Ced Dempsey, former UA athletic director, speaks during a public memorial service for the late Arizona head football coach, Dick Tomey on Friday. Tomey won 95 games in his 14 years at the school, and won 56 percent of his games overall in his career.
As Dick Tomey surely would’ve requested, the special football jersey on display at Friday’s memorial at McKale Center was No. 14.
It reflected the number of years Tomey coached at Arizona. Maybe another coach would’ve wanted the number of victories (95) or insisted “Desert Swarm” be stitched across the back of the jersey, but Tomey’s was simply 14 years.
Here are 14 thoughts from Friday’s service and an evening reception:
1. The two most significant people in UA football history are Pop McKale and Dick Tomey. Bookends to the 20th century. At a time the UA’s football program has little personality and identity, it should be a no-brainer to erect a statue or a highly visible memorial of Tomey at Arizona Stadium. It might be 100 years until another man like him comes along.
2. Arizona athletic director Dick Clausen, 1959-71, was the force that made sure McKale was suitably honored when Arizona built its basketball arena in 1972. Clausen pushed for McKale’s name to be on the arena. Had it not been for Clausen, the UA’s basketball facility might be named something like Wells Fargo Arena.
3. About 100 of Tomey’s former players and coaches attended a Friday evening reception at Pat Manley’s ranch near Fort Lowell and the Rillito River. What struck me was the large number of walk-ons and part-timers who were there. They were Tomey’s guys; he made them feel as important as Tedy Bruschi or Chuck Cecil. Everywhere you turned, you’d see a Chris Corral or an Armando Rios or a Peter Hansen, Barrett Baker, Brad Brennan, Billy Prickett — and even Kirk Sibley, a former Wilbur T. Wildcat mascot who knew Tomey on a first-name basis.
4. Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo spent the day in Tucson. In January 2018, he briefly appeared to be Arizona’s choice to succeed Rich Rodriguez. I’m not saying that Niumatalolo should’ve been chosen over Kevin Sumlin, but, wow, what an impressive man. It would’ve been like hiring another Dick Tomey.
5. The same thing goes for Utah athletic director Mark Harlan, the leadoff speaker Friday. Harlan spent 20 years at the UA in almost every conceivable capacity from equipment-room guy to assistant AD. Arizona had a chance to hire Harlan two years ago — he was then the AD at South Florida. As much as Harlan would’ve liked to be the AD at his alma mater, he is now a rising star in the business at a school beginning to flex its muscles.
6. Tomey won 56 percent of his games at Hawaii, Arizona and San Jose State. The College Football Hall of Fame has a relatively new requirement that coaches must win 60 percent to be on the ballot. The Class of 2019 will be announced this week, and the Southern Arizona Chapter of the Hall of Fame filed a 36-page appeal for Tomey to get special consideration given that eight coaches under 60 percent are in the Hall of Fame. When you coach at Hawaii, Arizona and San Jose State, winning 56 percent of your games is like winning 80 percent at Michigan or USC.
Dick Tomey walks the sideline during the UA's game against Stanford at Arizona Stadium, Oct. 11, 1997.
7. The only time I saw Tomey truly angry was after a 21-21 tie against Washington in 1987. I was among three or four reporters talking to kicker Gary Coston, who missed a 32-yard field goal attempt as time expired. Seeing that, Tomey picked up a folding chair and threw it against a wall in the old locker facility at Arizona Stadium. BOOM! “He didn’t lose the game,” Tomey said loudly. “I did more things to lose the game than anyone on this team.”
8. Tomey was married to Kim Arquette when he became Arizona’s coach. He always insisted on listing her son, Sonny, as his son in the official university bio. “Dick and I ended up divorcing amicably through mediation — no lawyers — and I remain a huge fan of his,” she wrote in a recent email. “Sonny and Dick visited regularly whenever Dick and Nanci (a lovely woman in all ways) came to Hawaii. Another testimonial to a great man.”
9. Among those who flew to Tucson for Tomey’s memorial was Carl Peterson, former GM and CEO of the Kansas City Chiefs. They last coached together from 1972-76 at UCLA. Yet 43 years later, Peterson flew to Tucson to say goodbye to his old friend.
10. Tucson wasn’t just a stop, a place to build a résumé, to most of its head football coaches from the modern era. After leaving the UA, Ed Doherty, Jim LaRue, Jim Young, Bob Weber, Larry Smith and Tomey all moved back and retired here.
11. None of the 18 speakers at Friday’s celebration of Tomey’s life mentioned a big win. Not the 1994 Fiesta Bowl shutout over Miami, not a stunning 1989 upset over No. 6 Oklahoma, not the 1998 Holiday Bowl win over Nebraska, not the upset over No. 1 Washington in 1992. The speakers chose to talk about his humanity and ability to touch people.
12. Tomey’s coaching tree compares to anyone in the business. Those in Tucson Friday included San Jose State coach Brent Brennan, Syracuse coach Dino Babers; former Fresno State coach Pat Hill; former Utah coach Ron McBride; Young, a former Purdue coach; former Memphis coach Rip Scherer; former Hawaii coach Bob Wagner; former Army coach Rich Ellerson and former Eastern Michigan coach Jeff Woodruff.
13. Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne flew from Tuscaloosa to Tucson to spend two hours at Tomey’s service. Byrne didn’t work with Tomey but got to know him. That says a lot about Byrne’s character.
14. Babers, whose team went 10-3 last year and rose to No. 12 in the AP poll, flew to Tucson in mid-April to spend six hours with Tomey. Before Babers flew back to New York, Tomey told him “always remember, you’re doing this for others.”
