Through all of Rich Rodriguez's new coaching hires, the defensive line coach position is the one that lingered the longest.
By the time Rodriguez took the podium on Feb. 10 for a press conference to kick off spring football, it had been 37 days since it was announced that Bill Kirelawich was let go. Finally, one day later, it was announced that Vincent Amey was being promoted from a staff analyst role into the full-time defensive line position.
In between, rumors swirled that Amey was a candidate as Rodriguez explored his options — UA alum Joe Salave'a, currently at Washington State, was a name floating around — but in the end, Rodriguez promoted from within.
Amey, on Rodriguez's staff since he was hired in 2012, said it wasn't easy waiting to find out his fate.
"It was a little stressful, but I’m a believer," Amey said on Friday. "I’m a true believer that what I work for and what I believe in is what I’m going to get."
Amey has no previous college coaching experience, but he spent the 2015 season as a staff analyst, and the previous three years as a strength and conditioning coach. Prior to that, he had experience coaching at the high school level, most recently as the defensive line coach at Scottsdale Chaparral.
An ASU alum, Amey also spent some time as a player in the NFL, spending one season with the Oakland Raiders on the defensive line after being drafted in the seventh round of the 1998 NFL Draft.
Amey spoke with some reporters after practice on Friday. Here's what he had to say.
On getting the job: "That’s been the whole thing, just grinding it out and sticking with it, knowing what you want in life. I knew I wanted to coach. There were some bumps in the road. I worked in the weight room, took a pay cut to go upstairs, talked to the wife about it. It’s cause I knew what I wanted to do, and it’s paid off."
On believing he would get the job: "I tell the D-lineman now, if you believe you’re going to be great, you’re going to be great. I told them for two weeks straight I’m going to be the defensive line coach at the UA because I believed it. And it happened."
On being familiar with the team already: "It’s not new, it’s almost like a natural fit because I’ve been here and I’ve got a great rapport with the players. I jump around with them, but I'm also stern with them. That’s how you have to be. You build good relationships with the players and you earn their respect and I think I’ve done that and it’s a good fit. It’s a great fit."
On how all the coaches he's played or worked for in his career have influenced him: "There’s a lot of things but the persistence, to have a chip on your shoulder. The relationships you build with players are important, they taught me that, but at the same time just knowing the great football knowledge I got from the Jon Grudens and (Rod) Marinellis, I just soaked it all in, took it all in and I’ve been blessed to be able to teach it, so that’s what I do."
On when he knew he wanted to coach at this level: "That’s a good question, I started coaching high school football and my first year coaching that i was trying to teach everything I knew. Everything i knew. So Steve Campbell was the head coach at Williams Field and he said 'Vince, you gotta slow down. Gotta slow down.' Once I slowed down and started teaching it I was like 'Ok, I like this.'
"As I started progressing, I was at McClintock, Westfield, St. Mary’s, Chaparral. The more I started coaching, I was thinking 'I want to be at the next level.' And I love coaching, I love mentoring."
On what he remembers a player in the ASU rivalry: "Beating them when I was playing them because I (ASU) was 1-3. My record’s still not too good on the other end, but the thing about it is that it’s been good games. You want to see good football. That’s what you see and that’s what you get in that game.
