Jared CohenPatience and hard work ultimately is noticed and later pays off. An example of that in it’s truest form in Tucson with the Arizona football program is with their new defensive line coach, Vincent Amey.
After leaving Chaparral high school as their defensive line coach following winning a state championship win in 2011, Amey took a job in the weight room as an Arizona football strength and conditioning coach. He was in that role for two years before last season, he assisted with the day-to-day duties of program management with a focus on film breakdown. All roles he knew were necessary to ultimately end up on the field as a position coach where he stands today.
“It meant the world,” Amey told Sports360AZ about his new role on the Arizona staff. “It has been something I’ve been grinding out and wanting all my life. It’s a true blessing. I love coaching the d-line, it’s something I’ve done for a long time and I’ve been blessed to be able to teach it and now it’s here! The time is now.”
“I knew I wanted to coach and there were some bumps in the road,” he added. “I was in the weight room and then I took a pay-cut to go upstairs and talked to the wife about it because I knew what I wanted to do and it’s paid off.”
Vincent Amey is an Arizona State alum but finds himself in good company. Athletic Director Greg Byrne is also a Sun Devil alum who now in his professional life is a Wildcat. He joked that there is no hard feelings there and has a good relationship with the people at ASU.
After ASU where he won a Rose Bowl in 1997, he played in the NFL, originally drafted by the Oakland Raiders, in NFL Europe and in the Arena League. He was a member of the 1999 NFL Europe Championship team with the Frankfurt Galaxy and is an eight-year veteran of the Arena Football League, spending a significant amount of his career with the home town Arizona Rattlers.
Amey mentions that this may technically be a new role for him but doesn’t see there being much of an adjustment period.
“It’s not new, it’s almost like a natural fit,” Amey explained. “I’ve been here and I have a great rapport with the players, I’ll joke around with them but I am also stern with them and that’s how you’ve got to be. You build good relationships with the players and you earn their respect and I think I’ve done that.”
As for his defensive line, the hope this defensive is to get deeper, bigger and stronger going into next fall. Amey is excited with the players has to work with and the production he believes they could have in year one in this role.
“Well I think with the style of defense we are going to play it is going to go up a lot,” Amey said in predicting his defensive line’s production in 2016. “Yes we could use some bigger guys and that should come in the future with recruiting but we have to work with the guys we have now and I love the guys we have now. So just the scheme of the defense and what we are going to do, being in attack mode. They’ll love it and I’ll love it.”
Arizona football continues spring practices three days a week through March 25th.
