Report: Former Alabama lineman takes over as Colorado OL coach

Shortly after firing second-year OL coach Mitch Rodrigue, the Colorado Buffs have moved on. Former Alabama offensive lineman William Vlachos is moving up into the assistant role, according to CFB insider Bruce Feldman.

Vlachos has been with the Buffs program for two seasons as a defensive blitz and offensive front specialist. Before Colorado, the Alabama native was a coaching assistant for the Buffalo Bills.

After a cup of coffee in the NFL with the Tennessee Titans, Vlachos went back to his alma mater as a graduate assistant with the Crimson Tide. He moved up to an analyst role and stuck with Bama from 2014-2017.

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

During his playing days with the Crimson Tide, Vlachos redshirted his first year under Nick Saban before becoming a four-year contributor. He started 40 consecutive games and played in 48 total games, winning two national championships along the way and blocking for multiple Heisman candidates.

Buffs remove Rodrigue, promote Vlachos

Colorado head coach Karl Dorrell relieved offensive line coach Mitch Rodrigue of his duties Sunday, according to Altitude TV’s Vic Lombardi. The Buffaloes needed a spark on offense after starting 2-5, averaging just 15.1 points per game.

Colorado’s two wins, which account for 69 of their 106 points, came against FCS opponent Northern Colorado and 0-7 Arizona. The losses, which include a disappointing 26-3 loss against Cal, have featured little offensive production.

Rodrigue spent two seasons as Colorado’s offensive line coach, joining as part of Dorrell’s initial staff in 2020.

After seven seasons as the run game coordinator and offensive line coach at Louisiana, he spent two seasons at Spanish Fort High School. He then took the job with Dorrell, hoping to repeat his prior success developing offensive linemen.

At Louisiana, he helped Daniel Quave and Mykhael Quave make the 2014 preseason Lombardi Award watch list. The Ragin’ Cajuns were 51-38 over Rodrigue’s tenure as an assistant. He also developed several NFL lineman over his coaching career.

On3’s James Fletcher contributed to this report.