Grading the hires of former Arizona athletic director Greg Byrne | Greg Hansen

It wasn't as simple as you'd imagine for a recognized golf power like Arizona. In LaRose's last four seasons, the Wildcats finished eighth, ninth, seventh and 10th in the Pac-10 championships. The new coach wouldn't step into a smooth-moving powerhouse, but instead a rebuilding project that would take almost a decade.

Byrne sought San Diego State head coach Ryan Donovan, seen as a rising star. But the Aztecs gave Donovan a raise and a three-year contract. Byrne also sought Iowa's Mark Hankins, whose Hawkeyes had just finished 11th in the NCAA finals. Alas, Hankins' base salary was $200,000, far more than Byrne's budget allowed for a golf coach.

UA finally hired 31-year-old Texas A&M assistant Jim Anderson, a New Mexico Lobo alumnus, and asked him to deliver the next Jim Furyks, Ricky Barneses, Rory Sabbatinis and Robert Gamezes that LaRose deployed to be a Top 10 power from 1988-2005.

It would be no Cinderella story.

Finally, in 2021, Anderson coached Arizona to the Pac-12 championship. Last week, he did just as well, maybe better, finishing second in the wickedly difficult Big 12 championships, a league in which Oklahoma State, ASU, Texas Tech, and BYU are all in the Top 25. (By comparison, the old Pac-12 schools have just one Top 25 team, No. 14 Stanford).

What's amazing is that Anderson is now the longest-tenured head coach in the Arizona athletic department. He's only 45, but has established himself and his team as winners, players on the biggest stage in men's college golf again. In two weeks, the Wildcats will host the NCAA West Regionals at The Gallery Golf Club at Dove Mountain.

Byrne, now the athletic director at Alabama, hired eight head coaches in his UA days. In retrospect, it's easy to say that Bryne was sharp and intuitive. Here's how I would grade those eight hires today:

– Rich Rodriguez, football, C-: RichRod inherited significant talent from Mike Stoops' roster and used much of it for one bang-up season, 2014, when the Wildcats went 10-4 and won the Pac-12 South. But RichRod ultimately failed and was fired for poor recruiting, the lack of community connection and operating a hostile atmosphere at Lowell-Stevens Football Facility.

– Eric Hansen, swimming, F: It seemed like a coup when Byrne hired Wisconsin head coach Eric Hansen, a former UA assistant coach during the robust Frank Busch years. But Hansen had personal issues, asked for a leave of absence, and the program conked out, one that hasn't recovered in 14 years.

– Rick DeMont, swimming, C: The longest-tenured UA assistant coach in school history did his best to rebuild Hansen's mess but it was too much to ask.

– Jay Johnson, baseball, A: Byrne poached Johnson from Nevada and hit it out of the park. Johnson delivered two College World Series teams before taking the money and running to LSU, where he has won an NCAA championship.

– Clancy Shields, men's tennis, A: Hired away from Utah State, inheriting a bottom-feeder, Shields has become the most successful coach on campus the last six years. UA men's tennis is a powerhouse.

– Tony Amato, soccer, B+: Taking over a low-level UA women's soccer program after leaving Stephen F. Austin, Amato became the school's most successful soccer coach ever, going 88-53-17 with four NCAA tournament berths in eight years before accepting a raise to coach the Florida Gators.

– Adia Barnes, women's basketball, grade ?: Hard to figure. Barnes built a Final Four team from the ashes of a decade of bad women's basketball teams — and then failed to maintain anything near that level of success. New athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois smartly allowed Barnes' contract to expire as she left to coach at SMU.

– Anderson, men's golf, solid B: As former UA athletic director Dave Heeke used to say, "the future is bright." Anderson has delivered.

In total, Byrne went 5 for 8 in his UA hiring role, which is about as good as an AD at Arizona or most schools can hope.