Robert Anae coached with Dick Tomey in 1986 at Hawaii.
Photo from BYU

Less than an hour after coach Mike Stoops offered an assistant coaching position to Robert Anae — who accepted — the former BYU offensive coordinator called the man who gave him his first coaching job.

Dick Tomey.

“He is really fired up about being a Wildcat,” Tomey said Tuesday night from his home in Hawaii.

“I have talked to him several times, and he is so excited about coming to Tucson. … He is fortunate to be coming to Arizona, and Arizona is fortunate he’s coming. It’s a win-win.”

Arizona athletic director Greg Byrne broke news of the hiring on his Twitter account on Tuesday night, although it was already well-known that Anae was likely to replace offensive line coach and co-offensive coach Bill Bedenbaugh, who is leaving for West Virginia.

Still to be determined (or announced) is whether Anae will handle any of the coordinator or play-calling duties.

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Arizona Wildcats athletic director Greg Byrne is now breaking news on Twitter.

Although there has been no official announcement from the athletic department, it’s now completely safe to say that former BYU offensive coordinator Robert Anae is joining Mike Stoops‘ coaching staff.

This was Byrne’ Tweet at about 8:15 p.m.: Spent time w/new O line coach Robert Anae today. Really like what he is bringing to our program.

Anae is replacing co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh, who is leaving for a position at West Virginia. Will Anae have duties beyond offensive line coach.

That is something Stoops likely will address Monday in his season wrap-up news conference. Running backs coach Seth Littrell called plays from the press box this season as the co-coordinator.

I’ll have more on Anae later tonight …

Robert Anae was at BYU for the past six seasons.
Photo from BYU

Nothing is close to official, but there seems to be little disagreement that former BYU offensive coordinator Robert Anae will be joining coach Mike Stoops‘ staff at Arizona.

WildcatSportsReport.com, one of our partners in the TucsonCitizen.com Sports Network, wrote Sunday night in a premium article that Anae was expected to replace offensive coordinator Bill Bedenbaugh.

The Deseret News and the Salt Lake Tribune also reported Monday that Anae was set to join the Wildcats.

Official word likely will have to wait. Stoops still has a job opening for a secondary coach, but the official university site lists no new job posting for an assistant coach.

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