Former BYU assistant Anae joins Stoops' staff

Published Jan. 12, 2011 2:30 p.m. ET

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Robert Anae, a 17-year Division I coaching veteran, was hired as Arizona's offensive line coach and running game coordinator.

Anae, 52, has been offensive coordinator and inside receivers coach at Brigham Young for the past six seasons and has a strong background in offensive football as a former BYU player under LaVell Edwards and five years on coach Mike Leach's Texas Tech staff from 2000-04.

"Robert's a perfect fit for what we're doing," head coach Mike Stoops said. "He brings a ton of experience to our program. He's been a successful coach wherever he's been, and he'll be a great asset in our recruiting."

"I look forward to this opportunity. It's like a jump-start to my coaching career, again," Anae said. "It's very refreshing to be here and I'm eager to work with the staff and players. I really think we're on the verge of something special on offense and I'm grateful to Mike for the opportunity." he said.

Anae replaces Bill Bedenbaugh, who worked as Stoops' offensive line coach since 2007 and co-offensive coordinator in 2010. Seth Littrell, running back and tight ends coach, will take over solo offensive coordinator duties for UA after sharing those duties with Bedenbaugh last year.

Anae began his coaching career as a graduate assistant on Dick Tomey's staff at Hawaii in the final season before Tomey became Arizona's head coach. He later spent time at Boise State, UNLV and Texas Tech.

Bronco Mendenhall hired Anae as offensive coordinator and inside receivers coach in spring of 2005. At BYU he helped craft a 56-21 record in the past six years.

During the past six years as a coach at BYU, the Cougars have earned six bowl invitations with four bowl victories while winning two outright Mountain West Conference championships. BYU was 9-5 against Pac-12 teams during his recent six years in Provo.

Anae and his wife, Liane, have two sons, Famika and Max, and a daughter, Penny. His son was a freshman lineman for the Cougars in 2010.

He graduated from BYU in 1986, took a master's degree in sociology from BYU in 1990 and earned his doctorate from Brigham Young in 1999 while serving as an assistant director in the BYU student-athlete center and NCAA Life Skills director. He is Arizona's first football coach with a doctoral degree.

Stoops still has one staff position to fill, the defensive secondary coach. Tim Kish, co-coordinator with departed DB coach Greg Brown in 2010, will serve as defensive coordinator.