Arizona hired ex-San Jose State cornerbacks coach Courtney "Chip" Viney for the same position on Thursday.
Viney is the latest SJSU staffer to follow head coach Brent Brennan to Tucson, along with defensive line coach Seumalo, offensive line coach Josh Oglesby, tight ends coach Matt Adkins, offensive analyst Lyle Moevao and chief of staff Ben Thienes.
Viney coached cornerbacks the last two seasons at San Jose State, after he was theΒ director of player development and scouting analystΒ at Oklahoma. Viney was also aΒ defensive analyst and recruiting analyst for the Sooners from 2018-20, following a one-year stint as Nevada's cornerbacks coach. He started his college coaching career as a graduate assistant at Oklahoma for three years and was moved to special teams analyst in 2016.Β Β
Under Viney's direction, San Jose State's cornerbacks combined for nine interceptions and had a Mountain West-best plus-12 turnover margin in the regular season in 2022.
The 34-year-old Viney played defensive back at UCLA from 2007-10. Former Arizona cornerbacks coach DeWayne Walker, who coached the first two seasons under former leader Jedd Fisch in 2021 and '22, was the Bruins' interim head coach after the firing of Karl Dorrell during Viney's freshman season. Viney continued his UCLA career as a reserve defensive back and special teams standout for head coach Rick Neuheisel. Before his collegiate career, Viney starred at Edison High School in Fresno, California, the alma mater of ex-Wildcat defensive back Robert Golden.
Arizonaβs cornerback room in 2024 shrank following Fisch leaving for Washington. Starting cornerbacks Ephesians Prysock and Tacario Davis, who led the Pac-12 in pass breakups this past season, are in the transfer portal.Β
The options at cornerback for Arizona includes nickel back Treydan Stukes, redshirt freshman Jai-Ayviauynn Celestine, freshman Emmanuel Karnley, three-star 2024 prospect Rahim Wright and four-star Seattle cornerback Rahshawn Clark, albeit he's likely to go to Washington.Β
Brent Brennan was officially announced as the head coach of the Arizona Wildcats on Tuesday. Brennan flew to Tucson and walked into Arizona Stadium with the Pride of Arizona playing "Bear Down, Arizona" and mascots Wilbur and Wilma greeting the new UA coach. (Video by Justin Spears / Arizona Daily Star)
