Arizona football hires Bobby Wade away from Arizona State to become WRs coach

Arizona football is hiring Arizona State offensive analyst and former Wildcats wide receiver Bobby Wade as its new wide receivers coach, according to reports.

Wade arrives in Tucson after working at ASU since 2019. He joined the Sun Devils as a graduate assistant before working as an offensive analyst the past two seasons and as wide receivers coach from 2021-22. He also served as Cesar Chavez High School’s wide receivers coach for two and a half years before his ASU tenure.

Wade played for newly hired Arizona head coach Brent Brennan in 2000 when Wade was a sophomore and Brennan was a graduate assistant under Dick Tomey.

In 33 games over three seasons for the Wildcats, Wade caught 230 passes for 3,351 yards and 23 touchdowns.

He owns the school record for the most single-season receptions with 93 in 2002 and is also the program leader in career receiving yards.

In 2015, he was inducted into the Wildcat Ring of Honor.

The Phoenix native and former Desert Vista High School standout competed at the varsity level in football, track and field, soccer and basketball while in high school. During his senior year, he was named the USA Today High School Football Player of the Year for Offense and Defense and took the Thunder to the Class 5A State Championship.

Wade was drafted in the fifth round of the 2003 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears and in 2004 caught 42 passes for 481 yards. The next season he played primarily as a punt returner and scored a touchdown in Week 2 but was released by the Bears later that year. He totaled 1,854 yards and one touchdown as a returner in his career.

He went on to play for Tennessee, Minnesota, Kansas City and Washington and finished his NFL career with 244 receptions for 2,858 yards and nine touchdowns.

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