Arizona's Salave'a Philosophy on Recruitment and More
The saying has been that football games are won in the trenches, and no one can attest to that more than Arizona Wildcats legend Joe Salave'a.
Salave'a played at Arizona from 1994-1997 as a defensive tackle, where he amassed 157 career tackles, 43.5 tackles for loss and 21.5 sacks.
In 1997, he earned all-Pac-12 first team honors, a second team achievement in 1996 as a team captain and an honorable mention in 1995.
After a nine-year career in the NFL and many coaching stops that spanned just over a decade and a half, he is back at the place where it all started for him as an associate head coach/defensive line coach.
Salave'a has become something of a recruitment guru in his years, that much can be said given his signing of five five-star players during his time with Oregon and Miami.
Salave'a has wasted no time since returning to the Arizona coaching staff for the first time since 2011, when he was the defensive line coach.
The prolific recruiter had a very busy couple of months since he started hitting the recruiting trail, getting commitments from four linemen with three stars or more.
The most notable commitment he has gotten is 6-foot-4, 305-pound defensive lineman Keytrin Harris, a three-star recruit out of Chandler, AZ.
Salavae'a has honed his skills over the many years of coaching he has done. One of the techniques he has learned over time is "You have to adjust to the sound of times, just the caliber and the type of players that are now coming into colleges."
He continued, "You know, just more so, just investing the time to mold them prior to coming down and building that relationship. Because, you know, it's just so many things now that are involved in these young people's lives, and some of those things, you have to be in a position to help cope and guide them through some of those things."
Playing football at the Division I level is more than just coming in for a year and leaving for Salave'a. Part of why he has been so successful at recruiting players is because he lays out a plan that ensures the player gets the most development out of the program.
" Ultimately, you have to have a solid, a real plan in place,"Salave'a said. "And then you have to be able to lay that out for the for the young man and their families about the development, the acclimation phase, all the different things that comes with it. Now, part of your recruiting is recruiting to a certain type of kid that will have traits that will allow him to have that opportunity to compete right away. But, and I think the biggest thing is, is not having a realistic plan and how they're going to to galvanize and encourage and develop that young man."
Arizona landed four transfers on the defensive line prior to the start of fall camp in Deshawn McKnight out of UT Martin, Tiaoalii Savea from Texas, Malachi Bailey, who comes from Alcorn, and Chancellor Owens from Northwestern State.
Four players have returned in Tre Smith, Dominic Lolesio, Jarra Anderson and Julian Savaiinaea
Now that fall camp has just begun, Salave'a believes his group of players are more than ready to start practicing for the upcoming season.
"I think most of these guys are eager to make a claim for themselves. I always tell the guys, don't tell me, show me your biggest ally or the adversary is your film. And so having a solid preseason, as far as spring ball, and then having a full summer for most of these guys that is also to see the transformation their other body makeup. Now, you know, I'm one that you put on the pans, the shoulder pads and whatnot, then you're, you're going to give yourself a chance, but everybody's got to open open shot right now, you know, nothing's ever written on stone."
Savea is the first Wildcat to transfer to a different university and return to the same program. He was a menace at the tinterior lineman spot when he played, snagging 36 tackles, eight tackles for a loss and 1.5 sacks.
"The biggest thing with Tia, you know, he hasn't played a full year in a couple of seasons of value shared with that young man," Salave'a said. "The opportunity here is going to be how much he pours into it. And the biggest thing that he's going to guarantee that he's going to be having years. He's going to get pushed. He's going to get coached. He deserved to be developed."
Savea's big frame is nearly perfect for the kind of down hill, attacking style that Salave'a teaches to his interior line.
With the 2025-2026 season coming up in a month, Salave'a is making sure that his squad is up to full force and embracing the "bear down brotherhood" that the coaches preach.
"The Brotherhood really is the buy-in," Salave'a said. "When we can get everybody to buy in, in the building, to buy into what the vision is, from Coach Brennan all the way down, we will have an opportunity to really make drastic progress. But that's a day-to-day thing that goes with coaches, myself, every support staff. We have to breathe, eat and digest everything about this program. "
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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.