WACO,  Texas – The American Football Coaches Association announced Tuesday morning that former University of Arizona head coach Dick Tomey will receive the AFCA's 2020 Amos Alonzo Stagg Award.
 
The award is given to those "whose services have been outstanding in the advancement of the best interests in football." The award will be presented, posthumously, during the 2020 AFCA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. Tomey passed away in May of this year at the age of 80 after 29 seasons as a head coach and a brilliant 14-year career as Arizona's head man.
 
Tomey will join past winners such as Bobby Bowden, Bill Walsh, Tom Osborne, Bo Schembechler, Woody Hayes and Paul W. "Bear" Bryant in earning one of the coaching profession's highest honors.
 
Tomey arrived at Arizona in 1987 after serving as the head coach at the University of Hawai'i. He is Arizona's all-time winningest coach with a record of 95-64-4. He earned Pac-10 Coach of the Year honors in 1992 and led the Wildcats to seven bowl games and four bowl victories.
 
The former coach was honored in Tucson this past week during Homecoming. Arizona's two outdoor practice fields that are adjacent to the Cole and Jeannie Davis Indoor Sports Center were officially named the "Dick Tomey Practice Fields" in a formal dedication Friday morning.


 
The Wildcats then sported throwback uniforms for Saturday's Homecoming game to further honor Tomey's legacy. During his time at Arizona, he led the creation of the famous "Desert Swarm" defense, which wreaked havoc on college football from 1992-1994. Arizona won 24 games over those three seasons and topped Miami (Fla.) in the Fiesta Bowl 29-0 behind a dominant defensive performance.
 
Tomey officially retired from coaching after the 2011 season, where he served as the special teams coach at Hawai'i. He served on the AFCA Board of Trustees for 10 years during two different stints, including from 1996 to 2000 as the head coach of the Wildcats. He also won AFCA Regional Coach of the Year honors in 1992.
 
The Amos Alonzo Stagg Award is named after one of the men who was instrumental in founding the AFCA in the 1920s. The plaque given to each recipient is a replica of the 1939 AFCA Convention in tribute to his 50 years of service to football.