As Arizona looks to end what is now a five-game losing streak heading into this Saturday night's meeting with No. 7 Utah the Wildcats will have to do it without yet another defensive coach. Second-year defensive line coach Iona Uiagalelei was fired by head coach Kevin Sumlin Thursday making the longtime junior college assistant the third coach to be fired by UA this season.
“I thank Iona for his service to UA and wish him well moving forward," Sumlin said in a statement released by the program. "This change is in the best interest of our football program at this time.”
All three coaches that have been let go by Sumlin this season coach on the defensive side of the ball as Uiagalelei joins former defensive coordinator Marcel Yates and former linebackers coach John Rushing as the departures this year. It leaves cornerbacks coach Demetrice Martin as the only defensive coach to start the season with the team in a full-time capacity.
The Wildcats currently rank near the bottom of the major statistical categories on the defensive side of the ball both nationally and in the Pac-12 Conference. UA has allowed the most points this season in the conference and accounts for the fewest sacks among teams in the Pac-12.
There had been plenty of buzz about Arizona's defensive line coming out of the spring as the development of players such as Jalen Harris and JB Brown was beginning to look like it could lead to better production from the defensive line this season.
That has not been the case for the Wildcats as that group has managed to rack up only seven of the team's 13 sacks this year.
On the recruiting front the Wildcats have had some success with junior college players such as Trevon Mason and Myles Tapusoa making an early impact plus freshman Kyon Barrs giving the group some production early in the year. Still, the Wildcats are lacking in the current 2020 recruiting cycle when it comes to impact players up front on defense with just one defensive lineman committed in the class, three-star defensive end prospect Dion Wilson Jr.
A replacement for Uiagalelei has not yet been named by the program, but the expectation is that the team will promote another analyst to fill the role. Senior defensive analyst and UA alum Chuck Cecil was promoted from senior defensive analyst to interim defensive coordinator a few weeks ago to replace Yates while defensive analyst and former UA linebacker Hank Hobson was promoted to take over for Rushing.
The Wildcats are set to host the seventh-ranked Utes, the top rushing team in the Pac-12, this Saturday night at 8 p.m. MST in their final regular season home game.
