Arizona Football Coaching Changes

Following last year’s disappointing season for Arizona in a year that had high expectations, Wildcats coach Brent Brennan made a number of changes on the coaching staff this offseason. 

The major departures for Arizona were not retaining last year’s offensive coordinator Dino Babers as well as defensive coordinator Duane Akina.

"This season did not come close to meeting the standards that we have as a program and no one is more disappointed than me," Brennan said after the conclusion of last season. "As the head coach, it is my responsibility to evaluate all areas of the program, and I felt these changes will positively impact the long-term success of the program. I want to thank Dino for his hard work and dedication to the University of Arizona, our program, and our student-athletes."

When the announcement was first made, Brennan had said that Akina would remain on the staff to lead the secondary as an assistant coach but he left for Texas back in February to be its defensive passing game coordinator and secondary coach. 

The big hire for Brennan this offseason was bringing in Seth Doege to be the Wildcats next offensive coordinator. Doege comes to Tucson after one season as the offensive coordinator for Marshall where he led the Thundering Herd to a top-40 scoring offense and top-20 rushing offense in the country last season. 

"We are really excited to welcome Seth and his family to Tucson,” Brennan said. "Seth is a young, innovative offensive mind whose experience as a player and coach will bring value to our offense and coaching staff. Doege has worked with some of the best offensive minds in college football and Doege has deep ties to Texas and California which are two of our biggest recruiting areas."

Brennan kept the defensive coordinator hire in-house where he promoted Danny Gonzales who coached linebackers and special teams last season. 

Gonzales holds almost 30 years of coaching experience, which includes two seasons as a defensive coordinator for Arizona State. 

"Coach Gonzales has years of experience as a proven defensive play-caller with the ability to lead and develop defenses that rank among the best in the nation,” Brennan said. 

The other major hire on the defensive side for Arizona is Joe Salave’a, a former Wildcat who will serve as the defensive line coach and associate head coach roles in Tucson this season. Salave’a spent the past three years in the same role for Miami after stops at Washington State and Oregon. 

“Coach Salave'a is a Wildcat at heart who has a winning pedigree and who has demonstrated the ability to identify and develop elite players along the defensive line,” Brennan said back in January when the hire was announced. 

Among the other coaching changes this offseason for Arizona were the hires of Craig Naivar as the full-time special teams coach, Josh Miller as the tight ends coach and Josh Bringuel as the linebacker coach. 

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