Following the firing of Mitch Rodrigue, the Buffaloes were fortunate to have an experienced interim replacement in-house. William Vlachos, who has been a quality control coach focusing on the offensive and defensive lines, was called upon by coach Dorrell to manage CU’s O-line for at least the immediate future.
Vlachos was an All-SEC lineman at the college powerhouse of Alabama where he blocked for Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram in 2009. After his final collegiate season in 2011, Vlachos signed as an undrafted free agent by the Tennessee Titans but was released soon into the 2012 preseason. He then returned to Alabama to become a graduate assistant and eventually a quality control coach for three seasons until 2017.
His one year of professional coaching experience came in 2018 when he was an offensive assistant with the Buffalo Bills. In part because of his connection with former Colorado head coach Mel Tucker, who coached DB’s at Alabama in 2015, Vlachos came to Boulder in 2019.
The winding road that many college coaches experience has now brought Vlachos the opportunity to help a struggling Buffaloes’ O-line. Coming off Rodrigue’s final game on Oct. 25 against Cal, which sacked Brendon Lewis six times, Vlachos helped engineer the O-line’s best performance of the year at Oregon. Lewis was sacked just once and the offense put up 29 points against a strong Ducks’ D.
“We made some subtle tweaks and the guys bought in,” Vlachos said. “It wasn’t perfect, but it was okay.”
Vlachos, who will be aided by graduate assistant Donovan Williams, said a big challenge for the few remaining games will be deciding what adjustments need to be made and how.
“It’s kind of a balancing act of ‘okay, what needs to be changed, if anything, and then what do we need to just define a little more that’s already in place?'” Vlachos said. “They’ve done a good job of handling it.”
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