When Jahmile Addae received a phone call telling him to report to Rich Rodriguez’s office in December, he wasn’t necessarily nervous.
He wasn’t a player anymore, and a trip to the head coach’s office no longer meant a scolding.
“I’m never in the principal’s office,” Addae joked, “so I had a feeling it would be good stuff.”
As he drove to the Lowell-Stevens Football Facility, Addae called his brother, Jaleel, a third-year safety for the San Diego Chargers. In a quick conversation, Jahmile (pronounced “Jamal”) told his brother good news might be coming.
He was right. Rodriguez told Addae that cornerbacks coach David Lockwood had been let go, and that the UA wanted to promote the 33-year-old from analyst to full-time cornerbacks coach.
Addae, who played for Rodriguez at West Virginia before embarking on a winding career as a player and coach, accepted. Within a few weeks, Addae’s role would change again: Donté Williams’ hiring meant Addae would coach safeties, his college — and NFL — position.
Addae’s hiring was the first step in what would become a seismic offseason shift: The Wildcats opened spring drills Friday with an entirely new, young defensive staff. The oldest staffer, defensive line coach Vince Amey, turned 41 on Tuesday.
The full-time job was “one of the things I really, really wanted for myself,” Addae said. “It was a chance to work for him in a full-time capacity, and it was a goal of mine. I can honestly say I was the first of that West Virginia era to finally get a chance to be a position coach for him.”
The December meeting between Rodriguez and Addae wasn’t their first one. It probably wasn’t their most important one, either.
In 2001, Rodriguez was in his first season as West Virginia’s coach and Addae was a 17-year-old freshman safety.
The Mountaineers were 2-4 and plagued by injuries heading into a Thursday night game at No. 1-ranked Miami.
About an hour before kickoff, Rodriguez called Addae over. He would be starting. Against Miami. On the road. As a true freshman, without any game experience.
No pressure.
“I didn’t tell him he was starting until an hour before kickoff,” Rodriguez said, laughing, “because I was afraid he wouldn’t get on the plane.”
On Addae’s first play from scrimmage, he lined up 28 yards behind the line of scrimmage — far too deep.
But Addae got through it, finished the game, and then proceeded to start for four years.
“It was one of those situations where you just kind of got put on the spot and you learn by putting your hand on the fire and getting burned,” Addae said. “It was one of those experiences where you tell yourself, ‘If you get through this one, what else can there be as a 17-year-old freshman playing against the No. 1 team in the country?’”
Addae developed a reputation as a hard-hitting safety with a knack for big plays. After a college career that included eight interceptions, Addae signed as an undrafted free agent with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He later spent time with the Indianapolis Colts.
Once his playing career ended, Addae tried teaching high school English. He lasted four months.
“I was burned out by Week 2,” Addae said. “I knew I loved teaching, which is obviously what coaching is. But in coaching, we’re allowed to be a little more hands-on and vocal about things, and impose our will.
“I was teaching like I was a coach,” Addae added, laughing. “So for me, I was pretty naturally going to get back into coaching.”
Addae called his old coach, and Rodriguez gave him a job. Addae served as a graduate assistant at WVU for a few years, followed Rodriguez to Michigan and spent a couple seasons as the running-backs coach at Cincinnati — where he coached Isaiah Pead to a 1,000-yard season — before joining Rodriguez’s staff in 2013 as an analyst.
Other schools called, but Addae wasn’t interested. He was happy in Tucson, and so was wife, Maryann, and their sons Agyeman and Ayden.
“Jahmile has turned down full-time, well-paid, Division-I coaching jobs to stay on here as an analyst off-field guy waiting for an opportunity,” Rodriguez said. “I even told him when he turned the last one down (that), ‘I appreciate your loyalty, but you’re going to be here full time probably pretty quickly at some point.’”
Addae said it was worth the wait.
“Every year since I’ve been here, there’s been something that’s come along. And not only me, a lot of these guys are highly sought after, but every year I’ve been here, I’ve had an opportunity or a few to maybe try and advance myself professionally elsewhere,” Addae said. “For me, it was always about the quality of life, and the guys that I worked with on a day-to-day basis. Sometimes that means more than a dollar right now.
“This was where my heart was. If your heart is somewhere, it’s easy to stay.”
