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. 56 JOE SALAVE’A
With it being the 56th day until kickoff between the Lobos and Wildcats, the best player to wear No. 56 for Arizona is defensive tackle Joe Salave’a, who wreaked havoc on offenses from 1994 to 1997. Salave’a was a three-year starter earning first-team All-Pac-10 honors in 1997, second-team honors in 1996, and honorable mention recognition in 1995. He was also the team captain in 1996. Salave’a totaled 157 career tackles for the Wildcats, all as an interior lineman, with 43.5 tackles for loss and 21.5 sacks. He led the team in sacks and tackles for loss in both 1996 and 1997, and in forced fumbles in 1994 and 1996. A fourth-round draft choice by Tennessee, he spent five seasons with the Titans before playing the last four years of his NFL career with San Diego, Baltimore and Washington. Salave’a, 49, began his coaching career in 2008 as part of Dick Tomey’s staff at San Jose State. After coaching at Arizona in 2011, Mike Stoops’ last season, Salave’a moved on to Washington State for four years. He later coached the defensive line at Oregon from 2017 to 2021 before taking on the same role at Miami since 2022, when he came with head coach Mario Cristobal.
NO. 56 IN 2024 — DL BRYCE ECHOLS AND OL TYLEN GONZALEZ
Echols, 6-foot-5 and 280 pounds, is in his second year in the program after redshirting as a freshman last year. He was a two-star prospect out Coronado High School in Henderson, Nev. Received offers from Butler, Southern Utah, Dartmouth and Valparaiso.
Gonzalez, 6-foot-6 and 305 pounds, is another redshirt freshman who did not get into games last year. He prepped at Carlsbad (N.M.) High School. He was a 3-star prospect per 247Sports. His Instagram handle is “that_one_tall_kid524”
NOTE
Top 10 Highest Graded Offensive Transfers in College Football, according to @PFFhttps://t.co/dfiddkSs5y pic.twitter.com/15sopO5lAh
— Transfer Portal (@TransferPortal_) July 5, 2024
Pro Football Focus is high on Arizona transfer running backs Jacory Croskey-Merritt (New Mexico) and Quali Conley (San Jose State). That should lessen the blow of Jonah Coleman transferring to Washington.
THEY SAID IT
Don’t sleep on Arizona pic.twitter.com/xlk8YYNmCJ
— PFF College (@PFF_College) July 5, 2024
“I see Arizona as being at the top of Big 12 contention, and somehow they have an over/under of 7.5 wins.” — Dalton Wasserman of Pro Football Focus
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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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