Arizona hires elite recruiter and alum Joe Salave'a as DL coach

Joe Salave'a who has been an elite recruiter throughout his career as an assistant coach is returning to Arizona where he was a star defensive lineman from 1994 through 1997. Salave'e has spent the last eight seasons working with Mario Cristobal at Oregon and Miami.

Salave'a is credited by 247Sports with helping Miami and Oregon sign five five-star prospects. Among those five-stars were defensive lineman Kayvon Thibodeaux who became the fifth pick in the 2022 NFL Draft by the New York Giants and named first-team All-Rookie.

Under Salave'a and NFL Hall of Famer Jason Taylor as the Co-Defensive line coaches, Miami finished 18th nationally in 2023 with 88.0 tackles for loss and 34th in 2024 with 84.0 TFLs. The Hurricanes were 22nd with 35.0 sacks in 2023 and were 20th in 2024 with 36.0.

Salave'a and Taylor mentored Miami defensive lineman Rueben Bain who was the 2023 Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Year. Bain had 44 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, 3.0 forced fumbles and 1.0 pass defended in 2023. Injuries limited Bain in 2024.

Salave'a replaces Joe Seumalo who has been on Brent Brennan's staff between Arizona and San Jose State since 2017. Salave'a began his coaching career as the defensive line coach at San Jose State under Dick Tomey in 2008 and 2009. Salave'a left San Jose State for Washington State from 2012 through 2016.

Salave'a moved on to Oregon in 2017 and he coached under Mario Cristobal with the Ducks from 2018 through 2021. When Cristobal was hired at Miami for the 2022 season, Salave'a went with him as the DL coach. Taylor was hired during the 2023 offseason to become the co-defensive line coach with Salave'a.

Salave'a has a big job ahead of him as Arizona needs to improve significantly defensively in 2025 under Danny Gonzalez who was promoted from linebackers coach to defensive coordinator on Thursday. Arizona was 62nd nationally averaging 5.42 tackles for loss per game and 93rd posting 1.67 sacks per game.