Vince Amey has three basic tenets when it comes to coaching the defensive line.
“I preach get off the ball, high motor, relentless pursuit,” Arizona’s first-year D-line coach said.
That’s also how Amey came to be Arizona’s D-line coach.
When Rich Rodriguez blew up his defensive staff, including the dismissal of longtime line coach Bill Kirelawich in early January, Amey got in his ear.
“He kept bugging me, which is OK,” Rodriguez said. “I told him to keep bugging me. He was persistent.”
Amey had been part of the UA football staff for four years, first as a strength coach, then as an analyst. He played defensive line in the pros and coached it for a state-champion high school team. He knew he could do the job if given the opportunity.
People are also reading…
“A closed mouth doesn’t get fed,” Amey said. “I know what I want. I know what I want to do. I believe I’m one of the best D-line coaches around. I’ve got to go out and prove myself, and that’s what I plan on doing.”
Rodriguez eventually acceded, officially promoting Amey two days before the start of spring practice. He was the final piece of a rebuilt defense staff, and the players who already knew him were as elated as he was.
“I was hoping it was going to be him because of the high energy he brings, the pass rush and the technique he (teaches),” defensive lineman Marcus Griffin said.
“He preaches every day that his door is open, that we’re family and that we’re basically like his kids, his other family. If we ever need anything we can go to him — but it’s always been like that.”
Serving as an assistant strength and conditioning coach from 2012-14 gave Amey a unique advantage: He already had a relationship with most of the players on the team. As lineman Sani Fuimaono noted, strength coaches spend more time with players than position coaches.
That led to what Fiuimaono described as a “very smooth transition.” But in terms of mentality and approach, changes were afoot.
Amey advocates an attacking style, which he first learned from Rod Marinelli, one of football’s most revered defensive line coaches. Amey played for Marinelli as a freshman at Arizona State in 1994.
Amey started at defensive tackle in the 1997 Rose Bowl and got picked by the Raiders in the seventh round of the ’98 draft. Amey played one season in the NFL, two in NFL Europe (Frankfurt, Barcelona) and eight in the Arena League, mainly with the Arizona Rattlers. (He supplemented his income by working security at Dos Gringos, a bar in Scottsdale.)
As his playing career wound down, Amey found himself coaching his younger teammates. He spent several years as a high school coach, including 2011 at Chaparral, where he tutored the defensive line for the Division II state champions.
Chaparral’s head coach was Charlie Ragle, who now coaches Arizona’s tight ends and special teams. Ragle said Rodriguez couldn’t have made a better choice to lead the defensive line.
“I love Vince like a brother,” Ragle said. “He is full of so much passion and energy. He is just one of those rare people whose personality is infectious. You will be hard pressed to find anyone who will say a bad word about him.”
