The last days of spring are here for Arizona football which means it’s the last opportunity for some guys to earn a voice in the room before the long summer break. For defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales, it’s another chance to sell the program to the fans in Tucson.
Last season, there were many moments where what was once “Arizona Stadium” had less fans than desired. Since the name change to “Casino Del Sol Stadium,” the Wildcats have played just one game. The result was a 41-17 thrashing of the Baylor
Bears.
Now, perhaps, with the name change and higher expectations, the seats will be completely filled more often than not.
“What makes the environment?” asked Gonzales. “One, is a good football team, and two, it’s the city of Tucson, the people in the city of Tucson, and it can be every bit as great as McKale if they come with the right attitude and make that environment.”
Danny G embracing high expectations
If you look back at history, when Arizona has a historic season, the following season brings extremely high expectations. This is followed up with subpar results on the field and in the eyes of the Wildcats fans, that has become the norm.
What does that mean? If history follows, this upcoming season for Arizona should be a disappointing one as far as expectations go. Gonzales has embraced it and continues to challenge his team to meet those expectations.
“Duplicating that success when everybody knows you’re going to be good is a great challenge, and most of the time that falls on the coaching staff,” said Gonzales. “We got to get these guys ready, because we have enough talent. We don’t have the most talent, and you don’t have to have to. You have to have enough talent, and we’ve got more than enough to compete.”
One of the main goals besides reaching the Big 12 championship, is having the greatest season and being the best team in program history. Gonzales wants “Team 123” to end that conversation.
“We want to end the debate on who’s the best team in the history of the school, and if we win our seventh conference championship, it’s gonna happen,” he said. “There won’t be a debate, because we’re gonna be playing in the greatest era of college sports and in the CFP.”
In order to be the best, the environment they play in needs to be the best. This goes back to filling up the stadium and it starts with improving the overall gameday experience.
“We’re putting $50 million into this stadium,” said Gonzales. “Everybody’s complaining about the sound system, we’re going to have a brand new sound system. Everybody complained about the scoreboard, the new scoreboard is going to be fantastic.”
Lolesio most improved
Many Arizona players have referred to senior Tre Smith as “Mr. Redline” because he is the prime example of what a Wildcat should be. If there was an understudy to Smith, it would be redshirt junior Dominic Lolesio.
“I’ve been in the same room for about two years now, been around it for so long, so seeing him do everything right, I kind of fell behind that over the years and fell in love with that too,” said Lolesio on Smith.
Learning from Smith has paid off this spring as many players and coaches have touted him as the most improved player on defense. Of course, he gives all the credit to the people around him.
“Coach Joe always says, a blue collar mindset, bring your heart every day, so it’s not just me, myself, it’s the guys around me,” he said. “It’s a collective thing. It’s not just one.”
Outside of learning from Smith, he gives a lot of credit to the fact that he is able to be coached by Joe Salave’a for a second year.
“I’m able to play faster, more physical,” said Lolesio. “I know the scheme inside out for the most part. We had little tweaks here and there, but just being able to play faster.”
If there was a reason for Lolesio’s improvement this spring, it is because he is putting in the extra time in all phases of the game to be better.
“He’s doing the extra in between, the unrequired,” said Salave’a. “He is constantly in a building. He looks at film. For Dom, to his credit, he’s investing a lot in his craft, and then with time, we got to continue to push that and demand that.”
