A couple of articles about Coach Spence. Definitly a straight up individual, and one we'd hate to see leave.
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Spence the man who makes UT go
Thanks to one of the brightest offensive coaching minds in America, the University of Toledo has the requisite firepower to do more than just hang with No. 25-ranked Minnesota when the teams meet Saturday at the Metrodome.
Rob Spence, the brains behind UT's prolific attack, will do everything possible to put junior quarterback Bruce Gradkowski in the best position to win.
UT's no-huddle is no joke.
Spence will spread the field. He'll flood UT's lineup with receivers. He has so many potential big plays at his disposal it'll make the Gophers' heads spin.
The biggest secret in Spence's multi-dimensional offense is UT's ability to run the football. A powerful ground game is the key to an explosive passing game.
The Rockets run to set up the pass. They also pass to set up the run. Just when the defense thinks it knows what's coming, it doesn't.
The strange part, however, is that Spence is nothing like the offense he coaches. He's as quiet as head coach Tom Amstutz is outgoing.
When Spence is around his players, you can't shut him up. Around the media, he's Marcel Marceau.
Spence is fiercely loyal to Amstutz and his players.
Amstutz wooed Spence with an unheard-of contract for a mid-major offensive coordinator. It's been money - $100,000 per season - well spent.
Spence may be the best offensive coordinator in college football this side of Southern California's Norm Chow.
He's innovative, his system is skill-player friendly and he's been successful at every stop along the way.
That includes I-AA Hofstra, where the Flying Dutchmen averaged 34 points a game and were ranked No. 5 in the country in 1999 with Spence as the offensive coordinator.
If Spence can do wonders at a non-football power like Hofstra, he can be successful anywhere.
The Rockets should love the fact Spence isn't a media hog with a personal agenda. He isn't campaigning for a head coaching job.
The less people know about Spence, the better chance UT has of keeping him.
The problem for UT, however, is that Spence is so good other schools will almost certainly come calling - if they haven't already.
A superior college offensive coordinator is worth his weight in touchdowns. As long as
Spence is on the payroll, the Rockets never have to worry about rebuilding.
With Spence maneuvering players around the field like pieces on a chess board, UT will always be in contention for the MAC title and a Top 25 candidate.
Spence allows Amstutz to focus on the defense. The best advice anyone can give Spence is to leave him alone.
His system guarantees success. He's at the top of his game.
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UT’s Spence tough in the long run
Also coordinates Rockets’ high-scoring offense on the gridiron
Rob Spence is equally at home running on the University Trail or running plays for the Rockets in the Glass Bowl.
By MATT MARKEY
BLADE SPORTS WRITER
In the three years that Rob Spence has been directing the offense for the University of Toledo football team, the Rockets have gained almost 10 miles of yardage on the field. That seems like a lot.
But it’s not when you consider that the 44-year-old offensive coordinator probably ran that far before work today, and again on his lunch hour yesterday. And he will likely put another 10 miles behind him at 5 a.m. tomorrow.
Spence, who is part of the avant garde of offensive innovation in college football, has made distance running his hobby. He has found it is the one thing he can do that fits into the demands of his schedule. But Spence is also good enough at it to compete in the recent Boston Marathon, the Super Bowl of distance running.
"I love competition, and running gave me an opportunity to continue to compete," said Spence, who is also the assistant head coach at UT. "And I am fortunate to work for somebody who genuinely believes in balance in our lives, and encouraged me to take part in the Boston Marathon once he found out I had qualified for it."
UT head coach Tom Amstutz, who counts hunting, fishing and collecting antique fishing lures among his non-football avocations, said maintaining other interests is essential in this high-pressure line of work.
"This is a profession where it can really consume all of your time and attention if you let it, and I think you perform best if you allow yourself to do other things," Amstutz said. "I have so many interests outside football, so when Rob told me he qualified, I said, ‘you have to be in it. You have to balance your work with the rest of your life.’"
Spence joined the UT coaching staff in 2001 and immediately transformed the Rockets to a high-scoring spread offense; he has had Toledo near the top of the Mid-American Conference and nationally ranked in offensive productivity each season.
He is humble and normally shuns any kind of publicity, but Spence admitted being moved when he lined up as one of some 22,000 runners in the field in Boston.
"It was a great experience. There were people on the course cheering you on from the first yard to the last yard. And that stretch of hills you go through - that is one of the greatest tests of someone’s resolve in all of road racing."
Spence, who ran the 26-plus miles in a very respectable 3 hours, 13 minutes and 10 seconds, said he got a surge of adrenaline as he neared the end of the historic race. He ran the second half faster than the first half, and recorded six-minute miles for the final two.
"The Good Lord was with me the whole way, and I’ve never been so jacked and pumped up to have that much left in the tank at the end of a race," Spence said. "This is something I did as a praise performance. The first love in my life is I love my God, and I proudly wear that on my sleeve. I think he gave me some skill and talent, and I feel like I should express that."
Spence, who played tight end at Iona College, got his start in running when a back injury forced him off the football field.
"Running was about the only thing I could do. Once my playing career ended, I found running was a way to stay leaner and have more energy, and I enjoyed it. My running career coincides with when I started coaching college football, and the two work well together. You lose speed as you get older, so I am more into the endurance side of it now."
Amstutz said he did not want Spence to miss out on the opportunity to take part in distance running’s premier event.
"Your body only has so many years of high level performance in it, so this is something he had to do, and do now," Amstutz said. "And I think you have a better overall perspective on things when you are centered and balanced.
‘‘You come back to work fresh and excited about things."
Spence said his effort to push himself to the top level of competitive running is just a case of practicing what he has been preaching all along as a coach.
"I tell my players all the time that if God gave you some skill and ability, then you should use it. I also preach to them about being extraordinary at what they do, and then striving to be excellent in all other areas of their lives. The same goes for myself and anyone else.
"You should make what you do a praise performance."
Spence said his schedule with the Rockets will only allow him to participate in one major running event per year, but that is fine with him, since he enjoys the training and the regular road work almost as much.
"When do you stop being an athlete?" Spence said. "Only when you choose to stop."
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