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Some players play golf, while others play darts and video games and watch UFC fights together. 

As for Arizona's defensive linemen, they bring their appetite to defensive line coach Joe Salave'a's house for home-cooked Polynesian food.

"Coach Joe, if you're ever trying to gain some weight, that's the guy you need to go to," said Arizona defensive tackle Leroy Palu.

Arizona redshirt junior defensive lineman Julian Savaiinaea, while nodding, interjected and said, "Yeah, he's got that good Poly food." 

Salave'a joked, "We don't have to worry about to-go plates, because those guys run through those things. We're honored to have those moments away from the building, because we need to."

The most popular Polynesian food item served at Salave'a's house is "lu pulu" or often called "loo," a Tongan dish that is corned beef or lamb and coconut milk wrapped in taro leaves.

Arizona head coach Brent Brennan, during Salave'a's introductory press conference over a year ago, said his favorite memory of the Arizona defensive line coach was when they were on a recruiting trip together at San Jose State. They were recruiting linebacker Sekope Kaufusi at his home in Palo Alto, California. The Kaufusis prepared "loo" for Brennan and Salave'a.

“I ate three of them and it was a lot. I wanted to be respectful in the house, but she cooked like 15. The best part about Joe is that he was absolutely there for it,” Brennan said then.

In addition to lu pulu, the Salavea's also serve the UA defensive linemen "'otai," a coconut milk-based beverage "with watermelon and all of these fruits. His wife makes it, we just eat it," Palu said. 

The food is always a highlight of the defensive line gatherings, but "it's not just the meals, it's us getting together and being able to talk about things outside of football," Palu said.

"Talk about how life is, how school is," Palu said. "Being with the boys and thinking about something other than football is good for the mind." 

Arizona's defensive line is one of the Wildcats' position groups with the most camaraderie and chemistry, considering how many contributors are returning. Arizona is returning nine defensive linemen from last season's team that went 9-4 and played in the Holiday Bowl — four of them played over 200 defensive snaps, excluding team captain Tre Smith, who suffered a season-ending shoulder injury last season. 

Smith, Palu, sophomore Mays Pese and redshirt juniors Dominic Lolesio and Julian Savaiinaea have a combined 3,298 defensive snaps in their careers, with Smith owning roughly half of those snaps (1,610). Entering the second season under Salavea's tutelage, "you can definitely see on the field that we're more comfortable talking to each other, playing hard for each other," Savaiinaea said.

"Off the field, that bond and genuine love for each other, that naturally carries over," he added.  

The leader of the group is Smith, a sixth-year senior who's received the nickname "Mr. Redline" by his teammates. Savaiinaea said, "everything Tre Smith does is 100-100 effort." 

"Redline in breakfast, redline in meetings, redline off the field," Palu said. "Watching him do things to the max is fun to see. We take after him. We try our best to be like him." 

Salave'a said the 6-5, 262-pound Smith "brings an element on our edge that is made just right for this conference."

"We're excited about his leadership," said Salave'a. "He brings a mature sense and presence for the room."

Now that Smith has accrued in-game snaps and practices over five-plus seasons, "now we're making strides on his awareness and his football IQ," Salavea's said, and the Arizona edge rusher is "starting to pick up different things about formations, tendencies."

"He's also finding out more about his movement and his mobility," Salavea's said. "We're working in phases. We're addressing his mobility, so he can be faster and flexible turning tight corners, but also recognizing what the offense is doing pre-snap.

"The most awesome thing is he's opened to be coached. It's rare now when you have a player with a lot of college experience not be coachable. That young man is a bonafide leader. He leads by example. If I could get three or four Tre Smiths every year, this thing would go through the roof." 

Pese, whose 6-3, 284-pound frame allows him to play as an edge rusher or defensive tackle, received All-Big 12 Freshman Team honorable mention and "played a lot in his first year last year, but he's a kid that's motivated to improve," Salave'a said. The 6-3, 282-pound Savaiinaea "is going to be one of those guys that fortifies our front." 

Palu, who could conceivably start at nose tackle alongside Pese and Smith in defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales' 3-3-5 defense, "trimmed his body down and has gotten stronger, quicker" since transferring from Cerritos College a year ago, Salave'a said.  

Lolesio "is the most improved player on our team and it ain't even close," Gonzales said, and the 6-4, 253-pound Long Beach, California native is "always taking the extra (reps), the in between, the unrequired," Palu said.

Lolesio has been a mainstay in Arizona's defense since his freshman season in 2023. Salave'a said, "his body is still changing and he's getting stronger." Lolesio is the "most improved in the room" and will play starter-worthy snaps this season.

The Wildcats will also have a few familiar (but new) faces in their defensive line rotation this year, including junior college transfers Ezra Funa and Zac Siulepa. The 6-6, 382-pound Siulepa has "lost about 30-40 pounds" since arriving to Arizona, according to Salave'a. 

The Gold Coast, Australia native transferred to Arizona after a career at Garden City Community College (Kansas). Even though Siulepa has been clocked at running 17 miles per hour, his endurance and conditioning to stay on the field needed to improve. 

"He's working his way now to a point where he's now able to get on the field," Salave'a said. "He's another young man that continues to change his body. He's not there yet, but he's going to give himself a chance. ... He's finally settling in with the nutrition, the weight training and now with the football piece. ... He's a young man with a high ceiling with a lot of underdeveloped traits that I'm fired up for. He's going to be a big part of our front, not just this year, but next year."

Savaiinaea, who's Siulepa's roommate, said "he's been locked in this offseason with what he's eating from the morning to dinner time."

"He's consistently monitoring what he eats and what he shouldn't be eating," Savaiinaea said. "That's going to be dangerous, because he's already a big man, so cutting that weight off, man, that's a big guy moving fast."

Savaiinaea holds his roomie and teammate accountable. 

"Just helping him out on what not to eat," Savaiinaea. "He has help from our nutritionist team. I just hold him accountable and make sure he's not grabbing too many snacks and desserts." 

Whether it's holding each other accountable on their diets or breaking bread at Salave'a's house, coupled with a unit with promising returners and newcomers oozing with potential — like freshmen Keytrin Harris, Prince Williams, Kaisi Lafitaga and Cal Poly transfer Victory Johnson — Arizona's defensive line unit is a "spirited room," Salavea'a said.

"It's been a blessing, because those guys have taught me what it means to be connected and what it means to fellowship," he added. "I don't have to create that; they create it for themselves, whether it's hooking up the ukulele and telling stories. That's what you're looking for.

"A lot of programs sell the notion of family and brotherhood. It ain't like that everywhere. Sometimes it's staff-pushed and motivated. With our guys, it's a player-motivated deal."