View source for Ricky Hunley

{{Short description|American football player and coach (born 1961)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name         = Ricky Hunley
| current_team = Arizona Wildcats
| number       = 
| position     = Defensive tackles coach
| birth_date   = {{Birth date and age|1961|11|11|mf=y}}
| birth_place  = [[Petersburg, Virginia]], U.S. 
| height_ft    = 6
| height_in    = 2
| weight_lb    = 242
| high_school  = [[Petersburg High School (Virginia)|Petersburg (VA)]]
| college      = [[Arizona Wildcats football|Arizona]]
| draftyear    = 1984
| draftround   = 1
| draftpick    = 7
| pastteams    =
* [[Cincinnati Bengals]] (1984)*
* [[Denver Broncos]] ({{NFL Year|1984|1987}})
* [[1988 Phoenix Cardinals season|Phoenix Cardinals]] ({{NFL Year|1988}})
* [[Los Angeles Raiders]] ({{NFL Year|1989|1990}})
* [[Indianapolis Colts]] ({{NFL Year|1991}})*
| pastcoaching =
* [[USC Trojans football|USC]] (1992–1993)<br>Graduate assistant
* [[Missouri Tigers football|Missouri]] (1994–1997)<br>Defensive line coach
* Missouri (1998–2000)<br>Associate head coach & linebackers coach
* [[Florida Gators football|Florida]] (2001)<br>Defensive line coach
* [[Washington Redskins]] ({{nfly|2002}})<br>Defensive line coach
* [[Cincinnati Bengals]] ({{nfly|2003}}–{{nfly|2007}})<br>Linebackers coach
* [[Sacramento Mountain Lions|California Redwoods / Sacramento Mountain Lions]] (2009–2011)<br>Defensive coordinator
* [[Oakland Raiders]] ({{nfly|2011}})<br>Assistant linebackers coach
* Football University (2012-13)<br>Lead coach and instructor 
* [[Memphis Tigers football|Memphis]] (2014–2015)<br>Defensive line coach
* [[Arizona Wildcats football|Arizona]] (2021–present)<br>Defensive line coach/Defensive tackle coach
| highlights   =
* [[List of unanimous All-Americans in college football|Unanimous All-American]] ([[1983 College Football All-America Team|1983]])
* Consensus [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1982 College Football All-America Team|1982]])
* [[Pac-12 Conference football individual awards|Pac-10 Co-Defensive Player of the Year]] (1983)
* 3× First-team [[List of All-Pac-12 Conference football teams|All-Pac-10]] ([[1981 All-Pacific-10 Conference football team|1981]], [[1982 All-Pacific-10 Conference football team|1982]], [[1983 All-Pacific-10 Conference football team|1983]])
* [[Arizona Wildcats football#Retired jerseys|Arizona Wildcats Jersey No. 89]] retired
| statlabel1   = [[Quarterback sack|Sacks]]
| statvalue1   = 2.5
| statlabel2   = [[Fumble]] recoveries
| statvalue2   = 2
| statlabel3   = [[Interception]]s
| statvalue3   = 3
| pfr          = HunlRi20
| CollegeHOF   = 2034 
}}

'''Ricky Cardell Hunley''' (born November 11, 1961) is an [[American football]] coach and former professional player who was a [[linebacker]] in the [[National Football League]] (NFL) for seven seasons during the 1980s and early 1990s. Hunley played [[college football]] for the [[University of Arizona]], and was twice recognized as a consensus [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]]. He was selected in the first round of the [[1984 NFL draft]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=1984 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1984/draft.htm |access-date=2023-10-10 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref> and played professionally for the [[Denver Broncos]], [[Phoenix Cardinals|Arizona Cardinals]] and [[Los Angeles Raiders]] of the NFL. He is currently the defensive line coach at the University of Arizona in [[Tucson, Arizona|Tucson]], his alma mater.

==Early life==
Hunley was born in [[Petersburg, Virginia]], and graduated from [[Petersburg High School (Virginia)|Petersburg High School]].

==College playing career==
Hunley attended the University of Arizona, where he played for the [[Arizona Wildcats football]] team from 1980 to 1983.  As a junior in 1982 and again as a senior in 1983, he was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American—and became the first Arizona Wildcat football player to receive consensus All-American honors.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.arizonaathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=8558&SPID=535&DB_OEM_ID=1600&ATCLID=66098 |title=Invalid Access |access-date=October 31, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402125330/http://www.arizonaathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=8558&SPID=535&DB_OEM_ID=1600&ATCLID=66098 |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1998, he was inducted into the [[College Football Hall of Fame]]–the first player from the University of Arizona to be enshrined.

==Professional playing career==
Hunley went on to an NFL career with the [[Denver Broncos]] (1984–87), [[Phoenix Cardinals]] (1988), and the [[Los Angeles Raiders]] (1989–90).  It is noted that Hunley was drafted by the Bengals but after failing to reach a contract agreement was traded to Denver.  Hunley played in both [[Super Bowl XXI]] and [[Super Bowl XXII]] for the Broncos. He was elected executive vice president of the [[NFL Players Association]] (1990–92).

==Coaching career==
Hunley coached on the collegiate level at the [[University of Southern California]] (1992–93), [[University of Missouri]] (1994–2000), [[University of Florida]] (2001), and the [[University of Memphis]] (2014-15). He helped the Florida Gators win the BCS FedEx [[2002 Orange Bowl]]. In his first two coaching gigs, he worked under head coach [[Larry Smith (American football coach)|Larry Smith]].

Hunley started his NFL coaching career through the NFL Minority Fellowship Coaching Program in 2002 as the [[defensive lineman|defensive line]] coach for the [[Washington Redskins]] under [[Steve Spurrier]], following Spurrier to the pros after his final season with Florida. While with Washington, Hunley first met defensive coordinator [[Marvin Lewis]]. Hunley became [[Linebacker]]s coach under Lewis when Lewis became the head coach of the [[Cincinnati Bengals]] from 2003 to 2007.

In 2005, Hunley helped the Bengals ended 15 years of futility by notching their first winning season since 1990 and winning the AFC North division title with an 11–5 record. Two years later in 2007, he was fired after a disappointing season and a flurry of player injuries and suspensions. During his time in the NFL, he also served on the board of directors for the [[Black Coaches Association]].

Hunley eventually returned to college football, coaching for two seasons (2014–15) with the Memphis Tigers. In 2015, Hunley helped the Tigers post a 9-4 record, and an appearance in the [[Birmingham Bowl]].

On December 30, 2020, Hunley joined [[Jedd Fisch]]'s coaching staff as defensive line coach at the [[University of Arizona]], his alma mater.

==Personal life==
Hunley and his wife Camille have two daughters. His younger brother, Lamonte, was also an All-American linebacker at Arizona.<ref name=ArizonaWildcatsObit>[http://www.arizonaathletics.com/football/article.aspx?id=48934 Larry Smith: 1939–2008] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080508004941/http://www.arizonaathletics.com/football/article.aspx?id=48934 |date=May 8, 2008 }}, Arizonaathletics.com, January 28, 2008.</ref> He founded the Ricky Hunley Football Camp, a non-profit instruction center for high school boys.<ref>{{College Football HoF|id=2034}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCL/is_3_34/ai_n6222394 Football Digest Article]

{{Pac-12 Player of the Year}}
{{1982 NCAA Division I-A College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
{{1983 NCAA Division I-A College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
{{1984 NFL Draft}}
{{Bengals1984DraftPicks}}
{{BengalsFirstPick}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunley, Ricky}}
[[Category:1961 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:All-American college football players]]
[[Category:American football linebackers]]
[[Category:Arizona Wildcats football players]]
[[Category:Sacramento Mountain Lions coaches]]
[[Category:Cincinnati Bengals coaches]]
[[Category:College Football Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Denver Broncos players]]
[[Category:Florida Gators football coaches]]
[[Category:Los Angeles Raiders players]]
[[Category:Missouri Tigers football coaches]]
[[Category:Phoenix Cardinals players]]
[[Category:USC Trojans football coaches]]
[[Category:Washington Redskins coaches]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Petersburg, Virginia]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Virginia]]
[[Category:Memphis Tigers football coaches]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American sportsmen]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American sportsmen]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]