Arizona Football Hires New Wide Receivers Coach, Theron Aych

After a bit of searching, Rich Rodriguez and the Arizona Football team finally has their replacement receivers coach, Theron Aych.

While there has been no official word by the school, social media was buzzing last night, as a new coaching hire has seemingly been made. On Thursday, their leading candidate (Theron Aych) seemed to cause a bit of a stir, changing his Twitter bio to reflect his imminent move to the Arizona Football team.

Aych comes to Arizona after coaching at the University of Texas-El Paso this last season (his only season there). He will most notably replace coach Tony Dews, who announced he was going to West Virginia just a couple weeks ago.

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Coincidentally, this news comes after it was announced that the Director of Junior College relations Miguel Reveles, would be taking a position on staff over at Cal Berkeley (former Arizona Coach Charlie Ragle’s new team).

Picking Aych perhaps comes as a bit of a surprise. His name hadn’t popped up at any point during the search process, and as of now, there isn’t a whole lot known about him by Wildcats fans.

Maybe that’s a good thing. Arizona is far too familiar with larger programs poaching our recruits and coaches.

From a quick search, Aych has been coaching for quite some time and has made several stops along the way. He’s even coached in the Pac-12 (formerly the Pac-10), having served as a graduate assistant at the University of Washington under former coach Keith Gilbertson.

Here’s his playing/ coaching resume:

"Played at Northern State University from 1989-93Assistant Coach at Aberdeen Central HS (SD)Offensive Coordinator at Mesabi Range College (MN)- 1997Assistant Coach at Fort Scott Community College (KS)- 1998-99Graduate Assistant at the University of Houston 2000-02Graduate Assistant at the University of Washington 2003-04Assistant Coach at Central Missouri (Division II) 2005-08Assistant Coach at Angelo State (Division II) 2011-15Wide Receivers Coach at UTEP 2016"

Aych graduated from the Northern State University, having played three seasons for the Wolves. He didn’t officially jump into the college ranks until later on his career and has slowly been working his way up since.

Prior to his lone season at UTEP, Aych spent the previous five seasons at Angelo State, helping lead a potent offense.

Coincidentally, Arizona will play UTEP this upcoming season!

Perhaps the one thing eye-opening about Aych’s career is that he’ s spent a decent amount of time coaching in the state of Texas.

It is worth noting, that under Rodriguez, Arizona hasn’t had much of a recruiting presence in the state of Texas. It appears this move may be a chance to have more of a footprint in the talent-rich area, and could also explain a number of recent offers in the lone-star state.

Even with the limited background in division one football, Aych has made his presence felt, most notably mentoring NFL tight end, Delanie Walker while at Central Missouri.

Here’s an excerpt from his bio on the UTEP Athletics site:

"Under Aych, the Rams’ offense put up staggering numbers in 2015, leading the nation (Division II) in total offense with over 560 yards per game and ranking seventh in points per game (42.5). Senior quarterback Kyle Washington, under Aych’s tutelage, threw for 3,691 yards (Angelo State single-season record), ranking sixth in the nation. Washington registered 27 passing scores and only nine interceptions on 265-of-443 passing. Washington also rushed for 831 yards and 15 scores, as he led the nation in total offense and broke ASU’s single-season record for total yards with 4,522. Washington was named the Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Year.Aych was also a 2015 finalist for American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Assistant Coach of the Year."

Being a finalist as Assistant Coach of the Year isn’t too shabby.

Aych’s son, Tommy Aych, is a class of 2017 wide receiver committed to The Angelo State University Bobcats in Texas where his father used to coach. Rich Rod and Theron both have sons playing their first year of college ball next season.

Next: Arizona Football Position Breakdown: The Linebackers

At Zona Zealots, we’re excited to see the addition of Aych and are interested to see how he performs this season. He certainly has a bevy of talented players to work with! Bear Down, coach, and Welcome!