Texas Tech co-offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes came to Tucson yesterday to interview for the Arizona football team’s offensive coordinator position and will stay through Saturday, according to a secretary in the Red Raiders’ football office.
Dykes is the first candidate to interview for the position vacated when Mike Canales resigned Monday after three seasons with the Wildcats. No other candidates for the job were known as of yesterday.
As the co-offensive coordinator at Texas Tech since 2004, Dykes has presided over a prolific, pass-heavy offense. The Red Raiders led the nation in passing in 2004 and 2005 and rank third in the category this season.
Arizona’s pass offense ranked as high as 48th under Canales in 2005, but fell to 93rd (168.7 yards per game) among 119 NCAA Division I-A teams this year.
Dykes has coached wide receivers for the Red Raiders since he joined the team in 2000. His previous coaching stops include Kentucky (1997, 1999) and Louisiana-Monroe (1998).
He is also the brother of Rick Dykes, the Wildcats’ offensive coordinator from 2001 to 2002.
Arizona head coach Mike Stoops was out of the office recruiting yesterday and was unavailable for comment.
UA athletic director Jim Livengood did not return phone calls left for him yesterday.
QB Beirne still committed to Arizona despite Canales’ departure
Bryson Beirne, the top quarterback in the Wildcats’ 2007 recruiting class, said he will stay committed to Arizona, despite the resignation Monday of his main recruiter, former co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mike Canales.
Beirne said in a phone interview last night that Canales called Monday morning to inform Beirne of his departure and to urge him not to renege on his verbal commitment made in June.
Verbal commitments are nonbinding until an athlete signs a national letter of intent with a school on Feb. 1.
“”It was hard, because he was the one that recruited me,”” Beirne said of Canales. “”But he told me a lot of times, ‘You committed to the school, not to me.'””
Beirne, a Honolulu native, is rated the nation’s No. 12 pro-style quarterback prospect for 2007. He tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during his junior season but said he has made a full recovery since then.
“”I have no limitations anymore,”” he said. “”I have my speed back. Everything’s back to normal.””
Beirne said he looks forward to getting to Tucson based on what he took in from the campus atmosphere during Arizona home games he attended this season.
He rushed the field with Wildcat players and students following the team’s 24-20 upset of then-No. 8 California on Nov. 11.
Beirne said he’s also gotten tips on the school’s academics and social scene in phone chats with UA freshman defensive tackle Lolomana Mikaele, who used to live in Beirne’s neighborhood.
Beirne said he will arrive in June for summer workouts and expects to prepare for next season as though he will play, but he would accept having to redshirt.
Whatever the situation becomes, Beirne said he looks forward to helping the Wildcats build on their breakthrough 6-6 season.
“”Coach Stoops told me we’re only going to get better, and I believe him, because that’s all they’ve done with him, is get better,”” Beirne said.
Goins a go for ’07 class
Mario Goins doesn’t know if UA junior cornerback Antoine Cason is heading to the NFL this spring.
If he doesn’t, the 10th member of the Wildcats’ 2007 class looks forward to challenging the senior for his starting job.
“”I would not mind knocking him off, because he’s a really big corner,”” Goins said in a phone interview last night.
Goins said he gave a verbal commitment to UA co-offensive coordinator Dana Dimel Tuesday night while the coach visited him at his home in Copperas Cove, Texas.
At the time, the 6-foot, 173-pound Goins, a three-star athlete on Rivals.com’s five-star scale, was also being targeted by Kansas, Missouri and Texas-El Paso.
“”He was really excited about it,”” Goins said of Dimel, “”because I let (Arizona) know I was really interested, but he thought I was going to wait until I visited there, made an official visit, and I didn’t.
“”He was just laughing about it. It was cool, a good feeling.””
Goins developed a strong interest in the Wildcats after traveling to Phoenix this summer to see his sister, Paige, who is a student at ASU. With the UA campus so close, he drove down to Tucson before returning home.
“”It’s almost like its own little town inside a town,”” Goins said. “”It’s really cool. It feels really homely.””
Goins, who will arrive on campus in June, said he thinks he has a strong chance to play during his first year.
“”Personally, all the (recruiting) coaches, they said I (make) really good hits, which is really good for a corner,”” he said. “”What they like now, they like their DBs physical, and I like to hit. That’s my main thing, because I’m not scared to hit you or anything, and I can cover really well.””
