Dick Tomey Dick Tomey ( born June 20 , 1938 ) is an American football coach and former player . Tomey has served as the head football coach at Hawaii ( 1977 – 1986 ) , the University of Arizona ( 1987 – 2000 ) , and San Jose State University ( 2005 – 2009 ) , compiling a career college football record of 183 – 145 – 7 . His last full - time coaching position was as the special teams coach at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 2011 under head coach Greg McMackin , who resigned after the season . Tomey was not retained by McMackin ' s successor , Norm Chow . Tomey served as a head coach of the victorious West team in the Casino Del Sol College All - Star Game on January 11 , 2013 at Kino Stadium in Arizona . Coaching career . Early positions . The DePauw University graduate and Phi Kappa Psi member held assistant coaching positions at Miami University , Northern Illinois University , Davidson College , the University of Kansas , and UCLA . Hawaii . From 1977 to 1986 , he led his teams at Hawaii to their first in season top - 20 Associated Press ranking in 1981 , and their first AP first - team All - American player , Al Noga . In 1981 , Tomey also earned Western Athletic Conference " Coach of the Year " honors . He left as the winningest coach in Hawaii history , but has since been passed by June Jones . Arizona . In 1987 , he became head coach at Arizona , earning Pac - 10 " Coach of the Year " honors in 1992 . During his tenure , he coached five future NFL first - round draft choices , 20 All - American s , and 43 Pac - 10 first team players . His best teams were in the mid - 1990s , highlighted by a tenacious " Desert Swarm " defense . He led Arizona to the only two ten - win seasons in school history , highlighted by a 12 – 1 campaign in 1998 , in which they finished fourth in both major polls , the highest ranking in school history . Unfortunately , the Wildcats were drubbed in the 1999 season opener against Penn State and never recovered ; Tomey resigned after the 2000 season . His 95 wins are the most in Wildcats history . San Francisco 49ers and Texas . In 2003 , he was an assistant defensive coach for the San Francisco 49ers , and in 2004 he helped lead the Texas Longhorns to an 11 – 1 season and their first - ever Rose Bowl appearance and victory as the assistant head coach and defensive ends coach . San Jose State . In 2005 , he became head coach at San Jose State University . Despite a 3 – 8 record in his inaugural season , the Spartans posted a 3 – 2 record at home , their first winning record since the 2000 season , although one of these wins came against a Division I - AA team . Also , the Spartans were the Division I - A leader in improved attendance . They were one of 11 teams to allow 100 fewer points from the previous year . Three of their losses were by only one touchdown and one of those came against the 2005 WAC co - champion , Nevada . Finally , the Spartans closed out their season with back - to - back wins for the first time since 1997 . This two - game winning streak ended during the 2006 season opener , when they lost to Washington . In 2006 , the Spartans finished their regular season 8 – 4 , and participated in the inaugural New Mexico Bowl against New Mexico . San Jose State won the game 20 – 12 on December 23 , 2006 and finished with a 9 – 4 overall record . In 2009 , he was named President of the American Football Coaches Association . On November 16 , 2009 , Tomey announced he would be retiring at season ' s end . Tomey finished his final season as the Spartans head coach with a 2 – 10 record in 2009 , bringing his head coaching record to 25 – 35 at San Jose State and 183 – 145 – 7 overall in college football . Broadcasting career . As of September 9 , 2010 , the WAC Sports Network — the Western Athletic Conference and its multimedia rights partner , Learfield Sports — appointed seven members to the WSN broadcast team , one of which was Tomey as a color commentator for the network . Family . Tomey ' s wife , Nanci Kincaid , is a contemporary fiction author . Her latest book title , " Eat , Drink and Be From Mississippi " , is a January 2009 Little , Brown and Company publication that received strong , favorable reviews from " Entertainment Weekly " and " The Washington Post " . Tomey and Kincaid are the parents of four adult children and grandparents of five .