Former players and fans react as we learn of the tough news, with former head coach Dick Tomey being diagnosed with cancer.
It’s a sad time in the Arizona Football community, as we all learned yesterday that former Wildcat head coach Dick Tomey has been diagnosed with lung cancer. His family finally came public yesterday to deliver the sobering news.
Here is what the family had to say:
Arizona Wildcats
“Coach Dick Tomey was recently diagnosed with a type of lung cancer at Tucson Medical Center and is currently undergoing further tests this week at MD Anderson Medical Center in Houston, Texas,” the family said in a statement. “We (Coach and his family) greatly appreciate all the people who have reached out to help in so many ways and all the expressions of love and well-wishes being sent our way from so many people. Following Coach Tomey’s example, our family is feeling very grateful and hopeful for a positive outcome.”
The hopeful news, is that the winningest coach in Arizona history will begin to receive treatment.
Now 80, Tomey will have to Bear Down once more to overcome another tough battle he has ahead of him.
A winner at Hawaii, Tomey came to Tucson in 1987 following the departure of Larry Smith. In his first season with the Wildcats, Tomey finished 4-4-3. From then on, he would put together some competitive teams, finishing with his best record of 12-1 in 1998.
However, amidst the solid defense, defensive players and numerous highlights in his 14-year career, Tomey was unable to deliver the un-deliverable, a Rose Bowl.
He did however, provide the school with the most wins in school history, finishing 95-64-4 overall. For those that can remember, we all cherished the grittiness the Arizona-Tomey coached teams exhibited teams in the late 80s and 90s.
Following his career in Tucson, he would return to coaching in 2005 as the head coach at San Jose State, going 25-35, even going 9-4 and winning the New Mexico Bowl in 2006 before ultimately retiring in 2009.
At Arizona, he coached a number of talented players like; Tedy Bruschi, Trung Candidate, Rob Waldrop, Dennis Northcutt, Lance Briggs and Bobby Wade among numerous others.
Well, with Arizona Football and the community, it’s like one big family. Just as we and numerous others learned of Tomey battling cancer yesterday, naturally a few of his former players took to social media to share their sentiments and well wishes.
This picture captures what Coach Tomey is and will continue to be. The man in the middle whose players will always rally around him because of the impact that he had on us. We love him and are praying for him as it’s time to Bear Down pic.twitter.com/yt6deg7xgu
— Barrett Baker (@BarrettBaker27) January 18, 2019
https://twitter.com/llovett34/status/1086349266962984960
Please keep Coach Dick Tomey in your thoughts. He’s a fighter but needs us all in his corner. Love you coach!
— Glenn Parker (@kcgp62) January 18, 2019
As fans, it was definitely tough hearing about Tomey, and we at Zona Zealots would like to send our prayers and best wishes to a speedy recovery. Bear Down, Coach!