Zona fans...

[SpartanQ]

Who do you see stepping it up on the other side of Mike Thomas?
Turner? Dean?

Will the run game see any improvements or will it still be a majority air attack?

[ZonaDefender1]

we have some nice rbs but only one is really battle nice grigs. joe reese could be nice two punch but we are a passing team

[illcat]

we have some nice rbs but only one is really battle nice grigs. joe reese could be nice two punch but we are a passing team


Exactly, until the Cats are a good and balanced offensive team the running game will be more of a show than a threat.

Whatever happened to the good old Tomey days run on 2, pass on 3, then punt on 4.:lol2:

[Qcat]

Exactly, until the Cats are a good and balanced offensive team the running game will be more of a show than a threat.

Whatever happened to the good old Tomey days run on 2, pass on 3, then punt on 4.:lol2:

I thought it was run on 2 and run on 3?

[bhanson]

No no! It was 1 run, 2 run, pooch punt on 3.

[carbon64]

I think it was run on 1, run on 2, and then fumblerooskie.

[PerpEph]

All of these are correct "Tomey" sequences. My personal favorite was the following:

1st and 10: Draw for gain of 1.

2nd and 9: Incomplete pass/QB Sack

3rd and 9 or 14: Delayed draw up the middle

4th and forever: Punt


That delayed draw on 3rd down with 10+ yards to go drove me nuts, as did the pooch punt on 3rd and long.

Ugh. If Tomey had had some sort of offense while he was in Tucson (other than 1998)...

[dmacwildcat]

In my mind, there is nothing more frustrating/irritating than watching your team on offense run up the middle and get stuffed on 3rd and long. Lets hope those days are behind us!

[CatPhanatic]

Is this a sign when people are bagging on Tomey when not too long ago the cries were "WHY DID THEY GET RID OF TOMEY?!"

Is this confidence in the new offense?

[carbon64]

I actually liked Tomey; strong defenses, good at taking average talent and making them overachieve. He just needed someone else to call the offensive side of the ball.

[illcat]

I just had a disturbing flash back of watching that delayed draw when I read PerpEph's post........NOOOOOO!

[ExCat98]

You guys are so right. I mean it really stunk to be in a bowl game almost every year and competing for a Rose Bowl once every three to four years. It is so much better to throw the ball 50 times and be 5-7. How many winning seasons have we had since he left? ZERO! He got San Jose St to a bowl game faster than the U of A could get there. You do realize that when you knock Tomey you are knocking the best time in AZ football history.

[TheCat]

You obviously don't remember Jim Young.

[ExCat98]

Played for Jim Young! How many Top 10 teams did he have? Tomey was a pretty good coach. Not great. But pretty darn good. It cracks me up how all the fans are slamming him and then just hoping and praying we make a bowl game. Imagine what would have been thought of Tomey if all he had to do was make it to a Bowl Game. And by the way, Jim Young coached when The U of A was in the WAC! Like it or not this program had its best years under Tomey.

[bhanson]

I just had a disturbing flash back of watching that delayed draw when I read PerpEph's post........NOOOOOO!

Me too :shudder:.

Even my 5YO daughter would go "QB draw" when it was third and long and Jenkins was the QB. If she knew what play was coming then why should the defense be surprised?

And Tomey was a good coach, just not great. It was just that the fans wanted someome to take them to the next level, and go to a Rose Bowl. The basketball program spoiled the fans. And Tomey certainly didn't help his cause by not aggressively recruiting after the Holiday Bowl win over Nebraska. From written reports thought the win would do the recruiting for him.

[uacats]

No Rose Bowls in 14 years while every team in the Pac 10 went except Oregon State and Cal.

He had his chance

[dc4azcats]

Played for Jim Young! How many Top 10 teams did he have? Tomey was a pretty good coach. Not great. But pretty darn good. It cracks me up how all the fans are slamming him and then just hoping and praying we make a bowl game. Imagine what would have been thought of Tomey if all he had to do was make it to a Bowl Game. And by the way, Jim Young coached when The U of A was in the WAC! Like it or not this program had its best years under Tomey.

Agree.

It's easy to brush off Tomey when people forget that he never had the chance to recruit to the facilities that we currently have. We had what was comparable to a High School weight room when Tomey was coach. Tomey got the max out of what he had to work with. Simple as that.

[bhanson]

Mike Price seemed to do pretty OK in Wazzu with substandard facilities.

What was it, 2 Rose Bowl trips? And Tucson > Pullman.

[Charlie Murphy]

[QUOTE=SpartanQ;1032644]Who do you see stepping it up on the other side of Mike Thomas?
Turner? Dean?[QUOTE]

Terrel Turner is the guy IMO. He has sure hands and is an excellent route runner. He's a future all pac-10 WR. you heard it hear first kids

[ZonaDefender1]

I have been and continue to be a Tomey guy. I think the way he was run outta town was wrong and sent this program into the downward spiral we still havent recovered from. Tomey just won with less and our program enjoyed consistency with him. Even if stoops goes to a bowl game he has to show he can do it every year. Tomey got to bowl games beat some nice opponents and played good OOC opponents too. but it wasnt enough for some of the fans that dont even go to the games anyways, they measure success on something else. I figured eventually under tomey we would have had a rose bowl. Firing him and hiring the next coach set us back 25 years. the jury is still out on stoops. when he shows me our players respect the past by winning in the future he will be my guy. BRING BACK THE WHITE HELMETS!!!!!!

[BibbysTowelDude]

lol tomey couldn't recruit because of our facilities? Our facilities still suck compared to most of the country..

[illcat]

I really don't think Tomey was a bad coach. He was a .500 coach and that's all. When he was let go I think Arizona FB was looking forward to the promised land and knew that he wasn't the guy to lead them to it. Who knew it was going to take this long and this many detours to get there.

[UAtrue]

I thought it was run up the middle on 2 and run up the middle on 3?

that is more like all I remember from his offenses

[UAtrue]

It cracks me up how all the fans are slamming him and then just hoping and praying we make a bowl game. Imagine what would have been thought of Tomey if all he had to do was make it to a Bowl Game.

Not so much as slamming him as poking fun of one of his few significant shortcomings. As said earlier, Tomey was a very good coach-especially turning unknowns into quality players and building great defenses. But, those frequent 3 and outs (and way too much running up the middle) were painful to watch.

Tomey was axed because he couldn't take us 'to the next level' which is what was being sought. It is apparent we're still not there (by a long shot).

[dc4azcats]

Mike Price seemed to do pretty OK in Wazzu with substandard facilities.

What was it, 2 Rose Bowl trips? And Tucson > Pullman.

Wazzu along with OSU could bring in guys that Tomey wasn't allowed to pursue. It caught up to Wazzu and Doba said as much but, Tomey was never allowed to go recruit the academically challenged and or JC guy who didn't have the grades but, was an unbelievable talent. It's apples and oranges and in this case - location had nothing to do with it. It had everything to do with admission standards.

Dick never had 2 losing seasons in a row and since he left we haven't had a winning season.

[dc4azcats]

lol tomey couldn't recruit because of our facilities? Our facilities still suck compared to most of the country..

When Dick was recruiting - you had High Schools in Texas and California who had better facilities then what we had here. Not a joke but a fact. Our facilities while certainly not the best in the nation by any stretch certainly hold their own. I seriously doubt that any HS has similar facilities as it relates to the weight room, training rooms, whirl pools, track, meeting rooms etc that UA has today. That wasn't the case when Tomey was head coach at AZ.

BTD - have you toured the facilities and seen everything mentioned above?

[AZ_BEAR_DOWN]

I don't dislike Tomey. He did a fine job overall. However, if he is so outstanding as a HC, why is he still where he is having taken a step down from a PAC-10 coaching position? Would he not have stepped back up by now, or is he just buying his time till retirement?

[dc4azcats]

I don't dislike Tomey. He did a fine job overall. However, if he is so outstanding as a HC, why is he still where he is having taken a step down from a PAC-10 coaching position? Would he not have stepped back up by now, or is he just buying his time till retirement?

He's in his 60's - where did you want him to step up to? He was a huge part of Texas' coaching staff that won a National championship. I can guarantee that he made more as an assistant at Texas then he does as the Head Coach as SJSU.

He went to a place where they were on the verge of quitting football. It was his kind of job and he took it because he knew that he could resurrect the program and leave it in better shape then when he took it over. When I spoke to him a month or so ago - he said that he would coach for 2 more years then call it a day.

If you know Dick then you also know that it's not about the money - he loves coaching and getting the most out of his players. SJSU is where he can do that - it's where he gets the guys who scrap and play tough. The year Boise State went to the Fiesta Bowl and beat OK you could certainly argue that SJSU gave them their toughest game losing 23 -20. SJSU went 9-4 that year losing at Washington, at Nevada, at Hawaii and at home to BSU. As a reference - in 2005 when he took over they went 3-8 but, they won the last 2 which carried over into 2006. The guy can coach and has proved it everywhere he has been.

[AZ_BEAR_DOWN]

Good answer. I figured not much time left in his career. He has a very good track record. The problem was not his departure, but the ineptness to select an new HC to replace him. This program was in pretty good shape when he left and Mack destroyed it.

[BibbysTowelDude]

Yes DC, ive been in a lot of the facilities you have mentioned. I know that our facilities used to be absolutely dreadful, they have improved ten fold, still doesn't mean they don't fall short compared to a lot of schools in the Pac-10 let alone the rest of the division 1 schools..

[Reydituto]

Yes DC, ive been in a lot of the facilities you have mentioned. I know that our facilities used to be absolutely dreadful, they have improved ten fold, still doesn't mean they don't fall short compared to a lot of schools in the Pac-10 let alone the rest of the division 1 schools..

I don't buy it. In what ways do they fall short? How? Be specific. UA's athletic plant is solid, better than at least half the Pac-10, and clearly behind only Oregon and USC. Prove me wrong.

[BibbysTowelDude]

Only USC and Oregon? Have you seen UCLA? Stanford? Cal is getting way ahead of us. There not as spacious, the equipment isn't as good. The people leading the way aren't as good as other schools. Our coaches and faculty suck badly.

[Reydituto]

Only USC and Oregon? Have you seen UCLA? Stanford? Cal is getting way ahead of us. There not as spacious, the equipment isn't as good. The people leading the way aren't as good as other schools. Our coaches and faculty suck badly.

I've seen every Pac-10 school in CA and AZ, and I've seen pics of the Oregon/Nike compound. You have toured the Lynch Pavillion and Click Hall of Champions right? Ever watched a FB game at USC, UCLA or Cal? Thier stadiums suck. You do notice all the construction going on in front of McKale right?

Also, last I checked, Livengood isn't part of the "infrastucture", although he deserves much of the credit for all the improvments to the infrastructure. Coaches also are not "facilities" themselves, so stop trying to confuse the issue. Try again. :)

[Puerco]

I really don't think Tomey was a bad coach. He was a .500 coach and that's all. When he was let go I think Arizona FB was looking forward to the promised land and knew that he wasn't the guy to lead them to it. Who knew it was going to take this long and this many detours to get there.

Exactly. I remembered thinking we needed a change as well. I loved Tomey though, asnd was sad to see him go. He's still my favorite coach ever -- very personable and approachable, and the community really seemed to like him.

:lol2:

I absolutely loved the delayed draw on third and long. Too bad he tried it seven times a game instead of once! I mean, with the QB talent we usually had, throwing deep wasn't an option. Just run it and punt about 55 yds with no return.

[at the beach]

Bowling allows you additional practice time to get ready for the next season. The players are acclimated to practice so it behooves Az to play in a Bowl in 2008.
Most of the successful programs use the Bowl Practice to work in new plays, player development, and recruiting.

Az has to go Bowling or changes will have to be made. Cannot accept a losing season as mediocrity. Its over plain and simple. Win and stay: Lose call Mayflower.

[Berkut]

All of these are correct "Tomey" sequences. My personal favorite was the following:

1st and 10: Draw for gain of 1.

2nd and 9: Incomplete pass/QB Sack

3rd and 9 or 14: Delayed draw up the middle

4th and forever: Punt


That delayed draw on 3rd down with 10+ yards to go drove me nuts, as did the pooch punt on 3rd and long.

Ugh. If Tomey had had some sort of offense while he was in Tucson (other than 1998)...


LOL, that is some funny stuff, you are so right!

Here are some sequences from the Tomey years, back when Arizona football was so lame:

1998 Holiday
1997 Insight.com
1994 Freedom
1993 Fiesta* Pac-10 Co-Champion
1992 Sun
1990 Aloha
1989 Copper

Bowl games Arizona went to during the horrific Tomey years.

Here is another sequence under Tomey:

Tie
Win
Win
Win
Loss
Loss
Win
Win
Win
Loss
Win
Win
Loss
Loss

That is what we did against ASU under Tomey.

I dunno, I am starting to think the pooch on 3rd and 7 is pretty smart football...

And of course:

95-64-4 is looking pretty good right about now...

[PerpEph]

LOL, that is some funny stuff, you are so right!

Here are some sequences from the Tomey years, back when Arizona football was so lame:

1998 Holiday
1997 Insight.com
1994 Freedom
1993 Fiesta* Pac-10 Co-Champion
1992 Sun
1990 Aloha
1989 Copper

Bowl games Arizona went to during the horrific Tomey years.

Here is another sequence under Tomey:

Tie
Win
Win
Win
Loss
Loss
Win
Win
Win
Loss
Win
Win
Loss
Loss

That is what we did against ASU under Tomey.

I dunno, I am starting to think the pooch on 3rd and 7 is pretty smart football...

And of course:

95-64-4 is looking pretty good right about now...


Hey, I love Dick Tomey - "Patron Saint of Arizona Football", and I think he did some great things while he was our coach.

His defense was outstanding most of the time, he got the most from under-the-radar type players, and he won more often than not. Plus, he ran a classy, clean program.

But his offenses lacked firepower and imagination (fumblerooski notwithstanding), and he could never quite get over the hump and get us to the Rose Bowl. Of course, Dick Tomey looks awesome right now compared to what we've had over the past 7 years.

Don't put words in my mouth or misinterpret my post as a general bashing of Dick Tomey. He was a very good coach for Arizona.

But you have to admit that his offense was generally... frustrating.