Arizona Wildcats 'have some fighters' on defense, 'chance to have a special team' as opener nears

For the most part, Arizona Wildcats’ defense, in comparison to the UA offense, appears to be in midseason form.

But the Wildcats are still shuffling several pieces around on their defensive line.

In a goal-line segment during Arizona’s 11th practice of fall training camp on Tuesday, the offense clobbered the UA defense and scored multiple touchdowns.

At the conclusion of the period, Arizona defensive coordinator Duane Akina gathered every available defensive player and gave them a fiery and passionate talking-to.

“I can’t say everything he said, but he said they were basically whooping us and we gotta step it up,” said Arizona linebacker Taye Brown, who is currently the Wildcats’ starting “Mike” linebacker alongside preseason All-Big 12 choice Jacob Manu.

Arizona linebackers coach and special teams coordinator Danny Gonzales’ interpretation of Akina’s speech Tuesday night: “’You got your tails whooped, so how are you going to respond?

“Are you going to lie down and let them continue to beat you up for the rest of practice or are you going to respond?’”

Arizona’s defense responded. After safety Gunner Maldonado got trucked by Ole Miss transfer running back Kedrick Reescano, the senior defensive back laid the boom on tight end Roberto Miranda and then intercepted backup quarterback Cole Tannenbaum. Defensive end Dominic Lolesio and USC transfer defensive lineman Stanley Ta’ufo’ou combined for a sack, before defensive tackle Keanu Mailoto tackled running back Rayshon Luke for a loss of 4 yards. Linebacker Justin Flowe sacked San Jose State transfer Anthony Garcia.

“I’m glad they responded,” Gonzales said. “It means we have some fighters on there — and those guys like playing football. We have a chance to have a special team. We gotta stay healthy. Both sides of the ball have to respond to adversity. I thought they responded.

“The offense did an outstanding job in the short-yardage period. The defense gained some momentum back in the next period. That’s kind of what you want. At practice, you want a slugfest. One guy takes a punch, another guy takes a punch, and keep landing.”

If the Wildcats stay healthy this season, “we have a chance to be good on defense,” Gonzales said.

“I think up front, we have a chance to be really good,” he added. “But that word ‘chance’ means nothing. It’s like ‘potential.’ If somebody tells you that you got potential, you better hope that word goes away, because that means you ain’t living up to what they think you can do. We can be potentially good on defense. We’ll see.”

Gonzales spoke with assembled media following Arizona’s Tuesday evening practice, discussing the depth at linebacker, coach-to-player communication in helmets on defense and who’s in line to replace former All-Pac-12 punter Kyle Ostendorp.

Earlier in camp, you anointed Brown as the starter alongside Manu. What have you seen from that tandem and other linebackers in your room?

A: “Manu and Taye have done a really good job of working together in that rotation.

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“Taye is becoming a really good football player, and he gets better. Those two have worked really well together. We’re going to have a rotation. (Justin Flowe) has some unique skills that we need to find ways to use. I think we’re making progress in establishing some depth that I was very concerned about coming out of the spring.

“Then you got guys like (Leviticus) Su’a and (Tulane transfer) Jared Small who are going to help out on special teams and try to find a role on defense with different packages, and they’re coming along.

“I’m going to say it again, Jacob Manu is the best linebacker in the Big 12, and I proudly say that. I told him, ‘I’m putting a target on your back, man. People are going to come and prove that they’re better than you. Let them prove it.’ Jacob Manu has earned that stuff. He’s gotta be healthy for us to win a bunch of football games. He’s one of the toughest kids I’ve ever been around, one of the biggest alpha males I’ve ever been around. He’s fun to coach and when you coach those guys the hardest and get after them, you got a chance.

“Our machine rolls when Jacob Manu is in there. When he’s not, we need to find the next man up to do that.”

One defensive player will wear the coach-to-player communication helmet this season, an element adopted from the NFL. How is the defense working through a new addition to college football?

A: “We’re doing a lot of talking throughout the country with how people in college are going to handle it and how people in the NFL are handling it. I reached out to Marvin Lewis from the Las Vegas Raiders, because they’ve been able to do that and we can see how we use that. There’s still going to be a signaling aspect.

“It’s different on offense and defense. If we’re huddling on offense, it’s easy to use that thing. If you don’t, you still have the signal. I think stealing signals is a big thing. It’s a lot bigger than people think. The helmet (communication) can be a big deal, but we’re still going to have to signal on defense.

Who would be the player using the helmet for coach-to-player communication?

A: “It would be Manu.”

Are you going to be the coach communicating to Manu? Or would it be Akina?

A: “Definitely up in the air. Right now it’s a walkie-talkie. For 27 years of doing this, I’ve never had to hold a walkie-talkie and then try to coach and then try to talk, so we’re figuring that aspect out. I don’t know if you watched Coach Akina on the sideline. He’s called plays for a while and one of the best things he does is sidelines adjustments. He wears his headset on his shoulder about 90% of the game. That’s going to have to change a little bit. Us adjusting to all of those things and being able to communicate, we’re still working that whole deal out.

“Then we gotta practice with (Microsoft Windows tablets) on the sideline, and I’m a little disappointed with the (Microsoft Windows tablets) to be honest with you. Coach Akina — and this is going to sound a little arrogant and I don’t mean it to be — and myself, I think in our career, we’ve done some really good things with adjustments and have been able to see things on the field without having to rely on a computer to make those game-day adjustments. The coaches who make the adjustments on Saturday and not Sunday, are the ones who win when the talent is equal. Now you can make average coaches a whole lot better by watching video on the sideline. So I’m a little disappointed in that, but we gotta use that tool.”

Who would you say is leading the punting competition?

A: “(Freshman Michael Salgado-Medina) is the one who’s leading. ... (walk-on) Jordan Forbes and Cash (Peterman) are right behind him. I think Michael has done an outstanding job holding (field goals) for (Tyler) Loop at the same time, so he’s got the edge at both of those spots. He’s been the most productive. He’s going to be a really talented kid. When you rely on a true freshman, you’re asking for true freshman mistakes. He’s earned the trust of Tyler Loop right now, which was probably bigger than earning my trust as the punter.