Tomey might not be through

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Columnist

You can take the man out of coaching but it isn't easy to remove coaching from the man.

At least when it is Dick Tomey.

Technically, Tomey is no longer a practicing, certified, NCAA manual-toting football coach since his parting with the University of Arizona a year ago.

But to have glimpsed him — both behind the scenes and in front of the camera — in his capacity as an analyst on KFVE (Ch. 5) telecasts of University of Hawai'i football games these last couple months is to understand that separation from coaching requires more than changing job descriptions or printing new business cards.

It is to recognize that a seat in front of the telestrator doesn't come close to the adrenaline rush of a Saturday night spent orchestrating a game on the field, and the bond between a coach and his players is a void no play-by-play man can fill.

This is hardly a knock on Tomey, who, in a short turnaround, has brought a new perspective to the KFVE booth. Rather it is an affirmation of the ties that come with dedicating an entire adult life to one pursuit, the way Tomey has to coaching.

For it is apparent that Tomey's heart is still in what is taking place on the sidelines with the players and around the game. That coaching and competition remain such a part of him they are probably components in his DNA.

So it is not surprising that his name is popping up around Division IA head coaching openings from Berkeley, Calif., to Lawrence, Kan. Or, that he would be looking for the right place to get back into a field he has been part of for 40 years.

Now is the season for coaching turnover and Tomey's record (158-110-7) and reputation over nearly a quarter-century as a head coach, rate a look. Especially when they were accomplished at two schools, UH and Arizona, which, as resources go, were never in the top half of their conferences.

The question is whether an athletic director is going to put more stock in Tomey's resume than his age (63) and provide him with the right opportunity.

There are a lot of Tomey's contemporaries — Rich Brooks (61), John Cooper (64) and Bruce Snyder (61) to name a few — in the job market and the prospect is that there could be fewer openings than most years.

In the meantime, it has to have been an instructive year outside the sidelines for Tomey, who can take away from the experience at least two truths.

One is that, if he didn't already know it before, he can do something beyond coaching. The other, of course, is that coaching is definitely where his heart is.