Arizona football training camp preview: defensive line

Following a 9-4 season last year, the Wildcats kick off the 2026 season against in-state rival Northern Arizona on Sept. 5 at Casino Del Sol Stadium. Arizona begins fall training exactly a month before the season opener on Aug. 5 — next Wednesday. 

Leading up to fall training camp, the Star is providing a position-by-position preview of the Wildcats. We recently evaluated the offensive side of the ball and did an overview of Arizona’s quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends and offensive line. 

Now, the defensive side of the ball, with the defensive line starting off.

Position coaches: Joe Salave’a, Ronnie Palmer

Departures: DT Deshawn McKnight, DT Tiaoalii Savea, DE Malachi Bailey, DE Eduwa Okundaye, DE Chancellor Owens, DT Jarra Anderson

Returners: DE Tre Smith (R-Sr.), DL Mays Pese (So.), DT Leroy Palu (So.), DE Dominic Lolesio (R-Jr.), DT Julian Savaiinaea (R-Jr.), DE Porter Patton (R-Fr.), DT Zac Siulepa (R-Jr.), DT Ezra Funa (R-Jr.), DT Christian Madoski (R-Jr.)

Newcomers: DE Victory Johnson (R-Jr.), DL Kevin Moorer (Jr.), DE Prince Williams (Fr.), DT Keytrin Harris (Fr.), DT Kaisi Lafitaga (Fr.), DT Manoah Faupusa (Fr.) 

The rundown: If you ask Arizona defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales, "I think we should be better up front than we were a year ago. We have more depth,” he said.

Gonzales makes a compelling argument, even though the Wildcats lost starting defensive tackles Tiaoalii Savea and Deshawn McKnight, who became one of the top run-stopping defensive tackles in the Big 12 last season.

Arizona's top returners — Tre Smith, Mays Pese, Leroy Palu, Dominic Lolesio and Julian Savaiinaea — have a combined 3,298 defensive snaps in their careers, with Smith owning roughly half of those snaps (1,610). 

"They're bigger and stronger," Gonzales said. "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."

The sixth-year Smith, a 6-5, 262-pound Mesa native, returns after receiving a medical redshirt for his senior season following a shoulder injury that sidelined him for most of the 2025 season. Gonzales recently said, "this is the first offseason he actually got to lift weights without being restricted or modified."

"He's stronger than he's ever been," Gonzales said. "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."

Now that Smith is the elder statesman of the group, "we're excited about his leadership," Salave'a said in the spring.

"He brings a mature sense and presence to the room," Salave'a added. "The most awesome thing is he's opened to being coached. It's rare now when you have a player with a lot of college experience not be coachable. That young man is a bonafide leader. He leads by example. If I could get three or four Tre Smiths every year, this thing would go through the roof." 

Going into his second season under Salave'a, Smith “is to so blessed and grateful to have met him and have him in my life."

"He’s someone that’s done it before," Smith said at Big 12 Media Days. "He’s played at the highest level, he’s coached guys at the highest level. There’s so many small fundamentals that we overlook easily. He’s taught me so much that I haven’t done before.”

Smith's UA teammates refer to him as "Mr. Redline" — a nickname he got from always living up to the "redline" mantra that's often said around the Arizona football offices and fields. 

"Redline in breakfast, redline in meetings, redline off the field," Palu joked. "Watching him do things to the max is fun to see. We take after him. We try our best to be like him." 

Smith expected last season to be his last year at Arizona, but a season-ending injury brought the three-year starter back to Tucson for one more season. Smith has aspirations to turn this chance into a similar situation as former UA defensive back Treydan Stukes, who went from an injured sixth-year senior to a second-round NFL Draft pick. 

“I feel amazing," Smith said. "I feel blessed. This is the last chance I get to do it, so I gotta make the most of it. Although it’s not the path that I may have seen when I was younger, I’m here for a reason. That has taught me to be present and to enjoy what I have right now. That’s it.”

Pese, whose 6-3, 284-pound frame allows him to play as an edge rusher or defensive tackle, received All-Big 12 Freshman Team honorable mention and "played a lot in his first year last year, but he's a kid that's motivated to improve," Salave'a said. As a sophomore, Pese is power-cleaning 365 pounds. 

Palu, who could conceivably start at nose tackle alongside Pese and Smith in defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales' 3-3-5 defense, "trimmed his body down and has gotten stronger, quicker" since transferring from Cerritos College over a year ago, Salave'a said.  

"Leroy Palu played so good last year," Gonzales said. "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."

Salave'a said the 6-3, 282-pound Savaiinaea "is going to be one of those guys that fortifies our front."

Lolesio was "the most improved football player on our team coming out of spring ball," Gonzales said. Whether he's in the starting lineup or one of Arizona's top rotational pieces, the 6-4, 253-pound Lolesio is a key cog to the Wildcats' defensive front. 

Arizona had two newbies at defensive tackle last season in Ezra Funa and Zac Siulepa, who's currently listed at 6-6, 382 pounds. Siulepa, a Gold Coast, Australia native, is "working his way now to a point where he's now able to get on the field," Salave'a said.

"I still want him around 350 (pounds), but that probably won't happen by the time fall camp comes around," Gonzales said. "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."

Funa, a transfer from College of San Mateo (California), is a former standout at Mater Dei in Southern California, but went the junior college route before landing at Arizona. Funa redshirted last season, but practiced with the Wildcats and went through a season in Arizona's strength and conditioning program. Funa has also been limited due to injury. 

"Ezra Funa, who I keep teasing. He's like a shiny new toy at Christmas, and you play with it and break it," Gonzales said. "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."

Arizona signed two transfers in 2026: Kevin Moorer — a 6-3, 285-pound standout from Hutchison Community College (Kansas) — and Cal Poly defensive end Victory Johnson, a San Diego native, who started his college career at Colorado in 2023. 

Johnson transferred to Cal Poly and logged 26 tackles, three sacks, two pass deflections and an interception last season. Johnson was named a second-team All-Big Sky selection. 

Arizona's only other additions on the defensive line are freshmen Keytrin Harris, Prince Williams, Kaisi Lafitaga and Manoah Faupusa, who were all early enrollees. 

Williams, who Gonzales said "is going to be very similar to Mays Pese," comes to Arizona following a prolific career at national powerhouse Bishop Gorman High School. Williams was named the MaxPreps.com Nevada Player of the Year after leading Bishop Gorman to its fifth straight state championship. The 6-3, 264-pound Williams had 265 tackles and 34 sacks in his four-year career with the Gaels. 

Salave'a is "excited for (Williams) and looking forward to him getting on the grass and make his case of where he needs to be when we kick this season off."

"He's got overwhelming tenacity to lead by example," Salave'a said of Williams. "I'm excited he's in our room. He's being challenged. He's going to be pushed to his limits, but he just needs to be vulnerable and allow me to push him. I think the sky's the limit for that young man." 

Harris, a Los Angeles-area native who finished his high school career at AZ Compass Prep in Chandler, has a college-ready frame at 6-6, 318 pounds.

The 6-foot, 381-pound Faupusa, who was teammates with Arizona linebacker Dash Fifita at Santa Margarita Catholic (California), could conceivably redshirt this season to work on his conditioning.  

Lafitaga was "one of the surprises" in the spring, according to Salave'a. The 6-2, 301-pound Lafitaga, whose first name is pronounced kah-ee-see, is a Pago Pago, American Samoan native.

Veteran returners and high-quality newcomers could result in a productive season for the Wildcats' defensive line, which will have a positive effect on the linebackers and defensive backs — and the line of scrimmage, which was an issue in two losses against BYU and Houston, two teams that leaned on quarterback power runs in crunch time.

On the flip side, Arizona prevented other dual-threat quarterbacks from using their legs, including Kansas State's Avery Johnson and Arizona State's Jeff Sims.  

"I love when people doubt, it's fantastic," Gonzales said. "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 Smith), Dalton (Johnson), Treydan (Stukes) and Michael  (Dansby) wouldn't be in the NFL right now, I promise you that. ... 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."