Jim Livengood couldn't have been more excited. The new coach was an ideal fit for the university and its struggling football program.
"Exactly what this football program and university need," and "No one was able to measure up," said Livengood.
But the praise wasn't for Mike Stoops, who was hired last week as head football coach. Livengood spoke those words three years ago, when he hired John Mackovic to take over the struggling Wildcat football team from Dick Tomey.
We all know how the Mackovic story turned out.
The praise for Stoops, whose hiring was announced Saturday, has sounded remarkably similar.
But as we've learned from Mackovic, talk is cheap.
Stoops has promised results, and he says we'll see them soon. UA fans are expecting nothing less, and if Stoops doesn't deliver soon, he could find himself facing the same sort of hostility.
If he can live up to the promises he's making, he'll develop a successful team. He wants to create an atmosphere of tough love, where players work hard but are rewarded with a family environment.
Stoops has won praise for creating a similar atmosphere at Oklahoma, where he serves as defensive coordinator under his brother Bob. But now he's the head coach, and if he doesn't stick to his promises, the team will fail miserably, as it did this year.
Mackovic promised tough love, but forgot the love. Stoops can't.
Rebuilding the Wildcat football team will prove a challenging task, and given the market for college coaches, Arizona's getting a bargain by paying Stoops only $650,000 per year.
His contract also includes hundreds of thousands of dollars in incentives, the largest chunk of which kicks in if the Wildcats make the national championship game. If he can turn the team into a championship contender, he will have more than earned his keep.
But until the team produces on-field results, all UA fans can do is hope Stoops lives up to the hype.