By
Maxx Wolfson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Jolivette - tired of comparisons - wins conference defensive player of week
After only five games as the starting cornerback for the UA football team, redshirt Freshman Michael Jolivette is already being compared to ex-Wildcat All-American Chris McAllister.
However, it appears as if the freshman cornerback would rather be considered the first coming of Michael Jolivette than the second coming of McAllister.
"I don't like when people compare me to other people because I want to be myself," Jolivette said. "I want everyone to know me as Michael Jolivette."
Leading the Pacific 10 Conference in interceptions with four, Jolivette has helped to solidify a position that was one of the major weaknesses for the Wildcats last season, when UA finished a disappointing 6-6.
For Jolivette's efforts against USC last Saturday - the freshman had two interceptions and six solo tackles en route to a 31-15 against USC - the freshman was named Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Week.
He joins senior defensive ends Joe Tafoya (week No. 1) and Idris Haroon (week No. 4) as Wildcat defenders to win the honor in so far this season.
"To have three awards of that magnitude come to our defense in the past five weeks is a really big pride thing for us," Tafoya said. "We are playing hard out there every week"
Even though Jolivette has shined throughout his first five games in his college career, UA head coach Dick Tomey still said he has a long way to go.
"I think Michael is coming along and I think he has ways to go," Tomey said. "He is a young player and our expectations for him are going to be higher than they are for some other guys than we have had because he has a big upside."
For Jolivette, the decision to come play for Tomey and attend the University of Arizona out of high school was an easy one.
"I really didn't have any choice," Jolivette said. "I did not have my (SAT) scores at the time and it seemed like the only school that would stick behind me was Arizona. They kept calling me and everybody else dropped me - UT (University of Texas), Texas A&M, Colorado - I wanted to be somewhere where I was comfortable and they were comfortable with me."
A native Texan, Jolivette attended North Shore High School in Houston alongside with two other Arizona players - freshman center Reggie Sampay and freshman offensive lineman Chris Johnson.
Jolivette's career as a Wildcat had to start a year later than expected after the freshman fractured his foot during one-on-one drills at Camp Cochise in 1999.
Jolivette's injury may have been a blessing in disguise - the 5-foot-9, 175-pound speedster learned a lot watching his team on the sideline as a redshirt last year.
"What I learned was, that the media was talking about the (defensive backs) and how they were soft (in 1999) and I just wanted to make a change," Jolivette said. "I try to tell all the DB's that we need to make a change and that we don't want to have another season like that."
Tafoya - who used his redshirt season in 1996 - is among a number of players that advocates redshirting as a freshman..
"Redshirting is the best thing they (freshman) can do," Tafoya said. "It gives them time to develop mentally and physically and get adjusted to college life and get adjusted to college football."
The Arizona defense, which struggled last year, is off to an impressive start this season and is currently ranked second nationally in rush defense third in turnovers forced.
Senior linebacker Antonio Pierce feels that the change in the secondary has paid off.
"I think our whole secondary has stepped up and they have played a lot better than our secondary did last year," Pierce said. "They have that camaraderie with one another and they all have that competition on who is going to get the next pick or who is going to make the next big play."
With numerous players fighting for a starting job, the defensive backs have thrived on competition.
Jolivette said the competition between the players has led to the team's success in 2000.
"We just practice hard and never give up because everyone is still fighting for a position," Jolivette said. "We are still trying to win a position and that is going to make us better competing against each other every day time after time is how you are going to get better."
For now, it appears as if Jolivette's job as UA's starting cornerback is safe ... for the next three seasons.
