TUCSON, Ariz. – Two coaches at the University of Arizona are pitted in a contest of credit union spokesmanship – one for Vantage West CU and the other for Hughes FCU.
University of Arizona football coach Mike Stoops is appearing on billboards and in print ads and TV commercials for Vantage West, while men's basketball coach Sean Miller has filmed commercials for Hughes that are expected to start airing this month.
Vantage West CEO Bob Ramirez said his credit union could have chosen either Stoops or Miller, but it picked the football coach because he fit in nicely with its University commemorative football coin promotion that started last year.
Those who open new accounts or persuade a friend to do so receive a coin. Ramirez says he carries pockets full of the coins to football games to hand out to people to promote the credit union.
Ramirez said Vantage West is committed to Stoops this season, with hopes to continue the association next year.
Neither credit union would specify how much they are paying their respective coach-spokesmen.
The dueling coaches are reminiscent of a situation in the 1990s when then-coaches Lute Olson of UA and Bill Frieder of Arizona State University – rivals on the basketball court – appeared together in a series of commercials for Valley Bank and Bank One.
