Wildcats Counting on Salgado-Medina Having Bounce Back Season

The true unsung hero of a football team is the special teams unit. Not many people recognize them when their team is winning, but as soon as they lose, they like to point the finger at that unit. Unfortunately for Arizona, special teams were not a bright spot last season.

Going into this past college football season, the Wildcats head coach hired Craig Naivar as the team's special teams coordinator. It was a short turnaround, and it did not favor Naivar or his group. It was serviceable enough to earn the Wildcats nine wins, but there was definitely more to be desired.

𝙎𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘽𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙍𝙚𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩: 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙨

To close out our spring ball series, @Coach_Naivar gives us an overview of the specialists. pic.twitter.com/eH8IiCM9jR
— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) April 23, 2026

Special Teams Struggles Last Season

Sophomore kicker Michael Salgado-Medina had the tall task of replacing Baltimore Ravens kicker Tyler Loop. Loop made a total of 67 field goals in four seasons at Arizona and combined for a percentage of 83.8% for his career.

Salgado-Medina fell short of picking up where Loop left off. He struggled last season, going 19-31 on field goals, equaling a 61.3% kicking percentage. The good news is that it was just his first year being the starting kicker, and he has had another year to grow and improve under Naivar.

Salgado-Medina Improving Through Spring

Naivar took time during spring ball to talk about some goals he wants to see Salgado-Medina improve on and strive for this offseason.

“To build consistency in his kicking… comes from trusting the snapper, the holder, the whole process. He's responded really well, and we’re seeing good things from him right now,” Naivar said.

ready to SHOWCASE our work⌛️ pic.twitter.com/MrGAdgtocb
— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) April 23, 2026

Naivar Talks Long Snapper Battle

As well as bringing back Salgado-Medina, the Wildcats brought back long snapper Broden Molen. They also added Drew Nicolson to compete with Molen for the starting long snapper job. Naivar spoke about how the position battle is going between the two.

Who's next⁉️
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— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) April 23, 2026

“Broden is having a tremendous spring; he has really stacked days from what he did in the fall. Drew Nicolson has come in as a deep snapper as well; those guys have a tremendous battle going. We have two excellent deep snappers, taking care of their business.”

Two New Punters

The Wildcats have brought in two punters for this upcoming season, Carter Schwartz and Chase Ridley. Here are Naivar’s thoughts on the two additions to the Wildcats special teams unit.

“Chase Ridley and Carter Schwartz have come in as punters; that battle has been a pretty battle, those guys are feeding off each other, working hard, and competing against each other.”

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