Can he get his secondary to play like this? Ryan Walters causes a fumble from Arizona State tight end Brent Miller in a 2007 game in Tempe.
Photo by Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE.

When Mike Stoops was hired to coach the Arizona Wildcats after the 2003 season, Ryan Walters was a senior quarterback. In high school.

Now, Walters is Stoops’ secondary coach.

It took a strange set of circumstances to make it happen, but Walters, at age 25, was officially announced Monday as Arizona’s new secondary coach after spending one season as a graduate assistant with the Cats.

“To be able to do this at the age I am is a humbling experience and very gratifying,” he said.

“It speaks a lot to Mike’s confidence in me. I don’t want to let him down, the fans down, the players down. I am working tirelessly to be the best defensive backs coach I can be.”

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Walters

It’s not much of a secret, but Arizona Wildcats coach Mike Stoops will soon officially announce Ryan Walters as his new secondary coach.

The official announcement could come as soon as Monday.

Walters, 25, will be moving from the graduate assistant’s role to the full-time position. He arrived at Arizona last year with then-new secondary coach Greg Brown, who came from Colorado.

When Brown left after the 2010 season to return to the Buffaloes for new coach Jon Embree, Stoops made a widely heralded move by luring Duana Akina from Texas. But Akina, who spent 14 seasons as an assistant to Dick Tomey at Arizona, lasted only a few weeks on the job before returning to his old position in Austin, citing family reasons.

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Mike Stoops says he'll take his time, if needed, before hiring a new secondary coach.
Photo by Chris Morrison, US-PRESSWIRE

Arizona Wildcats coach Mike Stoops says there are no hard feelings over the departure of secondary coach Duane Akina, and that there weren’t any broken promises on his end.

Akina departed Monday to return to Texas, which he had left in mid-January to return to Arizona, where he coached for 14 years under Dick Tomey. Akina cited family considerations.

“You gotta do what you got to do when it comes to what’s best for you and your family,” Stoops said. “I have no hard feelings. I understand.”

Stoops laughed.

“Hopefully, I got him a raise.”

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Duane Akina, right, will be back celebrating with Mack Brown next season.
Photo by Bruce Thorson-US PRESSWIRE

UPDATE, 10:30 a.m.: Akina in a press release from Arizona: I’m not happy that I had to put both of these institutions in this situation. It’s been a tough month for me and my family making these decisions. Any time you have younger children, it becomes a very difficult decision and that was the driving force behind this decision.”

UPDATE, 10:31 a.m.: Mike Stoops in the same press release: “We have always hired good people to come into our program. We’ve always had great coaches for our system and players. We will make sure that we hire another quality person.”

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The cornerstone of Arizona coach Mike Stoops’ “winning the offseason” plan was the hiring of secondary coach Duane Akina from the University of Texas.

And then came the stunning news this morning from athletic director Greg Byrne via Twitter:

Duane Akina alerted Coach Stoops and myself this morning that he would be returning to Texas due to family considerations.

When news broke in January of Akina returning to Arizona, where he coached 14 years as an assistant to Dick Tomey (1987-2000), I thought this was a “wow” moment. I consider Akina the finest secondary coach in the country.

Now, all that good news has come undone … and then some.

What happened?

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Duane Akina, right, was well-compensated at Texas last season.
Photo by Bruce Thorson-US PRESSWIRE

All of Arizona’s assistant football coaches will receive a bump in salary for next season as the Wildcats try to keep up with an escalating pay scale, coach Mike Stoops said.

“We’re trying to get equitable and competitive with everybody,” Stoops said. “I think that’s a big part of stability. That is certainly something we’ve fought. Our guys have all made more money wherever they’ve gone.”

Arizona paid last season’s nine assistant coaches $1,506,510, a figure that ranked seventh in the Pac-10, according to a USA Today database of coaches’ salaries.

Arizona’s pool of money was slightly ahead of new Pac-12 member Colorado ($1,494,215). The Buffaloes’ total salaries likely jumped this offseason because they have a new coaching staff, including two assistants from Stoops’ 2009 staff — defensive tackles coach Mike Tuiasosopo and co-defensive coordinator Greg Brown.

Utah’s compensation for its assistants was $1,265,000. So, even with an across-the-board raise for Arizona’s assistants, they likely will stay in the lower-middle of the Pac-10 in terms of total compensation.

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Offensive lineman Conan Amituanai, who was a senior in 2010, was a recent Wildcat with Polynesian ties.
2007 Tucson Citizen photo

The Arizona Wildcats signed two Polynesian offensive linemen — Faitele Faafoi and Lene Maiava — on Wednesday. Coach Mike Stoops added a junior college defensive tackle, Aowae De Rego, who attended high school in Hawaii.

To make it easier, he goes by the first name of Lamar.

Beyond that, freshman defensive tackle Saneilia Fuimaono enrolled at the semester break. He joins a dizzying array of vowels on the defensive line — Kirifi Taulu, Auilua Fanene and Sione Tuihalamaka.

Former Arizona assistant Mike Tuiasosopo, who left for Colorado after last season, did a nice job of helping the Wildcats recruit Polynesian players during the Stoops era. But Arizona’s recruiting power in that area has tripled.

Stoops’ three new assistants — offensive line coach Robert Anae, secondary coach Duane Akina and defensive tackles coach Joe Salave’a — all have strong ties to that part of the world.

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Duane Akina, right, celebrates a win at Nebraska last season with Texas head coach Mack Brown.
Photo by Bruce Thorson-US PRESSWIRE

Duane Akina is the middle of explaining his difficult decision to leave the University of Texas when he starts flashing back to all things Arizona.

Chuck Cecil pouncing on ASU punter Mike Schuh’s dropped snap in 1987 … Darryll Lewis turning Oregon quarterback Bill Musgrave sideways at the goal line in 1990 … the Desert Swarm days … coaching All-American cornerback Chris McAlister …

Akina is a Wildcat again, lured from Texas, where he had spent 10 seasons as an assistant, to return to Arizona, where he had spent the previous 14 seasons under Dick Tomey.

Now, Akina will coach the secondary for Mike Stoops.

“It was extremely hard,” Akina said by phone Monday night after packing up his locker at Texas.

“It was the exactly the same thing emotionally, with all the anxiety, that we went through the first time when I was leaving Tucson to come to Austin. It was like, ‘Oh no, not this again.’ Stomach churning. Couldn’t sleep.”

In the end, Akina said he felt the timing was right. He had felt a pull to head back west. His family was “fired up” to return to Tucson. He talked about his “unfinished business” as a Wildcat.

“We had a great stand when we were there in the 1990s,” Akina said.

“We were close. And that’s still the goal: I want to line up and be part of the first Arizona team in the Rose Bowl. We need to go there and get that.”

With Akina’s experience, success and Wildcat ties — plus, he inherits a terrific group of young defensive backs — there will be no shortage of topics in the coming weeks and months. For now, here are eight things about Akina’s hiring to hold you over:

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Duane Akina will be directing Wildcats next season, not Longhorns. Photo by Brett Davis-US PRESSWIRE

How excited were former Arizona Wildcats to hear that Duane Akina is coming back to coach the secondary under Mike Stoops?

So excited that two ex-Cats called me to talk about it.

The Wildcat network was absolutely abuzz Sunday night with the news that Akina is leaving Texas, where he has worked since 2001, to return to Arizona, where he coached from 1987 to 2000. (Read our confirmation story).

One of those who called was Heath Bray, the former Arizona quarterback/safety/linebacker/receiver/special teams captain/assistant coach.

He had already talked to several ex-Cats. He said he was so excited that, “I’m going to find it hard to sleep tonight.”

That Akina is a great secondary coach is not for debate. In a battle of resumes, he wins. But for guys like Bray and a whole cadre of Dick Tomey era players, it’s not all about Akina’s considerable teaching skills.

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Duane Akina

Texas defensive backs coach Duane Akina is returning to Arizona to coach the secondary, a source inside the Wildcats football program told TucsonCitizen.com Sunday night.

Reports of Akina’s hiring had surfaced earlier, including one from Tom Dienhart of the Rivals.com. Look for an official statement from Texas and Arizona on Monday, with Akina likely to be in Tucson on Tuesday morning.

I first heard about this possibility, off the record, last week and my initial reaction was “WOW!”

This is a great, great, great hire for coach Mike Stoops. Did I say great?

A call to Akina has not yet been returned, but I did reach former Arizona All-American safety Tony Bouie, who spent a couple of years playing under Akina.

“Master motivator,” Bouie said of Akina.

“He will get the best out of the guys that he coaches. Without a doubt. Hands down. He is so passionate. Detail-oriented. He obviously knows the position extremely well. He is going to bring a lot of credibility to that position when they are recruiting guys to play DB. …

“He just knows what he’s doing. This is the deal of the century.”

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Cecil is entering his second season as the defensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans.

The Arizona Wildcats’ ol’ No. 6, hard-hitting safety Chuck Cecil, was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame over the weekend.

KOLD Channel 13 has some footage from the event … as well as the holy grail of UA highlights — Cecil’s 106-yard interception return against Arizona State in 1986.

It’s hard to see that clip too many times.

The Hall of Fame selection committee announced this enshrinement class back in April 2009, when the Tucson Citizen still had a print edition.

Here is part of my story for the newspaper from back then, starting with quotes from former UA assistant coach Duane Akina:

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