Mike Stoops hired at Arizona

Mike Stoops hired at Arizona
Eds: LEADS with 4 grafs to UPDATE with school's announcement; picks up 5th graf pvs, 'Stoops, 41, ...'. Will be updated after news conference ends.
By MEL REISNER
AP Sports Writer
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- Mike Stoops, the younger brother of Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops, was introduced Saturday as the new head coach of Arizona's problem-plagued football team.
The younger Stoops, the top-ranked Sooners' co-defensive coordinator, inherits a team that went 2-10 and finished last in the Pac-10 for the first time.
"I'm obviously very excited about the opportunity to become a head coach," Stoops said in a statement released before a news conference to announce his hiring.
John Mackovic was fired as coach in September after the Wildcats won their opener and then lost four straight. Defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz took over as interim coach and was 1-6 the rest of the way.
Stoops, 41, has coached under his brother since 1999. He is the associate head coach for the No. 1 Sooners and shares defensive coordinator duties with Brent Venables, who left Kansas State the same time as Mike Stoops to join Oklahoma's staff.
Venables coaches the defense from the booth, and Stoops is on the field.
The Wildcats finished their worst season in 46 years with a 28-7 loss to Arizona State on Friday. Arizona (2-10, 1-7 Pac-10) had a school-record eight-game losing streak.
Stoops was a two-time all-Big Ten defensive back at Iowa in 1983-84. He played for the Chicago Bears and Pittsburgh Gladiators of the Arena League before becoming a graduate assistant coach at Iowa in 1986.
He was hired as a Kansas State assistant in 1992, rising to assistant head coach and defensive coordinator before leaving for Oklahoma.
Others who were considered for the Wildcats job: Hankwitz, Southern California offensive coordinator Norm Chow, Cincinnati Bengals assistant Ricky Hunley and New York Giants defensive coordinator Johnnie Lynn.