To get ready for the upcoming Arizona football season, All Sports Tucson offers a countdown, which will include history notes and a look ahead to the season — a good way to keep Arizona football on the mind in the summer months leading up to fall camp in early August and then kickoff against New Mexico on Aug. 31 in the start of the Brent Brennan era.
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS PREVIOUS DAYS IN THE COUNTDOWN
A LOOK BACK — NO. 90 BRANDON MANUMALEUNA
With it being the 90th day until kickoff between the Lobos and Wildcats, the best player to wear No. 90 for Arizona is tight end Brandon Manumaleuna, who starred at Arizona from 1997-2000. He began his career at Arizona as a defensive lineman before making the switch to tight end and H-back. He had six catches for 22 yards as a sophomore in 1998. He finished his career with 40 receptions for 544 yards and three touchdowns. He went on to play 10 seasons in the NFL. He was the head coach at Lawndale (Calif.) Leuzinger High School from 2020 to 2022 before being the school’s offensive coordinator last season. Right after his NFL career concluded in 2010, Manumaleuna became the offensive coordinator at Los Angeles Narbonne High School, where he served in that role until 2019 before moving to Leuzinger (which is also in the L.A. area).
NO. 90 IN 2024
No current players are listed wearing uniform No. 90.
NOTE
Tacario Davis, Arizona
Sebastian Castro, Iowa10 Cornerbacks to Know About in the 2025 NFL Drafthttps://t.co/Jacss2zfA4
— PFF College (@PFF_College) May 29, 2024
Junior cornerback Tacario Davis, who spent all spring with Arizona while in the transfer portal following Jedd Fisch’s depature to Washington, was recently lauded as a top 10 NFL draft prospect at his position by Pro Football Focus. “The first thing you notice about Davis is his freakish size at 6-foot-4,” the assessment by PFF states. “That length allows him to significantly bother receivers at the catch point. The sophomore posted a 27.8% forced incompletion rate in 2023, fifth among Power Five corners. In single coverage, Davis forced more incompletions (14) than he allowed catches (11). He moves very well for a corner his size which makes it very difficult for receivers to beat him.” Davis likely returned to Arizona given defensive coordinator Duane Akina’s ability to produce defensive backs for the NFL, including Arizona great Chris McAlister, who was a tall cornerback at 6-1. Akina has coached three Thorpe Award winners, six Thorpe finalists and 41 defensive backs who have played in the NFL — including seven Pro Bowlers, nine Super Bowl participants and 12 All-Americans.
THEY SAID IT
“Just the teacher he is, the person he is, the leader he is. I’m excited about that.” — Brennan commenting about Akina as an important part of his coaching staff.
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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