Arizona Wildcats defense 'significantly deeper across the board'

Turning around Arizona’s defense is a tall task, but first-year defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales is up for the challenge.

Long story short, the Wildcats’ defense in 2024 was a far cry from the “Desert Swarm” and some of the other celebrated defenses in program history.

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 also lost eight games by a combined 191 points this season, a season after losing three games — two overtime contests — by a combined 16 points.

In fairness, the Wildcats lost three defensive captains to season-ending injuries; two of them, linebacker Jacob Manu and safety Gunner Maldonado, entered the transfer portal.

Arizona is adding 54 newcomers this season — 24 of them are defensive players. Gonzales noted defensive tackle transfers Tiaoalii Savea (Texas), who transferred back to the UA, and Deshawn McKnight (UT Martin) as some the most notable additions. Savea “had a phenomenal spring and an even better summer,” Gonzales said.

“They got about three weeks off in May and then he came back in better shape than when he left, which is unbelievable for a 300-pound defensive lineman,” said Gonzales.

Savea and McKnight “did a phenomenal job in spring and they’re going to cause some people some serious trouble in the Big 12, which is awesome,” Gonzales added. Savea and McKnight are in line to start alongside an edge-rushing group led by senior Tre Smith and redshirt sophomore Dominic Lolesio.

“Those guys make what happen on the back end even better,” said Arizona’s defensive coordinator. “It doesn’t matter how talented you are on the back end if you’re not getting any pressure on the quarterback, so we’re going to beat the tar out of some quarterbacks this year and give those guys some opportunities to steal some interceptions on the back end.”

The additions of transfer linebackers Max Harris (Texas State) and Riley Wilson (Montana) are a “significant upgrade at linebacker,” Gonzales said. The Wildcats also return starter Taye Brown and defensive end-converted-linebacker Chase Kennedy, among others. Under Gonzales, the Wildcats are expected to deploy different schemes and utilize two or three-linebacker packages, with an additional linebacker used as a stand-up edge rusher.

“We’re going to give some people some trouble that we didn’t have last year,” Gonzales said. “We have the talent on the back end, but we have to stay healthy.”

In the secondary, despite losing star cornerback Tacario Davis to Washington, the Wildcats return safety and leading tackler Dalton Johnson, nickel back Treydan Stukes, cornerback Marquis Groves-Killebrew and ballhawk free safety Genesis Smith, who “could be the best defensive football player in the league this year if he does the things he did in spring ball,” Gonzales said.

Smith, Johnson and Stukes have combined for 4,550 defensive snaps during their careers at Arizona and enter this season as the veteran leaders of the UA defense.

Gonzales is confident in the current rendition of Arizona’s defense and the Wildcats “have a great group of kids right now,” he said.

“They believe in what we’re doing, because they had a bunch of people try to get them to escape Tucson and they wouldn’t leave,” Gonzales said. “They believe in what we’re doing. We’re excited about the opportunity to play good defense. I can tell you this: they’re going to play hard, be violent and we’re going to get after people.

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“With (offensive coordinator Seth Doege) on the other side, it’s a very similar mentality. We’re going to have a really physical football team. This season is going to be a lot of fun.”

ESPN Tucson’s “Spears & Ali” recently caught up with Gonzales to discuss Arizona’s defense, bolstering depth and being in a video game. Here’s part of that interview:

How does Doege’s up-tempo, no-huddle system prepare your defense in practice for the teams that could potentially run a similar offense during Big 12 play?

A: “We’ll see a lot of that throughout the season, so it helps us. What we do on defense is kind of uncommon, so it puts our offense in situations where they’ll be able to block everything. They’ll be able to identify stuff they typically wouldn’t see.

“They got 15 practices out of it and got better during the spring. ... The best thing about Coach Doege is he understands team football. ... The air-raid principles that Coach Doege grew up under are unbelievable, but his aspirations to win football games is even better. ... We have a great deal with the offense and the defense going up against each other, but the camaraderie of those guys hanging out together, when they’re not in football, is going to make a big difference with our football team.”

How did the defensive staff navigate through the transfer portal and the recruiting trail to add players to bolster what you already have?

A: “With all of the injuries we went through last year, we weren’t deep enough on either side of the ball. Those guys that came in, they gained some experience, but they were obviously not good enough to compete at a high level in the Big 12. The Big 12, from top to bottom, is a very competitive league. If you can stay healthy, you have a chance to make a run like those guys up north (Arizona State) did.

“We addressed that issue and we’re significantly deeper across the board. ... I’m really excited about what we did in the portal on our side of the ball. We’ve got a little bit more depth than we had last year. We need a little bit of luck to stay healthy, which every good football team has, and that’s the direction we’re headed.”

How was it working with first-year defensive line coach and UA legend Joe Salave’a this spring?

A: “I’m going to hurt some feelings and it’s unintended, but in the 28 years I’ve been doing this, Joe Salave’a is the best defensive line coach I’ve ever been around and I’ve been around some good ones. ... He’s been a significant upgrade to our staff across the board. Those guys are going to play hard, be violent.

“He’s as good a technician as he is as a recruiter. All of those things about being a wonderful recruiter he is, just put all that stuff on steroids. We’re just blessed to have him here. ... He has brought so much to our staff and it’s been a blast.”

EA Sports announced that each team in the “College Football 26” video game will have its head coach and both coordinators in the game. How do you feel about being in a video game?

A: “They must have taken (our names) off the contracts, because they have me down as Daniel Gonzales. I don’t know anyone who calls me Daniel outside of maybe my parents when I was in trouble when I was younger. I’m going to have to make a call into EA Sports and see if we can get that switched to Danny. I think it’s really cool.

“Those people are smart, because I have nephews that want to buy the game solely to put a hat on me backwards, because I will not wear a hat backwards. ... They probably sold another 50 copies to my family just because they want to send me screenshots of what they did to me. It’s fun and it’s cool stuff. ... I’m excited to see how they make me look. Hopefully, they took pictures when I was in better shape than my worst shape. We’ll see.”