Ties to Dick Tomey join three noted candidates for Arizona’s vacant coaching work

As the Arizona Wildcats’ coaching search commences, concentrate has turned to a handful of claimed candidates. One is the head mentor at a support academy. The other is playing for a Mountain West Meeting championship. And a 3rd is a major assistant for one of the West’s very best teams.

Ken Niumatalolo, Brent Brennan and Joe Salave’a have a person detail in prevalent: Dick Tomey.

Arizona’s all-time winningest mentor remaining an imprint on all 3 gentlemen through his stops at the UA, Hawaii and San Jose Point out. All 3 adult men spoke at Tomey’s memorial support, held on May possibly 31, 2019 in McKale Heart.

Here’s what they explained about the Arizona coaching legend at the time:

Ken Niumatalolo

A quarterback who performed under Tomey at Hawaii, Niumatalolo experienced a front-row seat to the coach’s to start with massive rebuild. It was there that Niumatalolo understood a coach is additional than the number of video games that they’ve received.

“Coach Tomey remaining the University of Hawaii as the winningest mentor in the background of the system,” he explained at the memorial company. “But to evaluate this guy by wins and losses, by documents, would be such a shallow reflection of the tremendous affect that he experienced on lives. He came to the College of Hawaii and modified our football application — but a lot more importantly altered their condition and altered the men and women.”

Tomey confirmed Niumatalolo and the other Rainbows gamers how to carry on their own on and off the subject. The future Navy coach saw the way Dick Tomey treated his son, Prosperous, and understood he desired to emulate that in his have existence.

“That’s the Wealthy I remember — just on the sidelines and constantly in front of the bus,” he claimed. “That experienced a terrific impact on me due to the fact I understood when I turned a coach, I required to do people exact same points. Enable my son to be on the sidelines with me, and he’s absent down with me quite a few video games.”

Niumatalolo said Tomey loved absolutely everyone, and that each individual romantic relationship was private and personal in its individual way.

“All of us truly feel like he beloved you, particularly,” Niumatalolo explained. “And as he has young children and daughters and sons and son in-guidelines, he had 1000’s of gamers that were being his coaches and his sons also.”

Brent Brennan

Brennan worked alongside Tomey twice: Initially as a graduate assistant at Arizona in 2000, and then as an assistant at San Jose Point out from 2005-2009.

Brennan talked at duration in Could 2019 about Tomey-isms, the routinely stated phrases that caught with you.

“Coach Tomey would start off just about every meeting each and every time I at any time labored for him: ‘Sit up straight. Two feet on the floor, eyes up, act interested,’” Brennan explained.

There have been more, of system: “The team, the workforce, the team” and “The more durable it gets, the improved have been play” have been two favorites.

One Tomey-ism specific rattled about Brennan’s mind all through his rebuild at San Jose State. (The Spartans will perform Saturday for a Mountain West Convention title).

“You’re possibly putting a workforce jointly, preserving the workforce alongside one another, or placing it back jointly,” Brennan recalled Tomey declaring. “It’s this kind of a excellent metaphor for daily life, suitable? Whether it’s your relationships, a group or your loved ones.”

Brennan’s speech then turned into a poem, rhymes and all.

“He experienced Arizona, Hawaii, San Jose Condition,” Brennan claimed. “He took packages over and aided make them terrific.”

Joe Salave’a

A member of the Desert Swarm period and two-time All-Pac-10 variety as a defensive lineman, Salave’a professional the glory days of Arizona football.

The Wildcats’ results arrived in aspect from the way Tomey treated his players, Salave’a mentioned.

“He had demanded a large amount of us, but he cherished us two times as significantly,” Salave’a said then. “I imagine which is one particular of the most important takeaways that I will constantly have with me.”

Now the co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach at Oregon, Salave’a has tried to observe Tomey’s instance as each a mentor and father.

“Dealing with our athletes and our young people today even inside our family, like is unconditional — but love comes with tasks and also being accountable to each individual other,” he claimed.

Salave’a said Tomey’s legacy stemmed in aspect from the way he welcomed Polynesian gamers into his system. That commenced throughout Tomey’s time in Hawaii and ongoing in stops in Tucson and San Jose.

“He was almost certainly the very first head mentor to truly convey the a few, four corners of the other South Pacific region to Hawaii,” Salave’a mentioned.

Tomey broke down limitations, Salave’a stated, and focused on people today.

“It seriously manufactured it uncomplicated for me in dealing with our athletes in their journey and making an attempt to mildew and press and consider to cultivate that element of their life for the reason that Mentor Tomey is what’s wholesome about this planet,” he stated.