re going to blitz. If you know my personality, we’re going to blitz, and if coach Akina tells me, ‘No,’ I’m going to fight him on it, and coach Akina is not that way,” Gonzales said. “We’re going to try and get after people.”

Gonzales “knows what he’s doing up front,” Manu said, adding that “I love blitzing, so it’s good for me.”

Manu and Flowe “are slippery inside” as blitzers.

“Now it becomes, ‘How can we make them technicians? How can we take advantage?’ The idea of being successful at football is, ‘Where can you find six inches to give you an advantage? Is it eye placement? Is it footwork? Is it foot pattern?’ Coaches don’t win games, players win games,” Gonzales said.

“It’s our job to give them every tool that they can. Right now with Flowe, when we’re blitzing, it’s, ‘What move are you doing?,” he added. “You have to be able to react and counter whatever they give you? But you have to have something in mind and if they counter your move, you gotta have something.’”

Although it’s not official yet, Gonzales noted the Wildcats are likely adding one more linebacker, New Mexico transfer Alec Marenco, a 6-3, 230-pound El Paso, Texas native, who played for Gonzales at UNM. Marenco had 96 tackles and 3.5 stops for loss in three seasons with the Lobos. Arizona also signed incoming freshmen Jabari Mann and Stacy Bey for 2024, and returns walk-on and Tucson native Tyler Mustain.

“I think our room is pretty solid. We’re going to add one more. ... You never want to count on a true freshman to play. For every true freshman you play, you lose a football game. We’re at a point in this program, and give the previous staff credit because they did a really good job recruiting what’s on our campus, we’re not counting on those pieces coming in,” Gonzales said. “If they work out on special teams and they give us reps here and there, that’s an added bonus.

“I like what we’re adding to our room.”