How Arizona's Joe Salave'a Preparing for Another Season
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Week four of spring practice is officially in the books after the conclusion of Saturday's intense practice, and the defensive line is looking sharp and ready to get the full pads on. Just one more week remains before the Wildcats' break hits prior to the start of summer training camp, where things really begin to ramp up.
Associate head coach/defensive line coach Joe Salave'a has his group of hard-nosed linemen fully prepared for the start of the season, despite the light spring practices, drilling intensely in the rigorous Tucson heat, and competing to the best of their abilities.
Salave'a knows his way around building a tough defensive line. It's what he had been doing since becoming a coach in 2008. Since then, he has had stops at San Jose State, Arizona, Washington State, Oregon, and Miami. He is also a nine-year NFL veteran and played at Arizona from 1994 to 1997 under Dick Tomey and the legendary Desert Swarm defense.
Now that he is back to coaching for the Wildcats for the second consecutive season, Salave'a is determined to use his expertise in recruitment and development to continue building the Arizona defense into a group that is to be feared in the Big 12.
No Nonsense for Salave'a
Salave'a has the benefit of having most of his defensive line back from the previous season, making it a dangerous group to watch in the 2026-2027 season. Standouts such as Mays Pese, Leroy Palu, Juiian Savaiinaea, Tre Smith, and Domicic Lolesio will be making their return and are looking to establish themselves as one of the more dominant defensive linemen in the Big 12.
Not only that, but the newcomers, such as Keytrin Harris, Prince Williams, and Victory Johnson, to name a few, have displayed a level of maturity and football IQ that will help the defense and the team go a long way in the upcoming season.
Despite that, Salave'a is still coaching his group the same way and is making sure they all know they are all going to have to earn their time on the field.
"We're always gonna evaluate our guys on a daily basis because it's important," Salave'a said. "The line of scrimmage game is where we're going to win some of these close ones, and we're going to lose some of these hard-fought games."
"...We can't bring talent to Tucson here at the University of Arizona if they don't fit the culture that [head] coach [Brent] Brennan has established here. That is the other piece of why we're moving in a very meticulous way and not just getting kids that are better talent. That character's got to supersede the talent because this is not a daycare center. "
Consistency Is Key for Salave'a
Not only does Arizona have several key players on the defensive line returning for another year, but the Wildcats also made a huge move in getting three of their coordinators to return for a second year. Offensive coordinator Seth Doege, defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales, and special teams coordinator Craig Naivar are all back.
Bringing back the coordinators who made the program successful last season is of great importance because Arizona can now continue to build on the achievements and learn from the mistakes. Salave'a is one of the coaches who returned and knows the importance of maintaining a strong coaching room.
"Those things have a weird way of filtering through our players and I think coach Brennan doesn't get enough credit for keeping that intact in the last 12 months," Salave'a said. "With the way collegiate football is, not just for the players, but for the coaches, the turnaround and movement going on, that is probably one of the unique things about our staff and we're able to keep everybody together."
Strong Start Leads to Even Stronger Finish
With just one week remaining in spring practice, Salave'a is hellbent on continuing the progression of his defensive linemen. His players' improvements are the top priority throughout spring and summer training camp, but the overall goal is to be a ruthless, unrelenting group in the trenches.
"They're starting to learn the whole fit and our defense is allowing Danny [Gonzales] to call and shuffle some things around because our guys' football awareness is starting to elevate, and we got to continue that," Salave'a said. "We're on a constant grind, and those guys understand what around me is not good enough. If good is attainable, then we got to be better."
"We got to be great. It's the little details. It's the finish. It's the effort. When you open up the film to look at the 2026 U of A defense, it starts there. It's the effort and the finish and then the in-between stuff, well, we'll clean those things up along the way."
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Nathaniel Martinez and a set of shoulder pads at 7 years old. He later graduated from Pima Community College in 2023, where he began writing for the Pima Post. He is working to achieve a Bachelor’s in Mass Communication and Media Studies.