Last season, Arizona had a generational kicker in Tyler Loop, who is now trying to make his way into the NFL.
This leaves new special teams coach Craig Naivar looking to replace Loop. The top candidate right now is sophomore Michael Salgado-Medina.
As a freshman, Salgado-Medina was the main punter but did not attempt any field goals. However, in the punting game he averaged 43.3 yards per punt, which included a 71-yarder against UCF.
Salgado-Medina used last year’s senior group to help with the freshman jitters that he faced.
“Everyone was a senior in the unit, and I was just a freshman coming up, so everyone took me under their wing,” Salgado-Medina said. “They taught how not to stress, not to overthink things, and just to stay calm and cool and do your job.”
Naivar knows that Salgado-Medina was the punter last season, but his performance in the spring practices so far makes him a viable option at kicker as well.
“We have a really good option there with having his ability to do both and then whatever he does not do would obviously be a tremendous backup in that regard, if he only does one of them,” Naivar said.
With having to find a new kicker, Naivar is also in the midst of finding a strong punt returner. As of right now, he is optimistic about the options that have presented themselves.
“I think we’ve got a lot of tremendous options, obviously, guys that have been here prior, then you bring in some of the new receivers,” Naivar said. “I’m really excited about what they’re doing right now, and some of the weapons we have within that.”
One of those new guys and options for punt returner is New Mexico transfer Luke Wysong. Safe to say he treats the responsibilities of returner with the utmost importance.
“I think that being a returner is one of the hardest jobs in football,” Wysong said. “You can really change a game if you mess up, but you can also change the game in a good way also.”
Regardless of the decisions in choosing a kicker or return guy, Naivar has always loved the special teams aspect of football.
“When I was a player, it was a pathway to get onto the football field,” Naivar said. “More importantly, it drew me to my teammates on both sides of the ball, because you brought value to the team.”
As for spring practice, Naivar believes that everyone he has been working with has shown him why special teams still matter.
“The buy-in, the effort level of those guys has been really well, we are really working on fundamentals and scheme within all of that piece,” Naivar said.
Going into the last week of spring ball, Salgado-Medina has made it simple in what he wants to focus on for the remainder of the week.
“Obviously just worried about just making the kicks right now,” Salgado-Medina said. “I mean, not really worried about distance right now, but when that comes, they’ll come.”
Time will tell who Naivar puts in which positions, but the first opportunity to see who might be in those positions comes this Saturday during the spring showcase.