When Mike Alley got a chance to meet with prospective members of the Albemarle football team for the first time, he started by talking about two things. The first was what it means to be a Patriot — something he should know about, he graduated from Albemarle in 1984.
The second major topic he touched on, character, will be the foundation of his Albemarle program, the latest reclamation project in Central Virginia that Alley will have a hand in.
“All I know is that character can take care of a lot of things,” Alley said. “I know that I’m going to work hard to turn this program around.”
After a year with the football head coaching job in flux under interim head man Wendell Green, who stepped in for Rick Vrhovac when he moved into an assistant principal position at the school, Albemarle tapped Alley to lead the Patriots’ program.
While every coach tosses around character development as a pillar of their program, Alley, the former Blue Ridge head coach, has proven over time how much he does care about it. His work as a chaplain for UVa’s football program allowed him to develop relationships with two of the most-renowned character guys in the Cavaliers’ recent history, ordained minister Cedric Peermen and current UVa wide receiver Jared Green.
“We were very close and to get to know them as players and see what they go through on a daily basis, I definitely think that experience will help me as a coach here at Albemarle,” Alley said.
Alley, who started his coaching career locally as an assistant at Albemarle and Western Albemarle, faces a tall task trying to rebuild an Albemarle program reeling from a winless 2009. But those other reclamation projects should help him early on. With his high-octane spread offense at Blue Ridge, Alley took a school that was struggling to produce wins and turned the Barons into a major player on the private school scene.
“The first year I was there they came off a season that only had two wins and we turned the program around and got really good attention,” Alley said. “First we have to have team unity and then the wins and the program will take care of itself.”
Last year, Alley served as the offensive coordinator for Mark Sanford’s first staff at William Monroe,
“I think it was a great experience because the situation is very similar,” Alley said. “.”
On top of that, Alley felt a strong draw to the Greene County community in general, having lived there for some time.
“It’s bittersweet — I’m glad I’m here, I wouldn’t change a thing, I love Albemarle High School,” Alley said. “But my son has grown up in Greene County, he plays on the J.V. baseball team, my wife and I work at a church (there) and we’re youth pastors, so it’s hard, but again I just feel this is the right place for me to be.”
Clearly, Albemarle does too. Now the hard work begins.
