Even though Arizona didn't add anyone to its 2023 recruiting class during National Signing Day on Wednesday, the Wildcats "signed a five-star coach," according to head coach Jedd Fisch.
Fisch revealed during his National Signing Day news conference that the Wildcats signed longtime coach Duane Akina, who will join the team as a senior defensive analyst and assistant defensive backs coach.
Akina coached at the UA during the celebrated "Desert Swarm" era under Dick Tomey from 1987-2000; Akina also coached Arizona's defensive backs in 2011 under Mike Stoops and interim head coach Tim Kish.
Akina is the latest member of Fisch's staff with ties to previous regimes at Arizona, joining safeties coach Chuck Cecil, defensive line coach Ricky Hunley, high school relations coordinator Brandon Sanders and advisor Tedy Bruschi.
The selling point for Akina to return to Tucson?
"To be a part of Arizona football," Fisch said.
"He was very excited about the direction of our program, and is very excited to be back in Tucson. I think he has a great love for the University of Arizona and for the city of Tucson. He has great history and tradition here. ... It's great to have him back."
Before Akina's 14-year career at Arizona, he spent five seasons as a defensive assistant under Tomey at Hawaii, followed by one season with the CFL's Calgary Stampeders.
At Arizona, Akina held multiple roles, including defensive backs coach, associate head coach, defensive coordinator and offensive coordinator. Following the 2000 season, Akina had a similar role under Mack Brown at Texas. Most recently, Akina worked for David Shaw as Stanford's defensive backs coach from 2014 to this past season.
The 66-year-old Akina mentored three Jim Thorpe Award winners: Darryll Lewis (Arizona), Michael Huff (Texas) and Aaron Ross (Texas).
Now a dozen years since his last stint at the UA, Akina will serve as a defensive analyst, which, according to NCAA rules, can't personally coach the players. However, Fisch said Akina will likely have a hands-on coaching role.
"We went through the process of what we wanted to do, what he wanted to do at this point of his career. We spoke with (athletic director) Dave Heeke and came up with a plan in place. We expect the NCAA to open up some more rules in terms of who can coach, who can't coach; that's been a big part of discussions.
Added Fisch: "Most recently, if you're an analyst, can you coach? Not coach? Right now, we believe that will change, so we wanted to get ahead of that and bring Coach Akina in."
Arizona is still looking to replace cornerbacks coach DeWayne Walker, who left the program in early January.
"We'll also continue our search for our new corners coach," Fisch said. "Hopefully that will be completed by this weekend."
