From Larry Smith and Dick Tomey to Kevin Sumlin, Cats coaches have been front-page news

Cats' coaches always end up on Star covers

Perhaps it isn’t a surprise that Kevin Sumlin is gracing the cover of this football section — even in a season in which quarterback Khalil Tate is a Heisman Trophy candidate.

Coaches have been a very big deal in Tucson dating back to the days of Pop McKale.

The Star has featured the last five UA football coaches on its football preview covers. Here’s a look at what happened in the coaches’ first seasons, and how they fared overall:

Mr. Smith goes to Tucson

Year: 1980

How it read: Star reporter Bob Sherwin wrote that Larry Smith, Arizona’s first-year head coach, was a self-made man who rose from humble beginnings in Van Wert, Ohio and paid his dues before returning to the UA, where he was previously an assistant. The profile detailed the loving relationship between Smith and his wife, Cheryl, and explained how Smith fought a temper problem with, among other things, running.

Sherwin wrote:

He finds the best way to solve his problems is to run away from them. … He admits that the tougher the problem, the longer he runs. He may run to Albuquerque when he starts pondering the prospects of this season — USC, Notre Dame, UCLA, Washington, Arizona State.

But Larry Smith wouldn’t have it any other way. He’s where he’s always wanted to be.

How Arizona fared: The Wildcats went 5-6 in Smith’s first season, failing to make a bowl game. About that gauntlet of a schedule? Smith’s Wildcats went 1-4 against the teams Sherwin listed, the only victory coming against UCLA.

Postscript: The losing record was Smith’s only one at Arizona. The Wildcats went 6-5 the following season and 6-4-1 in 1982, then posted seven or more wins the next four seasons. Smith left for USC following a 1986 Aloha Bowl win. Smith went 48-28-3 in seven seasons at Arizona, and is still regarded as one of the best coaches in program history. He and Cheryl retired to Tucson, where he lived until dying in 2008.

Tomey's Aerial Attack

Year: 1987

How it read: Star reporter Jack Magruder predicted that Dick Tomey, the former head coach at Hawaii, would run a hybrid wishbone/run-and-shoot system “heretofore relegated to the minors — that is, the Western Athletic Conference and Division I-AA.”

Magruder wrote:

Anyway, the UA is doing more than just the run-and-shoot. It has the wishbone. Not that the Sooner Schooner should be summoned just yet.

”Our offense isn’t magic,” Tomey said. “We won’t be able to move up and down the field without having to scratch our heads and scheme. The key to the offense is not what you do, but how you do it. If one offense was obviously better, we’d all be doing this.”

How Arizona fared: Tomey’s team went 4-4-3, tying Washington, Cal and Arizona State, and failed to make the postseason. The 1987 Wildcats were led by quarterback Ronald Veal, who threw for 1,239 yards and four touchdowns — numbers that were worse than 1986, Larry Smith’s final year. Arizona averaged 23.9 points per game, putting the team 43rd out of 104 Division I-A teams.

Postscript: Tomey eventually scrapped the hybrid scheme, though he continued to tinker on both sides of the ball during his 14 seasons in charge. The’ “Desert Swarm” defense put the program on the map in the mid-1990s, and Tomey’s decision to play two quarterbacks — Keith Smith and Ortege Jenkins — helped carry the UA to a program-record 12 wins in 1998. Tomey’s teams would tie just one more game during his tenure. He finished his UA career with a 95-64-4 mark. Tomey recently retired to Tucson.

New Sheriff in Town

Year: 2001

How it read: Star reporter Edward de la Fuente wrote that the 57-year-old John Mackovic was an old-school coach ready to bring new-fangled ideas — notably, a downfield passing attack — to a program whose offenses struggled in the final years of Dick Tomey’s tenure. Mackovic came to the UA following a stint as an ESPN analyst; before that, he coached at both Illinois and Texas. Mackovic also spent time coaching under the Dallas Cowboys’ Tom Landry, who inspired the coach’s trademark look.

De la Fuente wrote:

As Landry did, Mackovic is considering wearing a tie on the sidelines during games, just as he did many times during his coaching stints at Texas and, before that, Illinois. … Keith Jackson, the venerable college football broadcaster for ABC and a close friend of Mackovic, believes he will. The tie is indicative of the professional manner in which Mackovic likes things to be done.

”Don’t be misled by his easy-going demeanor,” Jackson says. “He’s a tough guy.”

How Arizona fared: Quarterback Jason Johnson threw for 2,347 yards and 19 touchdowns, but the 2001 Wildcats struggled to a 5-6 record — the same mark that got Tomey fired a year earlier. The season’s highlight came in Week 11, when the Wildcats traveled to Tempe and beat rival Arizona State 34-21.

Postscript: Johnson starred again the following season, throwing for 3,327 yards and 16 touchdowns, the but the Wildcats went just 4-8. Mackovic’s tough-guy demeanor led to a near-player revolt in 2002, though the coach was allowed to keep his job following a tearful public apology. The goodwill didn’t last: Mackovic was fired midway through the 2003 season. Mackovic finished his UA career with a 10-18 overall record and a 3-14 conference mark.

As for the tie? Mackovic wore one in his first game as the Wildcats’ head coach, a 23-10 win over San Diego State in 2001.

New Face of UA Football

Year: 2004

How it read: Star reporter Charles Durrenberger wrote that the 42-year-old Stoops brought on-field toughness and a dedication to defense, two things that Arizona lacked under John Mackovic. Stoops came to Arizona from Oklahoma, where he served as defensive coordinator under his brother Bob. Another brother, Mark, came along with Mike and was named the Wildcats’ defensive coordinator.

Durrenberger wrote:

The Stoops brothers have all of those characteristics and make no apologies for an in-your-face style that gets the most of out of their troops. “SportsCenter” could fill a 30-minute sportscast on Mike’s sideline rants. But where are the cameras when his compassionate side comforts a player with arm around the neck or a pat on the back? …

So should Wildcat fans a toned-down Mike Stoops as head coach?

”I just think people get the wrong idea,” Mike said. “Sure, I’m intense during games, but during the week we pretty much converse on a daily basis with these players coming through the office … I am demanding in certain aspects.”

How Arizona fared: The Wildcats went 3-8 in Stoops’ first year, but the season was salvaged somewhat with a 34-27 upset victory over Arizona State in Week 11. The Wildcats went two months and two days between their first victory — a season-opening win over NAU — and their second, an upset of Washington in Seattle.

Postscript: Stoops promised to win right away. It took much, much longer. Stoops didn’t post his first winning season until 2008, when the Wildcats snapped a 10-year postseason drought and beat BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl. Arizona followed with appearances in the Holiday and Alamo bowls, but lost both games badly. The coach didn’t last much beyond the Holiday Bowl pasting by Nebraska; athletic director Greg Byrne fired him midway through the 2011 season, citing — among other things — the need for a calmer presence on the sideline.

Stoops went 41-50 as Arizona’s head coach. He’s now back at Oklahoma, where he serves as defensive coordinator. Bob Stoops retired as the Sooners’ head coach a year ago.

Rodriguez Era Begins

Year: 2012

How it read: Star reporter Ryan Finley wrote that the 48-year-old Rodriguez was relishing a new start following ugly exits at both West Virginia and Michigan.

Finley wrote:

Timing and tradition worked against Rodriguez at Michigan, and familiarity bred contempt at West Virginia.

Arizona, then, just might be the perfect fit for a coach looking for redemption. Expectations will be kept relatively low for Rodriguez’s first few seasons, though next year’s projected opening of the Lowell-Stevens Football Facility should help in recruiting. Fans want Rodriguez’s teams to be successful, but likely won’t demand his firing if the UA struggles at first.

Rodriguez will almost certainly be given five seasons to build the program at his own pace and in his own image.

Arizona’s first celebrity coach will bank on himself.

“It’s fun to be here, where they’ve had bits and pieces of it but they haven’t been over the top,’ he said.

“We’re not going to wave a magic wand, but we can do some things here.”

How Arizona fared: Arizona surprised many experts by going 8-5 in Rodriguez’s first year. The Wildcats capped the season with a miraculous New Mexico Bowl win over Nevada. Quarterback Matt Scott led the UA to a pair of touchdowns in the final two minutes, and the Wildcats pulled off a 49-48 win on a frigid December afternoon in Albuquerque.

Postscript: The Wildcats posted a matching 8-5 record in 2013, and won the Pac-12 South Division a year later. Losses to Oregon in the conference championship game and Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl proved to be the beginning of the end for Rodriguez at Arizona. His teams went a combined 17-21 in his final three seasons. He was fired Jan. 2. The UA’s decision seemed to catch Rodriguez off-guard; he coached the Wildcats in a Foster Farms Bowl loss to Purdue days earlier, and had recently hired a new offensive line coach. The UA paid him $6.28 million in severance, but was able to avoid shelling out a $3 million “retention bonus” that would have been due to him in March. As for the promise of at least five seasons at the helm? Rodriguez got six, posting a 43-35 record.