Citizen Staff Writer
JOHN MOREDICH
jmoredich@tucsoncitizen.com
The University of Arizona’s new inside receivers coach, Garret Chachere, is hoping for a better result than the last time he was along the sideline at Arizona Stadium.
The 40-year-old was a tight ends coach for Northeast Louisiana when the Wildcats roughed up his squad 45-7 during the 1998 season.
“(Cornerback Chris) McAlister and that bunch. That was the best team we played that year,” Chachere said Monday after taking over receiving duties at Arizona.
“We played Kansas State and Florida that year. It was no surprise to me that those guys beat the pants off Nebraska (in the Holiday Bowl) and were No. 1 in the country going into the next year. We were really, really impressed.”
That 1998 squad was the last UA team to play in a bowl game before last year’s team knocked off BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl.
Chachere, whose name is pronounced sash-er-RAY, will put his own mark on UA after coaching the last two years at Memphis and before that at Tulane.
“I love the game,” he said. “I have loved it since I was 5. My kids have never had a meal that football did not pay for. My wife has always known me to be a coach. That is all I wanted to be.”
Chachere has established a strong reputation as a special teams coach, helping Memphis to a No. 22 ranking a year ago in punt return defense at 5.68 yards per returns.
He spent eight years, from 1999-2006, at Tulane coaching linebackers and special teams.
The year before that the Tulane graduate was at Northeastern Louisiana. That’s where he coached with Sonny Dykes, UA’s offensive coordinator.
Chachere will add his own approach with the inside receivers at Arizona.
“I am going to demand certain things that sometimes they may not be ready to give, or too tired,” Chachere said. “When we get to Iowa and there are 85,000 people, we want to be prepared to achieve.”
Arizona plays at Iowa on Sept. 19.