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'The most delightful team' Tomey having time of his life with '98 Arizona squad
Posted: Tuesday December 29, 1998 08:47 PM
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- In 22 years as a major-college head coach, the last dozen at Arizona, Dick Tomey says he's never enjoyed himself as much as he has with the 1998 Wildcats. Maybe it's because they've been through so much together, suffering through a 3-5 start a year ago, hearing the rumblings that Tomey's firing was imminent. Then came the four-game winning streak to end last season, followed by this year's 11-1 record, the best ever at Arizona. "This team is very special to him because they care so much," Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood said. "He preaches so much about family and hard work and staying together, and this team has just hung together so well." In San Diego, where his fifth-ranked Wildcats play No. 14 Nebraska Wednesday in the Holiday Bowl, Tomey spoke briefly Tuesday at the Holiday Bowl Luncheon, mentioning how much this team meant to him. It is, he said, "the most delightful team" he's ever coached. Earlier this week, he explained why. "It is because they care so much about being unselfish, and they're so together," Tomey said. "I think the unselfishness is unbelievable at so many positions. I believe players are a mirror of their coach, and if I'm a mirror of this team, I'm flattered, very flattered." There is nothing flashy about Tomey. His personality is no-nonsense and straightforward. He insists on keeping his number listed in the phone book because he wants his players and their families to be able to reach him at any time, and in earlier years he wanted his children to have easy contact with their friends. "The guy doesn't like to wear socks. He doesn't like to wear ties," said Arizona offensive coordinator Dino Babers, who played for Tomey at Hawaii. "What you see is what you get. He hasn't changed in 20 years." Before the season ever starts, Tomey has many one-on-one talks with the players, especially concentrating on the seniors. "It's almost like the way a guy takes care of his lawn, grooming it," Babers said. "He's meticulous. He really knows how to bring a team together. When it starts to go through the tough times, that's when it's going to pay off." Livengood said he doesn't hear much from all the boosters who badgered him to fire Tomey a year ago. "Most of those people are back on the bandwagon," Livengood said. "You let them back on. You don't remind them about what they wrote." Tomey has a career record of 146-98-7 in 10 seasons at Hawaii and 12 at Arizona. He's had just two losing seasons with the Wildcats. But the pressure was on when the team was 3-5. At the depth of last season's woes, Livengood held a news conference to announce that Tomey would be back for the final year of his contract this season. Privately, Livengood told the coach he would push for a contract extension. "There was no question that there was going to be an extension. There wasn't any question in my mind and there wasn't any question in Dick's mind," Livengood said this week. "But I think you've got to be careful because doing any extension at the end of last year would have absolutely turned some people off, and caused more harm than good." Arizona's super season has eliminated any controversy over Tomey's extension. The five-year, $2.5 million contract approved by the Arizona Board of Regents just before Christmas will carry him through age 65. "It's a byproduct of what this team has done," Tomey said. But the coach also was told that his approach to his job and his treatment of players had as much to do with it as the record. He remembers a conversation he had with University of Arizona president Peter Likins when the extension was announced. "Peter said 'I'm uncomfortable because people say it's been done because we've won all these games,' and he said, 'Nothing could be further from the truth,'" Tomey said. "That really meant a lot to me." Tomey's season to remember, and the rewards that came with it, couldn't have happened to a nicer guy, Livengood said. "He's one of the nicest guys period, not just in coaching," Livengood said, "because he cares about people. He's always asking what can we do for the coaches, what can we do for the players. He's not at all about Dick Tomey."
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