A former Arizona Wildcat has been officially added to Brent Brennan’s coaching staff.
The UA announced on Wednesday the additions of former Arizona linebacker Ronnie Palmer as a defensive assistant and Quinn Thomas as an offensive assistant coach.
Palmer was a standout linebacker for the Wildcats under former head coach Mike Stoops from 2005-08. In four years at Arizona, the Spring, Texas, native had 275 tackles, four sacks and three interceptions.
Arizona’s quarterback Willie Tuitama (7) is congratulated by Ronnie Palmer (33) during the fourth quarter against Oregon at Arizona Stadium in Tucson on Nov. 15, 2007. Arizona won, 34-24.
As a team captain in 2008, Palmer led the Wildcats to a Las Vegas Bowl win over BYU, the program’s first postseason victory in a decade.
Palmer signed with the Washington Redskins as an undrafted free agent before two stints in the UFL. Palmer won a UFL championship in 2009 with the Las Vegas Locomotives.
An excited Ronnie Palmer hoists the Las Vegas Bowl trophy following Arizona’s 31-21 win over BYU at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas on Dec. 20, 2008.
Palmer joined Stoops’ staff at Arizona as a quality control coach in 2011, before earning roles at Colorado State, Texas A&M-Kingsville and Northern Colorado.
Palmer was most recently the head coach at Monterrey Peninsula College, a junior college in Monterey, California. Palmer led the MPC program from 2020-24.
Although Thomas is an offensive analyst, he was a defensive quality control coach at Utah State after three seasons at New Mexico State as a defensive graduate assistant. Thomas was an offensive assistant at his alma mater Walsh University, a Division II school in Canton, Ohio. Thomas played wide receiver for the Cavaliers. Before coaching at Walsh, he was an analyst at Bowling Green.
Arizona begins its spring practice schedule on March 18, with the annual spring showcase scheduled for April 19.
