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AG's Wildcat Report - Dispatches on the Wildcats, from Anthony Gimino

New Arizona assistant Salave’a: ‘I don’t have any fluff about me’

by on Dec. 23, 2010, under Sports

Joe Salave'a is happy to be back at Arizona.
TucsonCitizen.com photo

Arizona defensive tackles coach Joe Salave’a is on his first week on the job, and the players quickly are learning something about their new coach.

“I don’t have any fluff about me,” Salave’a said.

“I’m right to the point and I shoot from the hip. That’s why I like Coach (Mike) Stoops. What you see is what you get. If there is a concern, it’s going to be corrected. We’re going to lay it all on the table. Guys have to be responsible enough to respond to that.

“If you’re one of those soft-hearted kind of players, it’s probably not going to work out.”

Salave’a was definitely not a soft-hearted player during his time at Arizona (1994 to 1997) and through nine years in the NFL.

I used that quote as part of a larger story on Salave’a for FoxSportsArizona.com, and I also liked the following quote from senior defensive tackle Lolomana Mikaele, who is from Hawaii.

He told me that the Samoan-born Salave’a is very well known in the Polynesian community, and those ties are expected to keep open the recruiting pipeline that former defensive tackles coach Mike Tuiasosopo re-established for Arizona.

“In the Polynesian community, everyone follows each other, especially if they’re doing good,” Mikaele said. “Coach Joe, I had heard of him since I was in Hawaii. I knew who he was, and I had seen him play before. I know he’s all about work, man.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 23rd, 2010 at 2:32 pm and is filed under Sports. Tags for this post: . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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  • Carlos J. M.

    Good stuff Anthony. 

    My bet, if Joe ain’t blowing smoke, and we certainly have no reason to think that he may be, is that the ’10 season will be the last one in which the U of A team goes 5 games straight without a sack.  Just a hunch.  That’s where I’d put my money.  

    (But we’ve certainly heard tough coach speak before around these parts, like early in the ’10 basketball campaign, only to see it vanquish like: A) so many shooters; B) D to the backdoor, on cutters and on 3 ballers; and, C) the ‘ol artform at what used to be known as PGU: assists.  So…)

    I can’t wait to watch Big Joe match wits with CU’s new OC and Brown and Tuiasosopo’s buddy, Bienemy.  Can’t wait.  Should be fun. 

  • Carlos J. M.

    Make that vanish, not vanquish.  But you get the idea.  I’m sure.

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