Assistant coach Derek Radley, top right, helped Arizona to a national championship in 2018.
Before Greg Byrne left to become the athletic director at Alabama, he told me that assistant women’s golf coach Derek Radley was “a rising star.” Those were the same words used by Oregon AD Rob Mullens last week when the Ducks hired Radley to be their coach. Give Oregon credit: It did excellent research to find Radley.
“He has infectious energy and passion,” Mullens said.
It’s a significant blow to Arizona, the defending national champion; Radley is one of the NCAA’s leading recruiters, with terrific connections in Europe and Asia. Over the last 20 years, Radley was probably one of the five leading assistant coaches at Arizona, joining football offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes, track and field jumps coach Sheldon Blockburger, baseball’s Mark Wasikowski and swimming’s Augie Busch.
