Alex Van Pelt of the Bills reacts as Travis Henry scores the winning touchdown against the Panthers in 2001. Van Pelt was a backup QB for Buffalo. Credit: Getty Images

Green Bay — You create your own luck. Alex Van Pelt is living proof.

Take a risk, gamble on yourself and good things tend to happen.

The year was 1987 and Van Pelt was a total unknown in Grafton, W.Va. Recruiters had no clue who this backup quarterback was, and he was sure they never would if he stayed there.

So with one year left, Van Pelt moved to San Antonio. He got noticed. He took care of the rest. And today, he's Aaron Rodgers' position coach.

After switching from running backs to quarterbacks in February, Van Pelt said he wanted to find new ways to "challenge" Rodgers. His past — his moving 1,500 miles away as a kid — suggests he will.

"It's been good," Van Pelt said of the switch. "It's something I felt comfortable doing. For me, it was just catching up and learning how you coach the quarterbacks in Green Bay. Obviously, it's been very successful."

Van Pelt's path to Green Bay began with a cross-country leap. As a teen, he made a career decision, leaving his father and two sisters behind in West Virginia to live with his mother in San Antonio. His reasoning was simple. At Grafton High School, Van Pelt witnessed the quarterback ahead of him (Brian Cochrane) receive no interest from Division I schools.

This was long before Rivals.com and the era of modern recruiting, which may soon include sonogram scans for "upside." But Van Pelt's buddy only received a partial baseball scholarship to Fairmont State University.

Van Pelt believed in himself. He just figured nobody else would.

"I'm thinking this guy's twice the athlete I am," Van Pelt said. "If he's not going to get a scholarship, then I'm not going to get a scholarship."

After his parents divorced, Mom relocated to San Antonio. Van Pelt noticed the Texas powerhouse in this particular district had a quarterback vacancy, so he contacted the Winston Churchill head coach himself.

The spring of his junior year, he was off. Van Pelt uprooted and told Dad he'd return if he earned a scholarship back east.

He became the starter by Week 3, his team went 13-0 and, voilà, the letters and phone calls poured in.

"It was just a risky deal," Van Pelt said, "and I felt like if I wanted to make a move and play after high school, I'd have to get more exposure."

From there, Van Pelt chose Pittsburgh where he shattered Dan Marino's passing records and met a young grad assistant named Mike McCarthy.

Twenty-five years later, they're both in Green Bay.

Of course it all began with that bold plunge. Oh, Van Pelt is quick to note that he needed a pinch of luck, too. He was the No. 3 quarterback initially at Pitt. One quarterback ahead of him flunked out of school and the other transferred.

"So all of a sudden," Van Pelt said, "I'm standing there as a redshirt starter."

He was essentially the first student in McCarthy's quarterback school. Working with McCarthy and the man the Packer head coach credits most — Paul Hackett — Van Pelt started all four seasons.

Many drills Van Pelt did then are exactly what he does now with Rodgers and Co.

"A ton, a ton," said Van Pelt, who then spent nine seasons as an NFL backup. "It's grown under Mike. Mike has added his touch to it. His drills are outstanding. But the same drills we do in quarterback school are what I did in 1989. The same exact drills. They're time-tested."

Taking over for Ben McAdoo, who's now the New York Giants offensive coordinator, Van Pelt has added new ball-handling drills himself. His goal is to find new ways to push a league MVP, a Super Bowl MVP.

Rodgers hinted at one way already. Fresh off that fractured collarbone, the quarterback noted that Van Pelt has helped with his thought process on reads. Sure, he'll "always" want to use his legs. But maybe Van Pelt speeds up his progressions to a new level. Maybe Van Pelt can help prolong his career.

Offensive coordinator Tom Clements says it's been a smooth transition for Van Pelt.

"He's been a quarterback," Clements said. "He has coached quarterbacks for a number of years in the league....He's back doing what he likes to do."

And you cannot help but wonder where Van Pelt would be if he didn't leave friends and family behind as a high school junior.

Van Pelt never fast tracks to Pitt, never finds McCarthy, probably never finds a career in the NFL.

Sometimes, it pays to take a chance.

"I think you make decisions, you live with them good or bad," Van Pelt said. "And this happened to be a positive experience."

Send email to tdunne@journalsentinel.com

This column appeared in Packer Plus Magazine