A New Era of Butler Football begins with Vignery

A New Era of Butler Football begins with Vignery

Story by Kalon Fullerton:

When the Grizzlies take the field on Saturday night, former player and assistant coach Brice Vignery, will be leading them out.

Former offensive coordinator the past seven seasons, Vignery was elevated to head coach in late December making him the 24th head coach in program history.

"This is a dream come true for me." Vignery said. "Coming here, about 15 years ago, I knew this was something that I wanted to do and now I get a chance to do it, and I get to do it alongside a great administration, a great team, and great leaders and mentors to myself."

Vignery played wide receiver at Butler in 2006-2008 under hall of fame coach Troy Morrell losing just one game over his two-year career finishing 23-1 and winning a National Championship. He went on to Kansas State University playing his final two seasons under another legendary coach in Bill Snyder. 

Knowing he wanted to get into coaching and knowing he wanted to learn from his former coach, Vignery returned to Butler as a volunteer coach in 2010. He lived on a couch and was an assistant wide receiver's coach during that season that saw the Grizzlies go 11-1. Vignery took a paying job at Kansas Wesleyan the next season but that wasn't for him as he returned to Butler in 2012 and has been with the Grizzlies ever since.

Starting out washing jerseys and checking out equipment, Vignery continued to grow and learn each day from the best coaches in the business in Troy Morrell, Steve Braet, Tim Schaffner and a handful of others. As the seasons went on, Vignery took on more and more duties as an assistant learning the ins and outs of the program both on and off the field. In 2014, when Troy Morrell stepped away from coaching giving the job to Tim Schaffner, Vignery was elevated to the offensive coordinator where he has been the last seven seasons.

He will now, after spending 13 total years in the program, get the opportunity to lead the Grizzlies from the driver's seat, a seat of which he has prepared his entire career for.

"It feels kind of surreal," said Vignery, "but this is definitely one of the greatest days in my professional career. This is such a great community and storied program I very excited to get to work. I have prepared for this role my entire career and I am so happy that I get my first head coaching job at a place so near and dear to my heart." 

"As we look forward to the next chapter of Butler football, I look forward to forming and creating relationships with not just the people on our team and campus but the people in this great community. People that are so important to the success of this program and those that have made Butler what it is."

So what can fans expect from the Brice Vignery era?

"You'll see great pride in the game that we're going to play. We're going to be well respected. We're going to play with great pride and great discipline. This team will be built around the core values that I grew up on: honesty and integrity. The mission here is changing young men's lives, making sure that they understand the end goal of what we're trying to do. We're always going to be engaged with the people in the community, because Butler is a very big brand."

"I am excited to lead a very prestigious program and school. This is an opportunity of a lifetime and I look forward to the challenge."