During the chaos that was the early weeks of the college football offseason, Arizona saw almost every member of its secondary put their name into the NCAA transfer portal. A few moved on, as expected, but the Wildcats lucked out by having others change their minds and come back.
But then the coach who helped developed Dalton Johnson, Genesis Smith and Treydan Stukes opted to move on. Duane Akina left the program in mid-January for another go-around at Texas, ending his second stint with the Wildcats.
The man may no longer be around, but his impact on Arizona’s defense remains.
“I love Coach Akina, that guy’s done a ton for me,” said UA assistant Brett Arce, who will coach Arizona’s safeties this season after being the STARS coach last year. “I’ve learned a ton from him. I wish him nothing but the best. And so there’s a lot of carryover in that room. We speak the same language, we’re doing the same things, so I think that’s great for the for the guys. And for me, I’ve built relationships with these guys for years now, so I think they feel confident in me. It’s been fun just kind of adding my own twist of things, taking some of the stuff I learned from Coach Akina, and adding my own little flavor to it.”
Arce, on the UA staff since 2021, is in charge of a position group that has a lot of returning experience. Stukes is entering his sixth year at Arizona, Johnson his fifth and Smith his third. There’s also redshirt sophomore Jack Luttrell, who started the final six games in 2024, and the Wildcats added Jshawn Frausto-Ramos from Stanford, where he made five starts in two seasons with the Cardinal.
Frausto-Ramos, a Los Angeles native who played against Noah Fifita and former UA players Keyan Burnett, Jacob Manu and Tetarioa McMillan in high school, said he’s known Arce since he was eight years old. That connection helped convince him Arizona was the best fit.
“Since we’ve got him on grass he’s really impressed me,” Arce said of Frausto-Ramos. “He’s learning multiple positions, as we like to do with our guys, and he’s been put in those positions, and he showed up and makes plays. I am expecting big things from him, and his growth is just going to be exponentially better as he gets more comfortable in this defense.”
The cross-training in the secondary, a carryover from the Akina days, came in handy last season when injuries riddled the secondary. Smith made 10 starts in 2024, four at safety (both free and strong) and six at slot corner, while Luttrell started at both safety spots.
That versatility should come in handy in Danny Gonzales’ defensive scheme, with Arce said involves players “coming from everywhere” to distract and disrupt the quarterback.
“Coach G is super passionate, I love that about him,” said Luttrell, a Tennessee transfer who had 39 tackles and tied with Smith for the team lead with three interceptions. “I love hitting the quarterback, and Coach does, too.”