College football has become an army of Nick Saban disciples.
Whether one looks at the Southeastern Conference, Big 12, Big Ten, or Pac-12, the landscape of the sport is full of coaches who have learned from Saban. William Vlachos is the latest student that is prepared to cash in on what he learned. According to Bruce Feldman, a reporter for Fox Sports and writer for The Athletic, Vlachos will take over as offensive line coach at Colorado.
SOURCE: William Vlachos, a former All-SEC OL at Alabama, is expected to take over the O-line at Colorado. Vlachos who coached on the Bama staff and for the Bills, has been a QC/blitz & offensive front specialist at CU. He replaces Mitch Rodrigue who was let go yesterday.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) October 25, 2021
He was born in Greece, but Vlachos attended Mountain Brook High School in Birmingham, Ala. He was a three-star prospect in the 2007 recruiting class. Despite playing guard in high school, Vlachos was a center for the Crimson Tide under Coach Saban.
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He played in 47 career games, including 40 starts. Vlachos guided Glen Coffee, Mark Ingram, and Trent Richardson each to 1,000-yard seasons as running backs. He assisted Ingram to be the University of Alabama’s first Heisman winner in 2009, following a year where he had 1,658 yards rushing with 17 touchdowns.
Vlachos paced Richardson to the Doak Walker Award during the 2011 season.
He recorded a single-season school record of 1,679 yards rushing with 21 touchdowns that year.
Vlachos also protected first-year starting quarterbacks in Greg McElroy (2009) and AJ McCarron (2011) to BCS National Championships. He was an SEC Champion, two-time BCS National Champion, and first-team All-SEC selection in 2011.
As a coach, Vlachos served as a graduate assistant at Alabama in 2013.
He would become an off-field analyst from 2014-17, helping the Tide win three SEC titles (2014-16) and two national championships (2015, 2017). After being a coaching assistant with the Buffalo Bills in 2018, he was hired to Colorado in 2020 as a defensive quality control coach (defensive blitz) and offensive front assistant. Vlachos has now moved up to offensive line coach.
Alphonse Taylor (former Tide lineman) and Chris Owens (current Tide lineman) are proud of him.
— Alphonse “Shank” Taylor (@SHANKK50) October 25, 2021
YESSIRSKI‼️‼️ https://t.co/J3kqm7ipYA
— Chris Owens (@BGChrisOwens) October 25, 2021
Colorado has a foundational piece on offense with Vlachos.
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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
