University of Arizona Football Coach and Legend, and NFL Great Ricky Hunley – Coach, Speaker, Motivator, Broadcaster

About University of Arizona Legend and NFL Great Ricky Hunley

Timeline of Achievements

2021                Hired as Arizona Football Defensive Line Coach under Jedd Fisch

2000                AFCA Assistant Coach of the Year Nominee

1997 – 1998   Named NCAA Minority Head Coaching Candidate

1997                  SI Top 10 Candidates for future head jobs

1997                  Inducted into the National Football Foundation College “Hall of Fame”

1995 – 1997    Professional Development Master Coach Series Seminars Participants

1987                  Inducted into the University of Arizona “Hall of Fame” Outstanding Linebacker”

1982 – 1983    Two-time selection, Consensus All American

1995 – 1997    Professional Development Master Coach Series Seminars Participants

1986 – 1987    Player, Denver Broncos, Super Bowl XXI  and Super Bowl XXII.

1984                  Drafted, First Round, NFL Draft

1984                  Semi-Finalist in “Lombardi Award”  voting for “College Football’s Most Outstanding Linebacker”

1982 – 1983    Two-time selection, Consensus All American

Resume

• University of Arizona Football: Defensive Line Coach – Current
• Executive vice president of the NFL Players Association for three years
• Coached the Memphis Tigers (NCAA) to 10-3 and 9-3 seasons, lifting 1 and 2-star athletes to compete with 4 and 5-star athletes, breaking into the Top 25 in the US
• Arizona Beat Writer Greg Hansen, “Hunley is the best football player in UA history. He was a consensus All-America linebacker in 1982 and 1983, an NFL first-round draft pick who was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1997,” Named him “No. 1” in his Top 50 football players in Arizona Wildcats history ranking
• Selected to the Pac-12’s All-Century first team; One of 22 consensus All-America linebackers  in the Pac-12 in the last 50 years
• Former Linebacker coach of the Cincinnati Bengals, Los Angeles Raiders, Memphis University
• Former NFL linebacker for the Broncos (Two Super Bowl Appearances), Raiders and Cardinals
• Only linebacker along with Lance Briggs to earn first-team honors three consecutive seasons
• Remains the leading tackler in Arizona history with 566. He is at the top the record book in unassisted tackles (323) and assisted tackles (243). He also had 12 interceptions in his career, which leads all Wildcat linebackers. He had seven interceptions in 1983.
• the highest drafted Wildcat in the program’s history. Cincinnati drafted him as the No. 7 overall selection in the 1984 NFL draft.

The Ricky Hunley Philosophy

“As a player, I always realized that if I was going to succeed there were two things that I had to do. Number one was that I was going to have to treat my body like a business. That is, I had to be in the best shape of my life mentally and physically all year round. In the pros, your body is how you make your money, and you better take care of it.

“Number two was that it also meant listening and doing things the coach’s way. I’ve seen too many players squander their once in a lifetime opportunity of playing and being successful in the NFL, by wanting to do things their own way, and in the business of professional sports, it’s coach’s way or the highway. Have that single purpose and focus and you can set yourself up for life. Work hard. You don’t always need to be the best, but be the best at working the hardest.”

Education

Stanford University
2006 – 2006

Completed the Stanford NFL Executive Training Program, NFL Executive Training Program for Managers

University of Southern California – Marshall School of Business
Cumulative GPA 3.65 (4.0 Scale)
1992 – 1994

Completed three semesters of graduate coursework.  Honors grades in Accounting, Statistics and Business Administration

University of Arizona
1980 – 1984

Bachelor of Science (BS), Business Administration and Management, General

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