Longtime Mario Cristobal assistant coach leaves Miami Hurricanes for another job
One of Mario Cristobal’s longtime assistant coaches has left his Miami Hurricanes staff.
Joe Salave’a, who has been with Cristobal for all three years at Miami and the five years before that at Oregon, on Thursday was named as the associate head coach and defensive line coach at Arizona — the same role he held at both stops with Cristobal.
Salave’a, 49, played defensive tackle at Arizona from 1994 to 1997 and was named first-team All-Pac-10 his senior year before playing eight seasons in the NFL.
He began coaching in 2008 with stops at San Jose State (2008-09), Arizona (2011) and Washington State (2012-2016) before joining Cristobal’s staff at Oregon in 2017. He followed Cristobal to Miami when he was hired ahead of the 2022 season. He shared defensive line coach duties with Jason Taylor the past two seasons.
Salave’a becomes the second member of his staff that Cristobal has to replace. UM fired defensive coordinator Lance Guidry on Dec. 31.
This story was originally published January 9, 2025 at 4:39 PM.
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