TAMPA, FEB. 10, 2015 – University of South Florida Director of Athletics Mark Harlan today announced that longtime collegiate football coach Dick Tomey is joining the Bulls' Athletics Department as an Associate Athletic Director for Sports Administration.
Tomey, who compiled 183 wins in 29 years as a collegiate head coach, will serve on the Athletic Department Senior Staff reporting directly to Harlan. He will have administrative oversight of the Bulls' football program when he begins on February 20.
“Dick has a tireless passion for intercollegiate athletics and I am confident that his expertise will not only assist our football program, but our entire department," Harlan said. "Dick will partner with me, Coach Taggart, our football staff and all of our administrators to help us move forward."
Tomey ended his football coaching career in 2011 after returning to serve as special teams coach at the University of Hawaii. He began his head-coaching career at Hawaii in 1977 and went on to lead the Warriors program for 10 seasons (1977-1986), earning WAC Coach of the Year Honors in 1981 and compiling a record of 63-46-3.
“I am very excited to be coming to the University of South Florida and am thrilled to be reunited and work with Mark Harlan once again,” said Tomey. “In the last six months, I have had the opportunity to build a healthy respect for Coach Taggart and I will enjoy building on that relationship. I will spend my time in the beginning meeting, developing relationships and listening to all those that interact with Football and assisting Mark and Coach Taggart's efforts in all ways possible.”
Tomey gained national prominence while leading the University of Arizona football program for 14 seasons (1987-2000), garnering seven bowl bids, a Pac-10 title and compiling a program-record 95 wins (95-64-4). Tomey earned Pac-10 Coach of the Year honors in 1992. In 1993, he led the Wildcats to a 10-2 record, the Pac-10 title, a 29-0 Fiesta Bowl victory over Miami and a final Top 10 national ranking. The Wildcats achieved the highest final ranking in program history in 1998 finishing No. 4 in both polls after completing a 12-1 season with a Holiday Bowl victory over Nebraska. Tomey's “Desert Swarm” defense of the mid-1990s helped the Wildcats to their only two 10-win seasons in school history.
Perhaps most notably, beyond his on field accolades, Tomey was named a recipient of the 1999 Provost Award for outstanding achievements in teaching as voted by the faculty at The University of Arizona, a credit to the admiration of his leadership by the campus community.
Tomey completed his head-coaching career with a five-year stint at San Jose State (2005-2009). He led the Spartans to a 9-4 record and a victory in the New Mexico Bowl in his second season in 2006, snapping a 16-year bowl drought. As he had done at his other stops, the Spartans became known for their resilience and toughness and saw dramatically improved performance in the classroom as well.
In the past decade, Tomey has also served stints as an assistant defensive coach for the San Francisco 49ers in 2003 and in 2004 helped lead the Texas Longhorns to an 11–1 season and a victory in their first-ever Rose Bowl while serving as assistant head coach and defensive ends coach.
In 2009, Tomey was named the president of the 10,000-plus member American Football Coaches Association. More than 35 of his coaching protegees are either in the National Football League or coaching at the NCAA FBS level.
Tomey is a graduate of DePauw University. His wife, Nanci Kincaid, is a contemporary fiction author. They have four adult children and are the grandparents of eight.
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