TUCSON, Ariz. – University of Arizona new Head Football Coach Brent Brennan announces Duane Akina will return to Defensive Coordinator with the Wildcats.
Akina has over 43 years of coaching experience and will enter his second season with an elevation to Defensive Coordinator after serving as a Senior Defensive Assistant with the Secondary last year. During the 2023 season, Arizona improved across the board defensively, rising from 124th in total defense in 2022 to 48th in 2023. Arizona finished with a 0.38 turnover margin last season, a noted improvement over the –0.42 turnover margin in 2022.
With the help of Akina, the Wildcats finished 29th nationally in points allowed per game in 2023, surrendering 21.1 points per game compared to 125th in 2022 (36.5 points allowed per game). All of these improvements helped the Wildcats win 10 games for the fourth time in program history and defeat No. 12 Oklahoma 38-24 in the Valero Alamo Bowl in 2023.
Akina coached at the UA during the celebrated "Desert Swarm" era under Dick Tomey from 1987-2000; Akina also coached Arizona's defensive backs in 2011 under Mike Stoops and interim head coach Tim Kish. He coached with Brennan in 2000 when the new Wildcats head coach was a graduate assistant on Tomey's staff.
As the secondary coach at Arizona, Akina helped guide the Wildcats' "Desert Swarm" defensive attack, one of the nation's most aggressive and productive groups. His prize pupils were Darryll Lewis, the 1990 Jim Thorpe Award winner, and Chris McAlister, a finalist for the Thorpe Award and winner of the Mosi Tatupu National Special Teams Player of the Year award in 1998. Lewis was a Pro Bowler for the San Diego Chargers and played 10 seasons in the NFL. McAlister earned a spot in the 2004 Pro Bowl and was a member of the 2000 Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens.
During his time as offensive coordinator, Akina guided some of the Wildcats' most productive offenses. In 1994, he helped develop the UA offense into a unit that recorded more than 200 yards passing per game. Arizona's offense registered 2,211 passing yards and 1,776 rushing yards that season, which marked the first time in a decade that the team had registered more yards passing than rushing. In 1995, Akina directed the Wildcats' passing attack to 204.3 yards per game, which at the time, ranked fifth on the school's all-time list.
Before Akina's 14-year career at Arizona, he spent five seasons as a defensive assistant under legendary Head Coach Dick Tomey at Hawaii, followed by one season with the CFL's Calgary Stampeders.
Akina has coached three Thorpe Award winners, six Thorpe finalists, and 41 defensive backs who have played in the NFL -- including seven Pro Bowlers, nine Super Bowl participants, and 12 All-Americans. Akina has coached in 27 bowl games.
In his first stint at Arizona, Akina held multiple roles, including defensive backs coach, associate head coach, defensive coordinator, and offensive coordinator. Following the 2000 season, Akina had a similar role under Mack Brown at Texas. Most recently, Akina worked for David Shaw as Stanford's defensive backs coach from 2014 to 2022.
