Arizona DC Danny Gonzales encouraged by the Wildcats' depth on the defensive front

Arizona's defensive coordinator jogged around his neighborhood last July just after a monsoon storm. 

To avoid getting his shoes wet and dirty, he jumped over a puddle.  

"When I landed on the curb, my knee buckled," Gonzales said.

But Gonzales didn't feel significant damage — or at least the need for surgery until the morning of Arizona's road matchup with Cincinnati, where Gonzales had a bone bruise over his entire femur. Arizona's training staff and medical team "did some stuff to get me through the season," Gonzales. 

During the offseason, Gonzales was faced with two options: get surgery on his knee and spend six weeks on crutches, "but it'll buy you another 12 or 15 years before you need a knee replacement," he said. Or risk further injury. 

Gonzales chose the former and had the knee operation on May 28 — right in the bulk of Arizona's summer recruiting season.

When you're the defensive coordinator of a Power 4 football program and fresh out of surgery, "there's some benefits to having all that physical therapy right at the office."

"They worked me around recruiting weekends. They would stay late if we were doing something with recruiting. It has been fantastic. Our team is dedicated to everyone in our program and it's fantastic." 

Gonzales found joy in the recovery process, mostly due to the friendly competition between him and the players during physical therapy sessions. 

"I pride myself in being tougher than those guys," Gonzales said. "I'll die in here trying to outdo all these suckers. ... I'm still mentally tough enough to outwork every single one of those suckers on our football team. I try to prove that every day." 

Gonzales utilized crutches for nearly two months, "so my hands got some manual labor. I have some nice calluses on my hands and I'm scarred up, so that's good," he said.

Gonzales is done with the crutch portion of his recovery and will now spend some time in Hawaii with his family before training camp rolls around on Aug. 5. Before Gonzales said aloha to the folks at the Lowell-Stevens Football Facility, he joined The Wildcast (available on Apple, Spotify and Tucson.com) to discuss a plethora of topics, including the current state of Arizona's defense. 

Here's Part I of our Q&A with Arizona's defensive coordinator.  

Between returning multiple starters and the additions you made in the transfer portal, including eight defensive backs, how do you feel about the depth and talent of your defense going into your second season as defensive coordinator?

A: "I think we should be better up front than we were a year ago. We have more depth. I've made this statement several times: if we went into the game last year against Hawaii and said at the end of the game that going into the (Arizona State) game we won't have Tia Savea, Tre Smith or Deshawn McKnight and Malachi Bailey is on a pitch count, you'd probably think we got our tails whipped by ASU.

"But that wasn't the case. In the development phase, we wanted to treat the transfer portal like a freshman class. That's why our freshman classes have been so big the last three years, so we can train those guys to do what we want them to do within our program. ... All those guys we have there, we have more depth. 

"Then at linebacker, I think we struck gold with both (Memphis transfer) Everett Roussaw and (Georgetown transfer) Cooper Blomstrom — and then (freshman) Dash Fifita has excelled faster than I thought he would, especially for his size. He's such a competitive, tough (player).

"I mean, he's a Fifita. With that, he's a Fifita, so there's a lot of pressure behind that, because Noah doesn't screw anything up. Dash has high expectations to live up to, and the whole family is all about it. In the front seven, we're deeper and better than we were last year.

"On the back end, we're faster, which is crazy ... but we don't have as much experience coming back. If we can teach those guys to play man coverage like we did against SMU in the second half, I think we'll be pretty good on defense again."

After losing four defensive backs to the NFL Draft — more notably Treydan Stukes, Dalton Johnson and Genesis Smith, three players who played a combined 6,700 snaps at Arizona — along with other impact players, it's easy to assume Arizona's defense would take a step back this season. Why would that be a wrong assumption?

A: "Everyone thought we were going to suck last year. Put that chip on your shoulder, and let's go prove everybody wrong. I hope they think we're going to suck, I really do, because I think we have enough talent. When I sat there in March after Brent made me coordinator, I told everybody we have an opportunity to have a top-15 defense in the country, and everybody thought I was a fool, and then we finished in the top 10 of multiple categories — 13th in yards per play.

"We have to have enough talent. We don't need the most talent. We're further along than we were last year. The belief in what we're doing schematically works.

"They believe in it, and now it's more player-led than it was a year ago. The biggest challenge, for them, is to convince them that you're not just going to show up because we have the scheme and we have magic and people are going to roll over because we were good last year.

"Team 122 is dead and has a legacy that teams will talk about for a long time. Team 123 hasn't done anything yet. Team 123 has a lot to prove and I'm excited about it." 

Two of those returning leaders in the defensive front are linebackers Chase Kennedy and Taye Brown. How did last season serve as a launching pad for their senior seasons coming up, and what do you think of the overall depth at linebacker? 

A: "Taye Brown had two seasons with 90-plus tackles. When those guys make mistakes, I'm significantly harder on those guys than the others, because I expect them to be perfect at everything they do and we're always chasing perfection. When your best players make mistakes and you coach them hard, everybody else tries to live up to that expectation.

"Chase, from when he got here as a transfer from Utah to where he's at now, it's almost like two different players. ... We've got a really strong football team. Both of those guys power-cleaned over 300 pounds. When you have that leadership, the experience and the success from last year, we have a dangerous duo there. Everett and Cooper will be the replacements for Riley (Wilson) and Max (Harris), and then (former safety) Coleman Patmon is making great practice from spring ball.

"(Leviticus Su'a) is finally what everyone thought he was going to be out of high school. He's finally healthy and in the spring, he was able to show that. If he can continue to stay on this path and stay healthy, we've got added depth. Dominic Hanger is going to be one of our four-core special teams guys.

"When he's in the game, I have no problem because he knows how to do it and has been in our culture for three years. We have added depth at linebacker, led by Taye and Chase, and we're very excited about it."

What gives you confidence that the defensive line will have a breakout year in the second season under defensive line coach Joe Salave'a?

A: "They're bigger and stronger. Joe Salave'a is the best D-Line coach I've ever been around. I've been doing this for 28 years, and it ain't even close. He does a great job in recruiting, he does a great job in development and then he's an even better human being than he is a coach. It's been fun to be around him every single day.

"(Defensive end) Tre Smith, this is the first offseason he actually got to lift weights without being restricted or modified. ... He's stronger than he's ever been, he's faster than he's ever been. I'm excited about the version of Tre Smith we're getting. If he can stay healthy, he'll be the best player the Big 12 has seen on the D-Line.

"(Defensive tackle) Leroy Palu played so good last year. When Tia and Deshawn got hurt, you didn't know someone wasn't in the middle because of Leroy Palu. Leroy was our most consistent, most productive D-Lineman last year. Deshawn had so many tackles for loss and flashes. Leroy had four less tackles for loss than Deshawn, but Leroy didn't make mistakes. ... We can build on this unit for another two years and be extremely dangerous. I think this team has an opportunity to be really good on defense. 

"On the other side, you go to Mays Pese. As a true freshman, to play at that level and now he's a 365-pound power-cleaner. Prince Williams, a true freshman, who's going to be very similar to Mays Pese. (Defensive end Dominic Lolesio), the most improved football player on our team coming out of spring ball.

"(Defensive tackle Julian Savaiinaea), (defensive tackle) Ezra Funa, who I keep teasing. He's like a shiny new toy at Christmas, and you play with it and break it. That's Ezra Funa right now. I've got this fancy toy that can do all these things, but it snaps in two any time I do something crazy. He's gotta prove to me that he doesn't belong in the land of misfit toys.

"(Former junior college tackle) Zac Siulepa, I think he's going to be a thing. He was 368 (pounds) this morning. I still want him around 350 (pounds), but that probably won't happen by the time fall camp comes around. As long as he can make good runs and his change of direction is exactly where it needs to be. ... We can play a three-man front, a four-man front and five-man front and have multiple 300-pounders in there who are quick, twitchy, can run and will play their tails off.

"I love when people doubt, it's fantastic. Everyone thought our D-Line was going to be awful last year. It was one of the strong points of our team, even though the secondary got all the accolades and all that stuff. If the guys up front weren't good, (Genesis), Dalton, Treydan and Michael wouldn't be in the NFL right now, I promise you that." 

Extra points

– Gonzales said 57 UA players have power-cleaned 300-plus pounds this summer. Said Gonzales: "That's a strong-ass football team. ... I was disappointed the number wasn't 60. We got to 34 at the end of March, I was looking at 60 being the number, so 60 is a great number, but it wasn't what I was expecting. But that's a strong-ass football team." 

– The Arizona Diamondbacks' home game against the St. Louis Cardinals Friday night at Chase Field is "U of A Night." The UA football team will be recognized before the game, and Arizona wide receiver Tre Spivey is throwing out the first pitch. Spivey's father, Junior Spivey, was a second baseman for the Diamondbacks team that won the World Series in 2001. 

– Tre Spivey signed with Klutch Sports Group, which will handle his NIL deals. The Rich Paul-founded agency has signed several notable UA athletes over the years, including Tetairoa McMillan, Koa Peat, Brayden Burries, Genesis Smith and Dalton Johnson.