With his star pupil leading the nation in rushing, Arizona Wildcats assistant coach Calvin Magee was selected the FootballScoop Running Backs Coach of the Year on Sunday.

Magee, who is also the team’s associate head coach and co-offensive coordinator, was selected among five finalists, which were chosen from nominations by coaches, athletic directors and other athletic department personnel.

“Calvin does a great job every year with our backs,” head coach Rich Rodriguez said.

“But when your back has a year like Ka’Deem, you get a little more attention. He’s well-deserving. He’s a great football coach.”

Sophomore Ka’Deem Carey enters the postseason as the nation’s leading rusher (146.42 yards per game) and a school season record 1,757 yards on the ground. Carey ran 91 times for 425 yards last season while splitting time with senior Keola Antolin, and his emergence this year speaks well of Magee.

Carey said Magee’s teaching of identifying the cut-back lanes has been the most important thing.

“He will preach to you up and down to hit the cut-back,” Carey said.

“Once I started hitting it, that’s when I turned into a different it. I am definitely always going to remember that. Coach Magee is a great dude. I can’t believe the first season went this way between me and him.

“I felt like we clicked right away. He made the phone call and made me feel comfortable, just saying, ‘It’s going to be a big year, let’s get after it.’ I didn’t know what to expect, but this is what’s happened.”

Arizona ranks 15th nationally in rushing with 230.4 yards per game.

Magee is well-versed in the read-option offense, hired to be on Rodriguez’s first staff at West Virginia in 2001. He was with Rodriguez there for seven years and then three more at Michigan. Magee coached at Pitt for one season under Todd Graham in 2011 before re-joining Rodriguez at Arizona after last season.

The other four finalists for the Running Backs Coach of the Year award were Oregon’s Gary Campbell, Wisconsin’s Thomas Hammock, Louisiana Tech’s Pierre Ingram and Kent State’s Jafar Williams.

Magee will receive his award at the American Football Coaches Association convention in January.

He was not made available for interviews after Sunday’s practice.

Rich Rodriguez wasn’t in the spotlight early in his career. Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

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Ah, the good ol’ days. Rich Rodriguez remembers those. Becoming the head coach at Salem University at 24 years old. Taking over at Glenville State two years later, in 1990.

The small college days.

These days, as the first-year head coach at Arizona — and as a guy who has won Big East titles and breathed the air at Michigan — Rodriguez is accustomed to coaching luxury. Assistants to the assistants to the assistants. Yes sir, Coach. Whatever you need, Coach.

Back then, he was just a one-man band making his way in the backwaters of the coaching world.

“My wife lined off the field when I was at Glenville. She was eight months pregnant,” Rodriguez said.

“I made her stop because I was afraid it was going to screw up the child with those fumes from the paint. I said, ‘Honey, I don’t think that’s really good for ol’ junior there.’”

Rodriguez’s background is a microcosm of the Arizona coaching staff, most of whom have long, loyal ties to Rodriguez.

This is a coaching staff with humble beginnings.

Seven of the 10 UA coaches played college ball at lower-division schools. Liberty. Salem. California (Pa.). Rodriguez was a walk-on at West Virginia, eventually working his way into the starting lineup.

Only one UA coach, co-offensive coordinator Calvin Magee, played in the NFL, doing so as a tight end for Tampa Bay from 1985 to 1988.

Six of the 10 started their coaching careers in high school. Only offensive line coach Robert Anae began his career on the major college level, doing so with Dick Tomey at Hawaii, although Anae later spent time working the trenches in junior college.

(By comparison, only one of the 10 coaches on last season’s Arizona coaching staff played small college football, and just two coached in high school.)

Having these bios with unprivileged beginnings is exactly how Rodriguez likes it.

“I don’t know if I would hire a guy if he hadn’t coached at the high school or small college level,” Rodriguez said.

“When they go to a big school, all you do at a big school is get spoiled. If you’re in a small college or high school, you have lined off the field, you were the equipment guy, you were the only manager. Now I have managers for every position, trainers all over the field, people washing clothes, people painting.

“Sometimes, I don’t know where they all come from.”

There is something to be said, UA coaches say, about the collective personality that arises from having worked their way up from the bottom. It’s no wonder Rodriguez and his assistant have forever preached about having a “hard edge” — an everyday intensity and toughness when nothing is given to you.

And with that should come the attitude of gratitude.

“For me, I’m living the dream every day getting to coach Division I elite athletes in a conference like the Pac-12,” said receivers coach Tony Dews. “It’s a dream. I’m humbled every day that I get out of bed and have this opportunity.”

Here is a look at Arizona’s coaching staff:

Ka'Deem Carey cuts through the UCLA defense on an 18-yard touchdown run. Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

The new Arizona Wildcats football coaches are in the getting-to-know-you stage with their players — learning about their backgrounds and personalities.

It won’t take the coaches long to learn about some players on the field.

Calvin Magee, the co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach chuckled when asked what he already knew about freshman running back Ka’Deem Carey.

“I know he can play,” Magee said.

“I know the kid is a really good kid, after meeting him. His talent speaks for itself. I’m really, really looking forward to working with him and helping him improve.”

The old coaching staff eased Carey into the rotation this season, and the true freshman eventually worked his way into a time-share with senior Keola Antolin.

Carey rushed 91 times for 425 yards and six touchdowns. He caught 15 passes for 203 yards and two scores. He returned 26 kicks for 549 yards.

The Canyon del Oro High graduate sprinkled in enough highlight runs — showing good speed and toughness — to think that he could be “special,” which is a word coaches used repeatedly about Carey near the end of the season.

Carey’s versatility and potential make him a good fit for any offense, but he and the rest of the backs will have a learning curve this spring in coach Rich Rodriguez’s zone-read offense.

Magee, who was with Rodriguez for seven years at West Virginia and three at Michigan, has coaxed success out of a variety of different-styled running backs.

In their final few years with the Mountaineers, they mixed slippery-quick Steve Slaton with 260-pound (or so) Owen Schmitt.

“That’s what is really interesting,” Magee said.

“We have had the really, small, fast, quick guy. We have had the powerful guy. We have had the slasher. The offense is suitable for all types of backs. As a matter of fact, we kind of want to change the pace with some different kind of backs.

“We have had guys over the years who have really adapted to what we’re doing, and we have a lot of things we can adapt to them.”

Beyond Carey, Arizona has junior-to-be Daniel Jenkins (31 carries, 176 yards) and hybrid fullback/h-back/tight end Taimi Tutogi (the new Schmitt?). Another big back, Greg Nwoko, should be good in the spring after missing the 2011 season because of a knee injury.

Memo to all the running backs: Rodriguez values toughness above all else.

At West Virginia, he used to keep one of Schmitt’s twisted face masks — from a 2005 triple-overtime victory over Louisville — in his office. Schmitt played hard enough to destroy a face mask every few games.

“Those things are steel, and they’re not easy to bend,” Rodriguez told USA Today in a 2006 story.

“Part of what he did in that game, and what we try to embody in our program, is playing tough and physical all the way from the first play to the last play. That overtime showed a little bit of not just Owen’s personality, but our personality.”

* * *

Secondary coach Tony Gibson is known as an ace recruiter, but he’s happy he wasn’t able to help Pitt close the deal with Cortez Johnson last winter.

Johnson took a visit to Pitt but signed with Arizona, where he played as a cornerback as a true freshman while battling concussion problems. He started one game when Shaquille Richardson was suspended.

As far as first impressions go with his defensive backs, Gibson said he “really likes” safety Adam Hall, who played in only one game in 2011 because of a knee injury.

“He’s a great player,” Gibson said.

“I like the Flowers kid,” he added, talking about safety Marquise Flowers. “I’ve heard a lot of good things about (cornerback) Jonathan McKnight. We have a lot of good, young kids.”

* * *

Dino Babers helped Baylor average 571 yards per game this season. Photo by Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

Former Arizona offensive coordinator Dino Babers was hired last week as the head coach at Eastern Illinois.

Babers, 50, was on the UA staff under Dick Tomey from 1995 to 2000, serving as offensive coordinator for the last three of those years. He took over when Homer Smith retired because of health reasons.

Arizona’s offenses from 1998 and 1999 remain two of most prolific in school history. The 1998 team averaged 34.7 points; the 1999 squad holds the school record by averaging 471.9 yards per game.

“Dino would be the first to tell you that accomplishments of that time were a reflection of what Homer Smith brought to us,” Tomey said.

“Dino built on that. He is an outstanding offensive coach.”

After Arizona, Babers worked at Texas A&M, Pitt, UCLA and, for the past four seasons, Baylor. Part of his responsibilities at Baylor have been to coach receivers, including the superb Kendall Wright, who helped quarterback Robert Griffin III win the Heisman Trophy.

* * *

How much is Rodriguez getting into the Arizona-Arizona State rivalry?

Rodriguez was the guest of honor at a fan event in Phoenix on Tuesday when someone handed him a football, along with a marker to sign it. One problem, according to this story from FoxSportsArizona.com: The marker didn’t work.

“That must be an ASU pen,” Rodriguez joked.

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Calvin Magee is Arizona's new offensive coordinator. KOLD-TV screenshot

New Arizona Wildcats coach Rich Rodriguez broke out Arizona hats, windbreakers and other gifts as his three new assistants and their wives reached the luggage area at the airport Wednesday.

Welcome to Tucson … although Rodriguez didn’t have to work too hard to get his old pals to join him in his new adventure way out west.

He pretty much had them at “Hello.”

What was Calvin Magee thinking when Rodriguez called to invite him to join the Wildcats staff?

“I’m thinking I’m on my way,” Magee said.

Rodriguez is assembling some of the old crew — Magee, Tony Dews and Tony Gibson all worked for him at West Virginia and Michigan. Those three stayed together in 2011, working at Pitt, when Rodriguez was out of coaching.

“They’re good people, good coaches and they’re good friends,” Rodriguez said.

“They’ll be great for the University of Arizona. That’s the most important thing. I don’t just hire guys just to hire them. I have a whole lot of friends that I could fill the staff with.

“But my job is to hire the best coaches for this program. These are three of the best coaches I could hire for this program.”

Magee, 48, is slated to the associate head coach/offensive coordinator/running backs coach. Magee was with Rodriguez for seven years at West Virginia and three at Michigan.

Dews, 38, will be the receivers coach. He spent 2007 at West Virginia with Rodriguez and three at Michigan.

Gibson, 39, played for Rodriguez at Glenville State in the early 1990s at coached for him there and at the two later spots. He will coach defensive backs.

These three talked Wednesday about their loyalty they have to Rodriguez.

“It’s just the way he treats you as a person and the way he treats your families,” Gibson said.

“We’re happy to be in a place that we’re accepted and people want us,” he adding, referring to troubles Rodriguez had at Michigan. “That’s the exciting part about this. Every time I have talked to him, he’s excited about this. It’s a great deal, and we’re all excited to be here.”

The loyalty and the trust go both ways, Rodriguez said.

“I think that trust is a big, big factor in building your program, from coach to coach, coach to player, player to coach. You have to have a lot of trust. You’ve got to have people who understand where you want to go with your program.

“These three guys and their families understand that.”

Rodriguez is still working on adding the six other assistants. He said his deadline for having that done is the end of next week, with the big hire being the defensive coordinator. West Virginia’s Jeff Casteel is still the prime target.

At least a couple of the additional hires will have previous ties to Rodriguez, although he said Monday he is still considering rehiring a couple members of Arizona’s 2011 staff.

While Rodriguez tries to finalize his coaching staff, his three new/old assistants will get to work learning about their Wildcats and beginning to recruit — Arizona will be hosting prospects this weekend.

“Ten years is a long time to be with someone,” Magee said, referring to his tenure as an assistant to Rodriguez. “It was a great 10 years. We do know his ins and outs and the things he wants, and we can relay that to the kids.”