Bear Down Wildcats

Coach Uiagalelei (yoo-gah-lei-lee) is in his first year as defensive line coach after holding the same position at Mt. San Antonio College since 2001. In 2006 he also became the defensive coordinator and was named associate head coach in 2010. Coach Iona has had multiple players make it to the NFL including Bruce Irvin. He prides himself on having the hardest working unit on the team and also the best fed. Coach was known for filling his house for Thursday night chicken at Mt. SAC and it looks like he has brought his grill to Tucson.

Coach Iona was made available for an interview during the spring with a transcript at AZ Desert Swarm including his coaching responsibilities:

Do you have the defensive tackles, ends, and studs?

I got the ends, tackles and the studs are with me sometimes. I think Coach Yates is feeling more comfortable to let those kids stay with me. At times in a four-man front, the studs are down at the line with us. They got to understand what’s going on, what the tackle’s doing. A lot of times they’re with me. If they’re doing drops with coverage then they go with Coach Yates.”

Here is a portion of his spring interview along with a look at Coach Iona during practice:



95 is the Arizona record for the most consecutive extra points made from 2013 to 2015.

Huge fan of this hire as he has deep SoCal relationships, Deep JUCO relationships, and Deep Poly relationships on top of being a great coach. Mt. Sac is a very strong program and think this is the exact type of hire Arizona needs to make in its football program for assistants. Find people who are talented looking to make a step up in their career and are strong recruiters.

No doubt the Poly Pipeline will be strong with Coach Iona leading the way.