There will be a Spavital family reunion at Jones AT&T Stadium, albeit one missing a couple of key members because the emotional stakes are so high.
It’s the second straight year that the Spavital brothers, Jake and Zac, will go head-to-head when West Virginia plays Texas Tech. Jake is in his second year as West Virginia’s offensive coordinator, while Zac is in his fourth as Texas Tech’s linebackers coach.
The stakes are a bit higher this year, though, as Zac was promoted to the role of co-defensive coordinator this spring.
West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen has worked with both Spavitals.
He coached alongside Zac at Houston from 2008-09 before being hired as Oklahoma State’s offensive coordinator in 2010 and bringing along Jake as a graduate assistant.
“Coaching is in their blood. They don’t know anything else,” said Holgorsen. “I’ve got a soft spot for coaches’ kids, and there’s two of them right there.”
Jake and Zac are not just sons of a coach, but grandsons too.
Their grandfather, James, was head coach of the Canadian Football League’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the upstart World Football League’s Chicago Fire in the 1970s before stints as a running backs coach for the Jets and 49ers.
Their dad, Steve, was the defensive coordinator for three Class 6A state high school championship teams in Oklahoma before winning one as a head coach in 2011.
Jake followed his grandpa’s footsteps on offense, while the younger Zac took after his dad on defense.
As Jake tells it, you could tell early on that he and his brother were destined to work on opposite sides of the ball.
“We’re completely opposites,” Jake said. “I was on the path to be a defensive guy too. But I got an opportunity to play quarterback, and realized I wanted to be on that side of the ball.
“We’ve just been that way ever since. If you talk to him and talk to me, you get totally different personalities.”
Thanks to last year’s meeting, it’s easier for both Spavitals to treat this like any other game.
“It’s very business-like,” Jake said. “We’re brothers and I’ve got a lot of great friends on that staff. We’re great competitors. During the week we don’t talk football, and on gameday we try to get out there and win. It goes back to how it was after the game.”
Though that may be true for the brothers, it isn’t for their parents. According to Jake, their parents don’t attend games pitting brother vs. brother.
“Mom’s rule,” said Jake.
Follow Alex Hickey on twitter: @bigahickey
