In the two years since taking his last competitive snap, Greg Alexander has transitioned quite nicely from student to mentor.

These days, the former Hawaii quarterback is enjoying calling plays as offensive coordinator at Casa Grande High in Northern California, drawing his reward from the teaching process as much as the end results.

"That’s probably the most fun part," Alexander said, recalling the late-game drive Casa Grande executed to pull out a win last week, "when you see kids who didn’t really get it in the beginning and then you see them start making plays and start to pick it up."

Along with passing along the run-and-shoot concepts he learned while leading the Warriors offense, Alexander can also share a perspective shaped by both the successes in his playing career and its abrupt conclusion.

"Like every team you have guys who don’t want to come to practice and things like that and you just go, ‘Hey, you only get to do this for so long,’" Alexander said.

Today marks two years since Alexander’s college career ended with a devastating knee injury in a UH loss at Louisiana Tech.

While bringing Alexander’s tenure as the starter to a stunning close, the injury elevated sophomore Bryant Moniz into the role.

Moniz has since grown to thrive in the position and returns to Ruston with the Warriors for Saturday’s Western Athletic Conference opener against LaTech.

Alexander, meanwhile, has endured a dozen surgeries and still undergoes daily rehabilitation sessions to strengthen his left knee.

Through the trials, Alexander has developed a greater appreciation for things he once took for granted, and harbors no bitterness over the premature end to a promising senior season.

"When you play, you know what you sign up for; it’s just part of the game," Alexander said. "There’s never been any second guessing or anything like that. … If it happens, it happens."

Part of UH head coach Greg McMackin’s first signing class in 2008, Alexander succeeded Colt Brennan as the Warriors’ starting quarterback but promptly lost the job in a lopsided season-opening defeat at Florida.

After sitting for six games, Alexander directed a game-winning drive against Nevada and helped lead the Warriors to a spot in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.

Through three games in 2009, he led the nation in total offense. He had thrown nine touchdown passes and was coming off a career-high 477-yard passing performance in a loss at UNLV.

Alexander also was UH’s leading rusher entering the game at Louisiana Tech when everything changed on his ninth carry of the night at Joe Aillet Stadium.

Playing in ESPN’s Wednesday night feature, UH trailed 24-6 late in the third quarter and faced a third and 10. When Alexander couldn’t find an open receiver, he eluded one tackler and scrambled to his left. Just before reaching the sideline, Alexander was drilled by Bulldogs linebacker Adrien Cole and his left foot grabbed in the turf as his leg buckled under the weight of the hit.

The anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments were torn and there was also damage to the cartilage in his knee.

He had his first surgery shortly after returning to Hawaii. Then came another to treat a serious infection. More procedures followed after he returned to California, the latest to remove calcification that built in the area, a condition that also required a low-dosage radiation treatment to prevent future bone growth.

Alexander said he’s been clear of further complications since his last surgery in April.

"It’s definitely feeling stronger. I’m not quite at full range of motion, but it feels a lot better than it did six months ago," he said. "It’s nice to be able to go into rehab every day for two years and finally you’re starting to see some progress from week to week or month to month."

Now in his second year at Casa Grande, Alexander isn’t quite up to running, but has regained enough footwork to teach by example in practice.

While Alexander aspires to a career in coaching, he hasn’t given up on returning to the field just yet, and has been in contact with teams in Europe.

"It’s definitely something I’d like to be able to do," he said, "if the knee can hold up."

As he continues to rehab his knee, minus an ACL, Alexander also plans to attend to some unfinished business in Hawaii.

The severity of his injury and subsequent recovery put school on hold and he recently submitted his application to re-enroll at UH in the spring to take the two classes he needs to earn his degree in history.

"That would mean a lot," he said. "Since I left it’s been a long, long road, so it would be nice to go back out there and finish up. To be able to be out there and enjoy Hawaii rather than being locked up in a hospital bed."