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Arizona coaching staff returns intact

Eric M. Jukelevics Arizona Daily Wildcat UA football head coach Dick Tomey speaks to fans at Wednesday's Meet the Team at Arizona Stadium. Tomey begins a five-year contract this season with every coach on the staff returning.

For the first time in head coach Dick Tomey's tenure, the UA football coaching staff has returned with all its members.

And while Tomey agreed that it is important, he also noted that now might not be the best time to make it seem like a strength for Arizona.

"Penn State has had their whole staff back for 30 years," Tomey said. "You're looking at the wrong game if you think that's an advantage for us."

"But it is helpful. We've got a great staff, a tremendous staff of assistant coaches."

UA athletic director Jim Livengood agreed on the importance of the whole staff returning.

"It says a lot," he said. "We could lose a number of coaches. We've got a number of our coaches who are ready if they choose to go on to the NFL. Some are ready to be head coaches."

Livengood admitted that if a coach really wanted to leave, neither he nor Tomey would stand in the coach's way.

"At the same time Dick's passion is my passion, to help people along with their careers," Livengood said. "You get better when people know that. The fact people stay here is a tribute. Next time we turn around we could lose someone. We're no longer kind of a secret out here."

Tomey said keeping his staff comes down to more than just having a successful team.

"You try to provide them with a good atmosphere for their families," he said, "(And) a good atmosphere to do their jobs."

Last year it seemed that Tomey's job was in jeopardy, until Livengood signed him to a five- year contract extension. Livengood said, though, that the decision had been made long before the Wildcats went a school-best 12-1.

"He and I talked about it (and) I don't think there was ever any question we were heading in the right direction," Livengood said. "We could tell that in the 1997 season. Typically, we've not addressed those until the contract ran out."

Tomey said having the new contract didn't mean much this season, other than the fact that "we were able to fix our kitchen this year. Last year we decided we couldn't fix our kitchen."

But it was still uplifting to earn the UA's vote of confidence.

"I definitely think it was a tremendous thing," he said. "It doesn't change the urgency you have as a coach to perform week-to-week. You always need to coach, to prepare with the sense of urgency. You need to prepare with the future in mind."

Livengood said the reasons for re-signing Tomey went beyond just the results on the field.

"He cares about all the right things," Livengood said. "He's in this business to help young people get better. He has so many other values. Everything is in terms of his players. He's trying to teach his players about life, not just football.

"He's one in a million in my opinion."

Tomey said that if nothing else, the extension has given him a new perspective on certain things.

"Last year my wife and I talked before the season that it would be a new chapter in our lives," he said. "This year we're talking about the fact we hope we'll be here for a long time to come."