It's the end of the year as we know it...

…and not much to report for the CU Buffaloes. There is nothing really new of any note, but a there are a few tidbits to tide us over until the official assistant coaching announcement on Wednesday:

Reports are pretty strong that secondary coach Charles Clark will also follow Mike MacIntyre from San Jose State to Colorado.  Other than Baer, Lindgren, Jeffcoat, I have no idea who else it will be.  I am not sure why MacIntyre (and maybe the Bohnhead?) are waiting until January 2 to announce everything, not even officially giving out the names that seem to be set in stone, and without officially saying that the current assistants are gone.  It gives the school no advantage, if anything, it’s a disadvantage with recruits, and it’s not like any of the hires are going to make a big splash. 

Conventional wisdom follows that MacIntyre also lures Dave Forman, the strength and conditioning guy he hired from Stanford two years ago, but San Jose Mercury News Pac-12 reporter extraordinaire Jon Wilner thinks Caragher will try to retain him at SJSU.

While many internet speculators would still love to see Matt Lubick end up here, I doubt that is going to happen-I can’t see him making a move, unless it is to an offensive coordinator position.

I also laugh heartily at the suggestions that Bienemy would stay on as only RB coach or especially at the few who are saying Embree should be named TE coach?!  Seriously people?  I can’t even address the Embree suggestion it is so absurd, and even EB is not that stupid.

Reports are that all CU coaches’ offices are empty; all of them are gone quietly, except Darian Hagan is still on the job, helping with the recruiting coordination still, but for how long?  Hopefully, all were told long ago that they were not in the future plans so they could move on in their lives and look for new jobs.

Someone might end up okay out of all this as Pete Roussel of CoachingSearch.com reports that Greg Brown might be up for the DB job at…Alabama!  Nick Saban has lost a few position coaches of late and this would be a phenomenal opportunity for Brown, who I always said was a great position coach, and he could learn a lot.

Ron Caragher is filling out his new staff at SJSU with at least three members of his San Diego staff, and it appears that only the two previously reported holdover coaches, wide receivers coach/recruiting coordinator Terry Malley and running backs/special teams coach Fred Guidici, are staying on with him at San Jose, freeing up the rest to follow MacIntyre to Boulder.  However, that doesn’t necessarily mean the rest of the Spartan staff is coming to Boulder, but probably many of them.

buffsballer on NetBuffs posted: “Expect 7 assistants from SJSU -D2 Danny Part 2: including the inexperienced son-in-law of the OL coach. Nice hire Bohn(head) - you stayed one step ahead of the posse for now, but it's won't last forever. Wonder how long until Bohn throws MacIntyre and his staff under the bus in another effort for Bohn to stay employed, though he is one of the very worst AD's in college athletics?”

Although it will be great to know who the coaching staff is and that we can all move forward, it will be sad on Wednesday when it is simultaneously announced that most, if not all, of the previous staff, are being let go, having been tied down in limbo here knowing they are only awaiting their fate.  We will see if Alfred was correct in saying two weeks ago that everyone is gone, “everybody” and also how the Bohnhead words his response to the questions about how this process has been handled.

Athlon re-ranked the new coaching situations as to who has “the greatest likelihood of yielding success within the next five years for the average coach” (whatever that may mean for each program?). Colorado came out 10^th of the 27 and they had this to say: “Pros: Colorado has had pockets of success, with three different coaches winning at last 10 games since the 1990 national title. The state usually has a handful of top-flight prospects as well. The days of Colorado competing for a national title may be over, but with time, the Buffaloes could be a bowl contender again.   Cons: The program is a major rebuilding job as it was evident the Buffaloes lacked the talent to compete in the Pac-12. Colorado fired Embree after just two seasons, and athletic director Mike Bohn curiously detailed the various problems with the job, including “the erosion of the fan base and ... ticket sales.”  Not very encouraging. (And why do national writers keeping “Ellis-island-ing” the CU AD’s name, by shortening it?!)

Nevada head coach Chris Ault, the mastermind behind the Pistol offense, is retiring.  No word yet as to whom will replace him, but it could have some effect on the CU offensive coaching staff, assuming Nevada wants to continue with the Pistol that has helped give the university a name in college football.

RB Josh Ford, who always showed flashes of rushing brilliance on the field, but was dogged by the last staff for not practicing hard and not knowing his pass blocking assignments, is confident in the new staff as he tweeted that he predicted a bowl game for CU next year.

Jon Wilner, Pac-12 expert from the San Jose Mercury News, wrote this about MacIntyre and his knack for finding talent: “One point that I failed to mention when MacIntyre accepted the job — and a topic that will resonate with frustrated CU fans — is what I consider to be his greatest strength: Talent evaluation. MacIntyre hired a collection of assistants at SJSU that was as strong as any staff in the WAC or MWC (a few are joining him in Boulder). His ability to spot talent, a skill honed during his years working for Bill Parcells, is no less impressive…Colorado fans should expect MacIntyre to sign a bevy of big-framed, versatile athletes and worry about their position down the road. Many will end up at linebacker or tight end, but a few could grow into tackles. He believes a lean 250-pound prospect with the potential to add 30 or 40 pounds has far more long-term value than a 300-pounder with substantial body fat. The best example on SJSU’s roster is Travis Raciti, who was signed as a 255-pound TE/OLB/DE and grew into a 285-pound tackle good enough to start for many teams in the Pac-12 (and eventually play in the NFL). It will take a few years, obviously, but MacIntyre will eventually transform the CU roster into a more talented, and far more versatile, group.”

Here’s a link to the AllBuffs forum page speculating about possible recruits with Colorado ties or mentions: http://www.allbuffs.com/forumdisplay.php/14-Colorado-Football-Recruiting-Central

Check this photo out, supposedly from Les Miles’ office at LSU: http://www.netbuffs.com/message_board/football/2012/December/28/760876.php  Now, that’s an even more creative and interesting motivational technique than the repetitive hoarse yelling used by Bienemy.

Happy New Year and Go Buffs!

Military Bowl and other musings

Overall, it was an unspectacular game in a mostly empty stadium. There were a ton of three-and-outs from both sides-I believe there were more of those than longer drives.  It finally picked up a little in the fourth quarter as the teams exchanged a couple of late scores.  Although neither team was able to run the ball much, they were both able to pass and each moved the ball a couple of times for scores, as well as settling a few times for field goals.  San Jose State won the game 29-20 and finished the season with their best ever record of 11-2.  I don’t know that I learned that much from the game, but I do like the potential the offensive approach brings to Boulder.

SJSU especially couldn’t run the ball very well against a stout Falcon defense, and actually ended up losing yardage on the ground (and not because of the one sack).  However, when they were able to give QB David Fales (completed 72% of his passes during the season while Buff QBs averaged less than 50%) some protection and time, he was usually able to find someone open downfield (33-43, 395 yards, 2 TDs).  He was able to spread the ball around to many different receivers, utilizing lots of groupings to keep everyone active and fresh, and putting constant pressure on the defensive backs.  Their second drive they marched right down the field, finishing it with a wide open touchdown pass.

The Spartan offense certainly used a lot of shifts and motion pre-snap.  On the first play they lined up in the Pistol spread, but then shifted to a traditional two-back formation with the QB under center (they actually did this more often than I expected), and hit a long pass. They ran some nice plays where they confused the defense with their pre-snap actions.  They also ran a couple of tricky reverses they ended up twice fumbling and losing big yards.

As advertised, SJSU utilizes the wide receiver bubble screen quite a bit. (This was a play that confounded last year’s Buffs, both trying to run it on offense, as well as defend it.) The Spartans gained many first downs, scored a TD and were also able to take advantage of the DBs by faking the bubble screen and instead sending the receiver deep down the sideline.

The SJSU defense did not look all that impressive against a mediocre Bowling Green offense.  Although they were able to hold them to some field goals, they did give up some yardage.  At times, they were able to get some good pressure on the QB with some blitzes.

Their special teams were just fair, not getting a lot of return yardage, giving up a little more; they gave up a blocked punt, but later blocked one of their own for a safety.

Not sure how I feel about the new coach crying with his wife as he watched his former team win its bowl game.  Baer said he almost did after coaching the team to the win, but he held it together.

Other program notes- here are a few other items of at least moderate interest…

The program is now in countdown mode until January 2, when MacIntyre is expected to announce his entire staff (or at least most of it) right before the last recruiting period starts.  

The assumption is still DC Kent Baer, OC Brian Lindgren and DL Jim Jeffcoat are all still expected to move from San Jose to Boulder.  After that no one knows who MacIntyre will hire for the other six positions.  No CU coaches have taken other jobs yet, but the expectation is that none of them are coming back.

San Jose Mercury News reports that WR coach/recruiting coordinator Terry Malley and RB Coach/special teams coordinator Fred Guidici (no big loss here after watching the bowl game) will be staying on with Ron Caragher (who watched the bowl game from a box and from the sideline) at San Jose State.

Bobby Kennedy is the most intriguing name from the previous staff as he fills a need since MacIntyre is not bringing the WR coach from SJSU, he has great ties to Texas for recruiting, and has ties to Boulder obviously, but not necessarily in the same way to CU as the previous regime.

Once the coaching staff is in place, recruiting will become clearer and we’ll know where guys like WR prospects Bryce Bobo and Devin Ross stand.

Verbal commit DE Jimmie Gilbert (TX) said he had been ready to de-commit after the initial coaching change, but has backed off that and is staying committed, at least for now, after speaking with MacIntyre.

QB verbal Sefo Liufau confirmed his commitment to BuffStampede.com after also admitting 

he was taken for a loop at first from Embree’s firing.

I am surprised we have heard nothing about any guys leaving the team for any reason, even though the Bohnhead is not granting any transfer reque         sts.  I would still expect to see some attrition between now and fall camp.  At least a few guys will see the writing on the wall during spring practices and will leave.

According to Adam M. of Rivals/Yahoo, freshman DE Kimo Seau (American River C.C. in Sacramento), nephew of the late, great Junior Seau, called CU his dream school.

There is still a lot of speculation that the relationship between Bienemy and Embree was tenuous at best, and was likely a root cause of the offensive failures and at least some of the team chemistry issues. Although they were advertised as a “team” when they came in together, Bienemy may never have gotten over being passed on for the head job.  Bienemy supposedly ignored Embree’s requests at times and was stubborn as hell in his game-planning and play-calling.  He was way in over his head, and those who think Bienemy should have been the head coach are just plain crazy-it would have been total chaos with him in charge.  I said from the beginning he was definitely NOT head coach material and it would be interesting to see how he coordinated the offense, which we now know he could not do very well.

Holiday cheer?

It’s really been a dead period, not just in terms of recruiting, but everything college football.  Even so I was able to find a few morsels of holiday cheer…

There is some recruiting going on as a few names are popping up on internet forums that are talking about new names supposedly receiving offers from CU.  We should start hearing about some scheduled “official” visits from prospects in January. I can’t wait to see a new name commit.

From the “believe it or not” files:  The ESPN college football recruiting page actually has a countdown clock until 12:00 AM on February 6, 2013 (still FORTY days away at time of posting!), National Signing Day, when recruits officially can fax in their official LOI (letter of intent).

I read a re-tweet of Jordan Webb saying his cast was off.  I thought, “Who the hell cares?”  But then it kept nagging at me:  “OMG?! What if Webb practices really well in the new offense?”  Although he rarely did well for any stretch of time during an actual game, Webb always practiced very well, does drills really well and can throw the ball to receivers when he has no pressure and a “no tackle penny” over his uniform.  Hirschman and Wood showed their true colors by never really practicing or playing consistently well, and frankly I doubt we hear much from either of them going forward.  Dillon is still very young and we really don’t know what we’re getting in him yet, even more so for commit Sefo Liufau.  The cold, harsh reality is MacIntyre and Lindgren may end up having to throw Webb out there, only because he is the least bad.

ESPN Pac-12 blog recently posted a “Recruiting Roundup” and had this to say about CU, maybe giving a glimmer of hope that one of the young guys can take the job from Webb: “It looks like the Buffs are going to be a Pistol offense, which bodes well for redshirt freshman Shane Dillon and 2013 commit Sefo Liufau (Tacoma, Wash.). Both are dual-threat guys and if Liufau is as advertised, he could make a push for an immediate appearance. He's part of an outstanding crop of Washington quarterbacks that includes Max Browne (USC)…and Isaac Dotson (Nevada).”  Dillon isn’t necessarily a “dual threat” as he didn’t really rush much in high school; however, he certainly isn’t afraid to, his offense, team and coaches just didn’t really require him to run that often.  The biggest question about Liufau is that other schools have not really recruited him that hard, even in the face of all the transition and uncertainly.

Surprise, surprise, the CU Athletic Department outlined how they are “fiscally responsible” by explaining exactly how they have no money, even with the influx of Pac-12 cash.  The articles explain how they have made some minor upgrades, added some staffers, increased salaries for numerous positions, and oh yeah, how they still owe a ton of money from the head coach buyouts (all three) and the transition to the Pac-12 that won’t be paid off until 2019!?  The whole point of this, of course, is to once again remind us, the fans and donors, that we must give money in order for the program to succeed.  Usually, when a school is doing something like this, the plan is to, well, first have a plan, but then to actually have some big donors lined up when they make the announcement, getting people excited about the possibility.  What schools do NOT do is every year or so announce: “We have some big plans coming” with nothing to really show, then adding, “Oh yeah, and it’s up to YOU to make it happen because we haven’t been able to raise the money any other way.”

Post by GrumpyBuff on NetBuffs: “Can someone answer this question: “How does CU contractually commit to facility upgrades in a coaching contract with no viable funding source?  "Sure Mac, we got your back on facility upgrades-- it's top on our list and we will get it done. We don't have any idea how we'll fund it, but just sign here. Trust me, our donors have had the shit kicked out of them due to my ineptitude, but I promise I'll have an email out to them just as quickly as you sign. No worries, they'll come through."  -Bohn(head)

It has been widely postulated by numerous media outlets that it is highly likely and probable that San Jose State offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren and defensive coordinator Kent Baer will almost for sure make the move to Boulder after their bowl game in order to possibly take those respective positions for the University of Colorado.  If they both do indeed come, which according to all reports very well might happen in the coming days, it will end weeks of repetitive and redundant speculation and daily articles and blogposts with all the same information using slightly different word orders.  Maybe tomorrow after the bowl game, but if one, or even both, doesn’t end up in Boulder, will anyone really be surprised with the way things have gone around here under the Bohnhead?

Baer has had success re-vamping defenses at various stops, including Notre Dame, Utah St., Arizona St. and Stanford.  He also has recruited all over the country and has coached in four other different schools in the Pac-12 (also at Washington), so he knows the Buffs’ footprint well.  Baer generally runs an aggressive 4-3 scheme with a lot of blitzing, which will fit right in with the passing focused conference.  John Henderson got an interview of the probably-soon-to-be OC: http://www.denverpost.com/cu/ci_22252396/coordinator-kent-baer-could-help-cu-buffs-turn

So depressing, but hard to argue with Kevin Gemmell, Pac-12 blogger: “I think if MacIntyre can have Colorado to a bowl game in three years, that would be a huge step forward.”  He also said of the non-bowl teams in the conference: “None of them are ready to make a run at the Rose for at least 5-6 years.” (my emphasis)

Also depressing: Who would have ever thought that we were all going to eagerly watch (maybe even DVR) the Military Bowl, featuring San Jose St. vs. Bowling Green today (1:00 PM Mountain, ESPN)?  This will be our first glimpse of our new offensive and defensive styles, our new coaches and how they approach a game.  Not sure how much we can really learn here, but what else are we going to do?

Dead period news

New head football coach Mike MacIntyre was introduced to the crowd Friday night during the first half of the men’s basketball blowout of Northern Arizona. He was given a nice ovation, got a pat on the butt by Askia Booker, and told the crowd he wanted to bring a Pac-12 football championship to Boulder as soon as possible-great, me too, so did Embree, so did Hawkins, rah rah.  He also interviewed with Mark Johnson on the radio during halftime, but really didn’t say anything of substance. He is stiiiiiillll “evaluating” possible assistants.

Although there is no recent news on the assistant front, and even though it is a "dead period" with only phone contact allowed with recruits, coach MacIntyre has been at work on the lines with prospects.  It is being reported that 3-star OLB prospect Stephen Van Hooks, who has been verbally committed to Fresno State and highlighted as one of the stars of its class, was offered by Colorado on Friday and that he is seriously considering it.

John Henderson of the Denver Post reports that MacIntyre won’t announce the entire staff January 2^nd.  How it shakes out will definitely depend on how Ron Caragher’s new staff at San Jose St. rounds out after their bowl game next Thursday.  All indications are that coordinators Brian Lindgren (offense) and Kent Baer are on their way to Boulder, but as Baer said, “You never know until you get on the airplane.” (And then even…other opportunities could still arise.) 

It is also assumed that D-line coach Jim Jeffcoat is also coming to Boulder, with some speculation that secondary coach Charles Clark is also on his way, while offensive line coach Gary Bernardi might stay on at SJSU.

Jashon Sykes posted that he has indeed been let go as Director of football operations, and is the first official announcement in the department house cleaning, er…fumigating, that Alfred Williams tweeted about earlier this week, even though everyone close to the program has tried to deny it, without ever actually denying it…“integrity, honest, commitment” right?

There are rumors that Husker fans are calling for Bo Pelini to hire soon-to-be-former CU LB coach Brian Cabral.  At one point, I had heard a rumor that Cabral might be having some medical issues, but I have never seen it substantiated anywhere.

Henderson also said that SJSU receivers coach and recruiting coordinator (I thought Jeffcoat was but…?) Terry Malley might stay on there, which would allow Bobby Kennedy to possibly be the lone holdover at CU.  This could help keep 3-star receiver prospect and verbal commit Bryce Bobo in the Colorado fold.  Might be the case with Devin Ross as well.

Although they called it “really solid”, CBS Sports ranked MacIntyre’s hire as only the 23^rd best of 26 in terms of efficiency this offseason, just as underwhelming as the original announcement was, when it finally came out, and after the snafu with Butch.

As everyone knows by now, MacIntyre and soon-to-be-announced OC Brian Lindgren will run the Pistol offense. Basically, Nevada’s Chris Ault developed the formation to get the best of both worlds: QB under center and QB in shotgun formation.  In the Pistol, the QB lines up a few yards behind center, rather than a full seven yards.  John Henderson also breaks it down for us: http://www.denverpost.com/cu/ci_22248170/cu-buffs-coach-mike-macintyre-expects-utilize-pistol  “The pistol is designed to add a power running game to a spread offense. Putting the quarterback closer to the line of scrimmage allows him to see the defense better and puts the running back 2 to 3 yards closer to the line on a handoff…The quarterback gets the ball quicker so he can throw quicker passes to receivers in space.”  This allows the QB to better see the field and defense than under center, but still allows the RB to line up directly behind the QB, instead of off to the side in traditional shotgun, which can limit the offense.  It also “hides” the ball a little and, with a mobile QB, the bootleg can be very effective, although we might not see much of that next season with the current roster of QBs.  Offenses that line up in this formation can still use any type of offensive approach or system, run the ball, spread out, zone-option read; CU will likely do just that, run a variety of formations and play calls with the QB in the Pistol.  When Neuheisel tried to run it his last miserable season at UCLA, he didn’t have the right personnel, especially at QB, nor did he have one of the coaches that have developed and utilized it successfully (like Lindgren has).

Kudos to Barry Alvarez and Wisconsin, who plucked everyone’s darling at the beginning of the coaching carousel, Utah State’s Gary Anderson, to succeed the SEC-bound Bret Bielema.  Anderson had (allegedly) previously turned down overtures from both CU and Cal, maybe others, to take a healthy pay-raise to stay in Utah and watch his kids graduate.  But Alvarez is big-time, what any AD should aspire to be, and he quietly went out and got his guy, not settling for his third or fourth choice, like some others might have done, making a national mockery out of themselves and their universities.

The discussion of donations, the Buff Club and direction of the program are hot topics on the Buff forums around the internet.  There are only around 6,000 members in the Buff Club, almost all of which are probably members because you have to ne to be a season ticket holder.  Besides throwing a few luncheons, the Buff Club doesn’t appear to do much else, and only really for folks who live in-state.  Here’s a bunch of people’s takes and Stuart’s synopsis: http://www.cuatthegame.com/2012/to-buffclub-or-not-to-buffclub/  Now, the group is now making a big push for money, but that money is going to basically go straight to the Bohnhead to spend, and that is just not “fiscally responsible”, seeing as he still owes millions to coaches no longer here, not to mention $5M a year for the coaches who aren’t here yet.  I can only imagine how plans, delays and misappropriations will drag on any renovation of CU football facilities.  They are hoping that they will get a whole bunch of giant donations, which is unrealistic, but they haven’t really done anything to encourage middle level spending from middle class donors where they could go for some volume; however, they also have not done much to give confidence that the money would be used well. 

Best questions from an AllBuffs forum about possible questions for Reed Marks and his interview with Coach MacIntyre:

Thoughts on the blue demon horse of DIA?  Did legal ganja have anything to do with his decision? What did you score on the Wonderlick? If you were given a red sweater as a Christmas gift, would you cut it up with a bowie knife or light it on fire with blow torch, or just say thank you? What will he do to boost the cheerleader talent level?  Have you been to Liquormart yet? Pretty rad, huh? And last, but widely acknowledged on AllBuffs as the best: The daughter of the last CU "coach Mac" was knocked up by a player during the school year (not to mention two others later). As the father of a daughter, are you willing to make a similar commitment?

I guess MacIntyre also has a son who plays QB in high school and many are wondering if he will get recruited by CU?  This might be just as bad of a joke as the last question above.

Buff Club Beggin'

I got my Buff Club packet in the mail and it is basically a fancy, glossy-paged-magazine-catalog asking for money.  No less than half the pages are dedicated to asking for money, explaining the different ways you can give money, and the different deadlines on when you should/need to pay for tickets and the privileges of the Buff Club.  You open the cover and are first faced with a large photo of the Bohnhead and his letter to Buff boosters (couldn’t stomach actually reading that).  On the facing page are the 10 guiding principles for University of Colorado Athletics.  Number two states: “We will operate with integrity, honesty, transparency and fiscal responsibility” while number four tells us: “We will honor all promises and commitments.”  Hmmm…does that really apply to all aspects of the department?

Alfred Williams tweeted out yesterday afternoon that the entire 2012 football staff had been fired, “everybody”.  It was quickly refuted by a few other tweets, including Reed Marks, who said he talked directly to one staffer who knew nothing, as well as Kyle Ringo who reported that the Bohnhead said that MacIntyre is still evaluating coaches, nothing has been decided and that “"I believe to put a report out about no members of the coaching staff staying with the program is inaccurate at this time…It’s a Fluid situation.” -Well, that assures me that nothing has happened (see above with quoted guidelines).  

I actually thought something more would come of that story by this morning.  This is one that probably has more truth to it that just hasn’t come out yet; if anyone stays on, it will only be because MacIntyre wasn’t able to get his first choice.  This leaving of coaches in limbo is disgraceful and certainly not a show of integrity or transparency, and is throwing around of money that they don’t even really have yet, fiscally responsible?

San Diego Union Times reports that San Jose St. secondary coach Charles Clark is also expected to make the move to Colorado with Lindgren, Baer, Jeffcoat and MacIntyre.

Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports gave CU an A- on its hiring of MacIntyre, in his “Stepping up a class” category with the likes of Auburn/Malza , Cal/Dkes, and Tennessee/Jones, but not up in his highest “Splashy” grouping of Bielema at Arkansas, Tuberville at Cincinnati and Petrino at W. Kentucky.  Forde suggested they should have targeted MacIntyre instead of Jones in first place and that “they got a guy who looks like the right fit.”

BringtheBuff poster BoulderDevil (check out his comments on almost every post) suggests Koy Detmer as QBs coach: “I was working in the Daily Camera newsroom when he came to town as a freshman and several of the Sports reporters told me that the kid was a football savant…His work at CU speaks for itself and his help to Donovan McNabb at Philly as a backup was extraordinary. This guy can explain football. He was never big or strong enough to be a starter in the NFL, but the guys football intelligence is second to none…Hell, Rick Neuheisel can probably thank Detmer for the big bucks he got from Washington after leaving CU. Detmer led the Buffs to 10 win seasons his jr. and sr. years despite slick Rick. The number of wins dropped drastically as soon as Koy left.”  Not a bad idea, but I think OC Brian Lindgren is slated to coach QBs as well, and I don’t know that MacInytre has any connections to Detmer.  It might be a great match, but it would be a surprise to me.

From BuffStampede.com: MacIntyre said he has met with all current players individually, and said that there are a few players considering graduating and moving on, but not sure if those are in addition to the four “honored” at senior day.

It really sounds like all twelve verbal commits are sticking with Colorado so far, although that could easily change in the next six weeks before signing day-I would expect at least one or two defections still.  I hope this is not just a sign that no one else is that interested in these dozen players. 

Jack Follman of “Pacific Takes” put out a recruiting Xmas wish list for the Pac-12 teams and he listed LB George Frazier from CA, mostly listed as a two-star prospect, as CU’s “gift”.  Although Follman calls him the “most coveted of the group”, I really think Colorado needs a little (ok, a lot) more than that, and am a little disappointed Jack couldn’t dream a little bigger for us.

I wonder if CU is recruiting Monarch RB Ethan Marks, who was a junior and a leader on the Coyotes’ state championship team.  Marks has speed for the outside and downfield, and is not afraid to grind it up the middle.  The drawback is he plays in a specialized offense at a second division Colorado high school.

Hard to argue with ESPN blogger Kevin Gemmell in his “Non-bowl Primer” for Colorado when he says it is “very unlikely” that CU plays in a bowl game after next season.  Here’s his quick synopsis of the team: http://espn.go.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id/51373/non-bowl-primer-colorado

csu lamb notes: The little brothers up north are going for the quick fix, which their academic standards do allow for, but not quite like Kansas, as they signed four Juco players, including three defensive linemen.  Grand Junction DE Austin Berk announced he is enrolling in Fort Collins in January.  Sounds like there might be a few new faces in the RMS.

Sustained Bullshit and other notes...

I thought this was a joke at first…but the Athletic Dept. has actually started a specific fund to gather donations for the Folsom Field renovations.  Previously, there was the general “Excellence” fund, but now there is the much more specialized “Sustained Excellence Fund” in order to contribute directly to the renovation project.  As of right now, depending on final plans and calculations, they are only $5o-150 million short, so if you need an end of the year write-off go to http://cubuffclub.org/?DB_OEM_ID=600.  Also, I believe Santas will be placed throughout campus ringing bells and collecting change during the holiday season, hoping someone will drop in a gold dubloon worth millions.

Legacy Buff (son of Erik) Clay Norgard, who originally came to Boulder early last year in order to learn the fullback position, tweeted “Officially back on Defense #LBs”, meaning he is probably going to be an outside rush LB as he played on the D-line in high school.  This is a very interesting development as linebackers coach is one of the biggest questions on the new staff.  Does this mean that MacIntyre made the decision himself? Or is Kent Baer partially on the job and did he give input?  Is Brian Cabral still on the staff moving forward, still waiting in limbo, or is he gone from Buff nation? I will be curious to see how this story comes out.

WR Gerald Thomas’ mom supposedly posted on AllBuffs that he is NOT trying to transfer.  This would be great news as he has the potential to really flourish in this offense, especially when matched with Paul Richardson and one of the incoming frosh.

Adam M. from Rivals reports that CA WR prospect Devin Ross, whose commitment had been questioned and was off some sites’ lists for CU, said he is more solid in his commitment after talking with the new staff.  Although he also has played DB, it appears that most schools are recruiting him as a receiver, including Colorado with its new Pistol offense.

Adam M. also said Columbine OL commit John Lisella is “excited to be a Buff” and was told by MacIntyre that “he can help turn the program around.”

I was very surprised and disappointed that Chapparal TE prospect said he had not been contacted by Mike MacIntyre or anyone from his new staff yet?!

Three-star LB prospect DJ Moffitt from Concord, CA, said that his top two schools right now are Nevada and Arizona, but that he is hoping to hear from the new Colorado coaching staff soon.

Reed Marks met with Coach MacIntyre today, and among other things, reported on twitter that the coach has a new desk in his office, the coach himself reported that there is a “nice array of beverages for the staff in the coaches’ room”, that MacIntyre has yet to speak with Jon Embree.

From Travis Haney of ESPN, ranking CU’s MacIntyre the 11^th best of the new coach hires, above Dykes at Cal, but behind Butch at Tennessee and Dave Doeren at NC St., all of whom were at least oft-mentioned as candidates at Colorado: “A coach who talked with Colorado when it hired Jon Embree suppressed laughter when describing how dire things are in Boulder. He said the AD, Mike Bohn, admitted up front that the school didn't have much money -- for the head guy, let alone assistants. Bohn might have been more optimistic this time around -- nearly landing Butch Jones -- but it doesn't mean much until the cash is seen and used. ‘Campaign’ promises often go unfulfilled…For Bohn, it was a hell of a hire given what has recently gone on. It has been a bad job, more than that chuckling coach told me. We'll see whether it continues to be a bad job, or if MacIntyre can fix it.”

When “handing out gifts” to Pac-12 teams ESPN blogger Kevin Gemmell wrote: “Colorado: You already got a new head coach and an expanded football budget. Don't get greedy.”

I never quite understood how Bill Snyder and Kansas St. had always been able to enroll so many junior college kids.  According to Stuart of CUattheGame.com, it is because of a Kansas “loophole which allows junior college graduates to enroll in Kansas schools upon graduation – regardless of what they studied or have credits in. As a result, the state of Kansas has a thriving junior college football base, a base which has become a feeder system of players for the Kansas State program – players which many other schools can’t enroll. Kansas State has become a magnet – and a national joke -when it comes to enrolling junior college players.”  Now Charlie Weis and Kansas have followed suit, gaining SIXTEEN commitments so far, ten of those signing Tuesday, the first day JC players could sign (a date that has never really affected Colorado recruiting at all).

Interesting recruiting ratings stat: Of the 23 players on the Pac-12 first team, 14 were three-star recruits, eight were four-star guys and one was a two star, with no five-stars.

I guess sometime after Embree’s firing, LB Jon Major had commented that the pro-style offense was pretty complicated and that the QBs struggled to pick it up.  When John Henderson of the Denver Post interviewed QBs Nick Hirschman and Connor Wood, they dodged around the subject, never really denying that.  If that was the case, it is hard for me to imagine Eric Bienemy being the one to calmly help explain it to them or anyone else.

Let's Get the Ball Rollin'

Reports are that San Jose State has settled on a coach and it’s not one of their current coordinators, freeing them both up to follow Mike MacIntyre to Colorado.  San Diego coach Ron Caragher is going to move north and take over; most of the current guys who have been offered the chance to go to CU should follow, unless a position coach is offered a coordinator job, we are just not sure who that might be.  DL coach Jim Jeffcoat is likely to come here even if he were offered OC as he is close with MacIntyre. 

All indications are that Brian Lindgren and Kent Baer to assume their respective offensive and defensive coordinators positions in Boulder.  MacIntyre has high praise for both of course.  Baer has been a DC at seven different schools so has a ton of experience-“He really has seen everything and knows how to adjust and fix things. He does a great job preparing for games, but he does a great job at halftime adjusting”; Lindgren has been an OC for four years, running the Pistol at Northern Arizona before his year at SJSU.  His offenses have gained a lot of yards (457 yards per game last year) and scored a lot of points (35.3 per game) and broke some records with QBs that are very efficient.  MacIntyre said of the two coordinators’ influence: “Basically, we won every second half, offensively and defensively.”

It is possible that the SJSU o-line coach, Gary Bernardi, stays there as he has worked with Calagher when he was receivers coach at UCLA, but I have no idea if MacIntyre was planning to take him (fine either way, as long as we don’t retain Marshall).  I don’t know much about the rest of the SJSU staff, nor if any of the current CU staff stays in any capacity.

A lot of talk about young offensive mind and recruiting prowess of Duke’s Matt Lubick, but I don’t think he comes here for a position.  I am curious who MacIntyre has in mind for the secondary.  Brian Howell of the Camera still thinks Greg Brown would take a demotion and pay cut to stay in Boulder.  I can’t really see this happening, but how about his protégé Ashley Ambrose, who was let go in the Cal coaching switch?

Although MacIntyre is being a bit coy about it, the staff should start to leak out soon, even if they are not officially announced until after the San Jose bowl game vs. Bowling Green on Dec. 27.  It was believed that MacIntyre had guys lined up, depending on what happened with Baer and the SJSU HC job, but now he says he is still not sure who else will come from San Jose or if he will retain any of the current staff. 

Hopefully, though, this also means that at least some actual recruiting can get started as well.  MacIntyre said he might still be guy or two short depending on how things shake out, but will try to be as set as possible for the end of the dead period in early January.

In the meantime, even though they can only make phone calls, position coaches, when hired, would least be able to contact their prospective position players who are current commits, SJSU commits they want to invite to CU, or other guys that CU targeted or others they know about, especially in California.

MacIntyre has said that his coaches will recruit Colorado strongly, trying to connect with every in-state high school coach, much like he did at SJSU and like McElwain did last year at csu (and now has six in-state commits).  This was a criticism of the past two staffs, with some Colorado prospects feeling like Embree’s staff didn’t know much about them.  CU hasn’t had more than 2 Colorado recruits in a class since 2009; last year 22 players went to play at FBS schools, only six staying in state and only 2 at CU. 

I had not heard of Grandview’s Tanner Gentry, but the Denver Post has the wide receiver as the sixth best prospect in the state, and he is committed to Wyoming?!  If this kid is really talented, and isn’t a fourth generation Cowboy, MacIntyre should be all over him.

I would love to see our “Mac” steal one from the “Mac” up north, like OL Blake Nowland (Douglas County) or Jake Bennett (Bear Creek), or DL Austin Berk (Grand Junction), or maybe even Gateway’s OL Zach Goldwitch, who felt slighted by Embree.

It appears that Chaparral TE Mitchell Parsons is leaning toward Ole Miss and the SEC (Vandy is another possibility for him).  Many were hoping MacIntyre could lure him back but there have been no indications so far that it could actually happen.

I saw a post that also listed DB Jeff Hall as considering a transfer, in addition to the oft-mentioned Kenneth Crawley and Yuri Wright (both DBs), WR Gerald Thomas and TE Vincent Hobbs.

Stanford QB Brett Nottingham, once thought to be the heir apparent to Andrew Luck, but who has fallen to third on the depth chart, is looking to transfer.  Colorado is one possibility as he was originally recruited here as well.  However, I believe he would have to sit out a year before being eligible for only one more year.

Here’s a Q&A with new coach Mike MacIntyre with ESPN: http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/74110/qa-colorados-mike-macintyre

Waiting Game

For better or for worse, Mike MacInytre is the CU head coach, and most people seem generally pleased and satisfied (outside of the Buffs4Life crowd), calling it a “good fit”, but those who are calling it a “home run hire” are few and far between.  Likewise for Sonny Dykes and Cal, where it got more press and positive reviews than MacIntyre’s hire here.  Most people like the hire there, a few are ecstatic with the offensive potential, however, there are many in the Berkeley camp who actually wanted MacIntyre for Cal, and he was supposedly was a very close second to Dykes.  Was the difference just offense vs. defense, something their AD Sandy Barbour just liked in Dykes, or didn’t in MacIntyre?  This will make for some interesting blog posts leading up to the CU-Cal game this fall.

Still not a lot of new news to actually report, but enough tidbits for a Sunday morning post:

Assistant Coaches: We are still waiting on news of the coaching staff, although MacIntyre supposedly met with most the current staff Friday, and will meet with a few more Saturday.  I hope he has told those he knows won’t be returning straight up so their families know what their future entails. Remember, they are all still technically employed and can’t really seek out other jobs. Bohnhead only fired Embree, cutting short the plan to let Brown and Cabral go, save his own ass, and “ask” Brown, Cabral, Bienemy and the rest to continue working and recruiting, which has to be really nice for their families, having so much uncertainty heading into the holidays.

SJSU OC Brian Lindgren and DL coach Jim Jeffcoat appear to be locks to follow MacIntyre to Boulder after the SJSU bowl game.  However, it seems that MacIntyre is waiting on San Jose State to decide if they want DC Kent Baer as head coach; otherwise, he will come here as DC/LB; if not, the staff could go in a few directions, depending on who he keeps on his staff (he might try to keep Jeffcoat as DC for instance).  He said that he won’t announce anything else about the staff until it is complete, maybe not until after Christmas. Let’s hope MacIntyre has a better backup plan than the Bohnhead has usually been able to manage when his first brilliant idea goes splat.

It may seem that this process of getting an assistant staff is taking forever, especially after the Butch fiasco and extended search.  At least we can be glad we are not in Western Michigan’s boat, which finds itself into day 30, almost the second month, of its head coaching search.

The “Pistol” offense Lindgren will install was on display on ESPN for the opening of the bowl season with (wtf is) the Gildan New Mexico.  Nevada uses it exclusively under head coach Chris Ault, and Arizona (who started using the formation a lot late in the season, especially rolling it out for rival ASU), also mixed it in some similar sets and plays successfully in coming back and beating the Wolfpack in a frantic 49-48 Wildcat win. Go Pac-12!

Stuart did a nice write-up on the offense: http://www.cuatthegame.com/2012/introducing-the-pistol-offense/  Included is a link to another piece about the Pistol that has a few video examples.

This is also the last weekend where coaches (at CU that is the brand new head coach and the group of lame duck coaches) can have face-to-face contact with potential recruits until January 3.  I haven’t heard much about MacIntyre doing anything more than calling guys on the current commit list, and without new coaches, it is hard to sell the program to anyone else.  It is unfortunate they weren't able to make any headway in this area and will have to rely on only phone calls until the final push in January.  However, they can have anyone visit who wants to in January, as they have most of their “official visits” left to use.

2013 Recruiting: CU still is holding at 12 verbal commits, with at least half re-affirming their commitment to CU-QB Sefo Liufau WA), RB Philip Lindsay (Denver South), WR Elijah Dunston (CA), and OL Sam Kronshage and Jonathon Huckins (TX), Colin Sutton (CA) and John Lisella (Columbine). I have not seen or read anything specifically about commits LB George Frazier, DE Jimmie Gilbert, or OT Gunnar Graham.

WR verbal Bryce Bobo appears to be waiting to hear WR coach Bobby Kennedy’s fate before deciding whether or not to reaffirm his commitment to CU, follow Kennedy wherever he goes, or possibly look elsewhere.  WR/DB Devin Ross was definitely testing the waters elsewhere.

Valor Christian QB Luke del Rio, who de-committed from Oklahoma St. when OC Todd Monken took the head coaching position at Southren Miss, spurned scholarship offers from at least Oregon St. and csu to accept a “preferred walk-on” slot with Alabama.

Niwot native and former CU player Matt McChesney, who is always up for an interview about the Buffs, said he thinks that there are usually 10-12 Division I caliber prospects coming out of the state of Colorado and the team needs to get more of them to Boulder. I recently read where Chris Fox, huge o-line prospect and number one recruit from Colorado said he would have definitely considered staying in-state if the general quality and success of football was better, but he grew up mostly watching mediocre and poor Buff teams, and committed early to Michigan, without giving the Buffs even a sniff.

Current players: MacIntyre held a general team meeting and also met individually with about 10 current players Friday.  He hopes to meet with 25-35 more individually this weekend, and the rest early next week, to get to know everyone, clarify anything they want to know about him and the program’s direction.

The Bohnhead said the school is not releasing any players from their scholarship yet, at least until things have had a chance to settle, the coaching staff is in place, maybe until after spring practices, and hopefully let other teams fill out their rosters and maybe move one, forgetting about our guys.

There had been rumors of a few team defections but this news has still been speculative with nothing substantiated except for “I heard that…”  Reed Marks said he has heard of ‘few’ players wanting to transfer; one chat room poster said they heard WR Gerald Thomas was on his way to TCU.  The other two most often mentioned names have been CB Kenneth Crawley (although he said he had a good meeting with MacIntyre) and TE Vincent Hobbs. 

Program Notes: From Norm’s Notes Q&A in Mile High Sports Magazine: “Do the higher-ups in Boulder really care about football? Not as much as they care about being self-righteous.”

A couple of good quotes from Mark Kizla of the Denver Post: “The Buffs have Pac-12 and sashimi tastes but WAC and baloney support.” and “Did CU really need to quadruple the salary that MacIntyre earned at San Jose State? Was anybody else offering him $2 million? If Bohn didn't have a long history of paying football coaches to go away, maybe the Buffs could afford a new weight room for players.”

Interesting stat from last year, generally not a surprise, but pretty big numbers: CU had 51 starts by freshmen to lead the nation, with 38 of those on defense.  With only eight seniors graduating, some of whom never started a game in their entire career, the team will return a ton of playing and starting experience across the roster. [This is assuming not too many guys leave, but Crawley (10), G. Thomas (3) and Hobbs (6) account for about 20 of those 51 frosh starts.] This gives MacIntyre a much more experienced roster than Embree ever had.  With that experience, among other factors in mind, like all the money spent, we should expect major improvement next year, no?  MacIntyre got a 400% raise, more than twice what Embree had been making, plus all the other investments including $1.5M for “immediate improvements to the Dal Ward”, they must obviously be ready to make a run at a title.

Bohnhead notes...

It’s now come out officially, with the release of the emails, that Embree’s ouster was in the making days before the Sunday announcement, and well before the Utah game, which probably wouldn’t have saved his job anyway.  Embree was surprised by the info, saying he was led to believe it was a very difficult decision, but the documentation shows it was a calculated move that was likely in the works behind closed doors for awhile.

The university almost announced the planned firings of defensive coaches Greg Brown and Brian Cabral on the day of the Utah game. That release was pulled late, since obviously they were trying to keep their real plan secret from Embree and the media, and that would have created a circus questioning everyone's status. 

Bohnhead has said that he had spoken to some coaches privately before Utah about possibly coming here as coordinators and no one would bite; however, Embree has stated that he had a name defensive coordinator lined up who was also a LB coach, the only reason that one could conceive of Embree firing his friend and mentor. None of it mattered to Bohnhead since he needed to make a splash to guilt us into giving him money to spend.  Can you imagine the uproar if the team had somehow managed to pull the Utah game out?

The university and Bohnhead's “planned” improvements are great and all, but will have very little physical effect until 2016 (when Bohnhead actually stated today that they will be operational) or beyond, which means that this year’s players will all be gone, except for some fifth year juniors; although they should be somewhat of a recruiting tool-even Embree had already been using some of the proposed plans to woo prospects, even though next year’s class will only get to use the facilities for one or two years at best.

Unfortunately, in the meantime, CU will remain basically the worst and oldest football stadium, practice fields and operation areas in the Pac-12 (Henderson compared the Dal Ward to a “youth hostel” in comparison to their competition’s facilities).  Almost everyone else has recently is doing, or is at least farther along in their development: Cal just completed a major stadium update and renovation, Washington is in the process of doing the same, Arizona’s will be done next year, USC is planning to overhaul the Coliseum, even Oregon is expanding the already amazing complex they have; Stanford and Oregon St. have completed expansions or renovations in the recent past. 

Bohnhead has twice now spearheaded donor guilt trips, pleading for cash for facilities, only after he had to in order to attract a coach.  I will give him some credit for the Pac-12 move, but I am not convinced this was due to his effort, but great circumstances and some history prior to his arrival.  Great job!

Go Buffs!

Moving Forward

It is indeed a new era and it is hard to keep up with what is really going on with MacInytre, the Athletic Department and their plans. And of course a lot of questions remain unanswered for the impatient. There is nothing of much specificity in the assistant or recruiting world, but the football program is finally trying to keep in sight of the Pac-12 Joneses.

The Board of Regents was hard at work approving things yesterday, throwing money around like confetti at a New Year’s Eve party.  Mike MacIntyre’s five year, ten million dollar contract was made official.  It also has up to $300,000 in academic and other off the field incentives he can earn on top of his $2M salary, plus ton of bonuses for success including: $25,000 for seven wins, $25K more for the 8^th win, $200K for a bowl game, which becomes a quarter million if it’s a BCS Bowl,  $100K for playing in the Pac-12 championship and $750,000 if CU pulls off a National Championship.  I hope he earns a lot of money over the next five years! 

The board also officially approved his $400,000 buyout from San Jose State, then approved the buyout clause in his contract, so he chose to leave he would owe: starting at $2.3M next year and going down a few hundred thousand each season to a flat $1,000,000 in 2017. 

However, he can leave without any penalty if the renovation plans for the Operations Center (meeting rooms, office space, possibly an Indoor practice facility, if you and I donate enough-more on that below) are not complete by Dec. 1 2013, or have the design bid awarded by Dec. 1, 2014.

Recruiting: There is still no real word on if anyone is leaving, although this should come out soon.  Nor has there been anything concrete about new recruits, from San Jose State’s commits or elsewhere.

There is no reason to believe that most of the 12 verbals won’t still come to Boulder.  Only Devin Ross is a question mark, and he has been wavering for awhile.  Denver South RB Philip Lindsay has professed his allegiance and solidified his commitment to CU, as has QB Sefo Liufau and others.  There have been positive tweets, if not re-pledges from at least WR Elijah Dunston, OT Sam Kronshrage, OG Colin Sutton, OT Jonathon Huckins.

In addition to the earlier announcement near the end of the season that the Athletic Department would be committing more $ to recruiting, they have also announced a restructuring of the group and have created three new positions (I guess replacing the one “Recruiting Coordinator”): Director of Recruiting, Director of Academics and (this is probably what puts the program back on top) a Football Equipment Manager. Not sure where this leaves Darian Hagan or anyone else currently on staff in that group.

Assistant Coaches: The Board of Regents did approve at least $2.6 million for the assistant coaching pool, which is more than the entire staff, including Embree, made last year.  As he is deciding who his LB coach will be, I hope MacIntyre has seen the uproar from Cal faithful when new coach Sonny Dykes cleaned house and let beloved, longtime Bear RB coach Ron Gould go. 

Also from the Cal files, former CU grad assistant and DB coach Ashley Ambrose was also let go and could be an intriguing addition here as he is familiar with the school and a few of the players, and definitely with recruiting in the Pac-12.

Facilities, amenities, support: The Board of Regents also approved $1.5M to be used immediately on improvements to the Dal Ward center, including meeting space and office for new staffers (see above). Now don’t get me wrong, the announcement is great for the program, but what a shitty slap in the face to Embree, who gave more than his heart and soul to this university and they have treated him horribly. So…

…where the &@$# was this cash last year, or the year before?!  Did they suddenly get a $1.5M donation specifically for the Dal Ward? Not to mention all the coaching dollars, and the plans to continue expansion.  They are still paying off the Barnett loan, Hawkins and now Embree, but BOOM, we’ve got a million and a half for the Dal Ward and more to boot! The Pac-12 money has been on the future books for awhile if that is what they are using for seed money.  

However, as we all know, there is no actual money for this, even though it is still stipulated in MacIntyre’s contract that the plan must be done by next December, and the contract bid must be signed by December 1, 2014. This is going to once again being put back on us, the everyday Buffs fans and donors, because Mike Bohnhead has not been able to fulfill the most important part of his job, namely raising the money. Instead, the his best move was to lie, break promises and fire a coach, in order to use the “splash” of hiring (your third or fourth choice?) a new coach to beg for money.  The Indoor Facility is entirely based on if they can raise the cash, otherwise they will have to submit plans next December without it.  Instead of seeking out and building relationships with large sum donors, by giving reasons as to why people should give and why they should believe the money will be spent wisely, the entire administration is just pointing fingers at general donors and saying, “Well, we anted up, overpaid, and over-committed  so it’s up to you if you really care…” 

Outside my season tickets (I will maintain those at the same level though after briefly considering dropping down to cheap endzone seats), they will not getting one more dime from me.  This fact is reinforced by the fact that whenever the CU Foundation seats in our section are actually filled, the occupants more often than not are wearing the opposing team’s colors, do not really appear to know anything about football and certainly won’t be making some large donation to the university (10 members of the “South Metro Chamber of Commerce”-that is who the big donors that the foundation invited to the Utah game, seriously?). On top of that, they are up and down in their seats constantly, at least until they are inevitably upgraded to Club level or a suite.  Meanwhile, my seat neighbors and I in 216-17 continue to pay our seat taxes and for csu tickets year in and year out (well, except for hawkins’ last year), supporting the program, and watching this crap all around us.  And we can expect three to four phone calls a year from a poor student asking for more money for a university that is so poorly run in this area.

It’s no wonder a group of former Buffs, specifically Alfred Williams, Joel Klatt and Charles Johnson among others, are still trashing Mike Bohn, the Athletic Department and are still calling for a complete upheaval of the program.  It is creating quite a controversy among Buff faithful between this group of mostly diehard former players (most of whom are associated with Embree’s foundation Buffs4Life) and the “let’s just move on, shoulder to shoulder and support the program”.  [Here is Mile High Sports’ Eric Goodman’s perspective: http://milehighsports.com/2012/12/12/goodman-buffs4life-need-to-get-a-clue/ ]

While I sympathize with the former group and agree with them in ideology, there is really nothing to be done, Bohnhead is not going anywhere, MacIntyre is the coach, and the latter group is basically right (even if they are Boulder blind to a few facts in front of them).

I am still a Buff, let’s get to spring ball and see what we’ve got.  Go Buffs!

Onward Buffaloes! MacIntyre on the job!

On the second full day of the new Mac era with Mike MacIntyre leading the Colorado Buffaloes, a lot is in motion.  First of all, season ticket holders received their “personal” recorded phone call from the coach thanking us for our support in the past and future.  On top of that, he has been formulating a coaching staff and evaluating the current roster as well as the recruiting situation.  He will not coach San Jose State in its bowl game to focus on his new project.

Assistant Coaches: It is still unclear who exactly will fill the staff as MacIntyre is still trying to meet with all his candidates here in Boulder, in San Jose and elsewhere.  One intriguing new name into the mix, suggested by radio personality Reed Marks, is Duke’s Matt Lubick for his offensive and recruiting knowledge and Pac-12 connections. The speculation runs wildly in every direction though, so we will just have to wait and see how the dominoes fall, which could actually be as soon as Wednesday or Thursday. 

San Jose DC Kent Baer will coach the team in its bowl game, but no word on his status for next year. It appears that he is also being considered for the head coaching position there. Since he also coaches LBs, f he does not come to Boulder, it increases the chance that Cabral would stay.

MacIntyre hired Stanford’s assistant strength and conditioning coach Dave Forman after his first season at 1-10 and saw immediate results in general team conditioning and fewer injuries. I wonder if Forman also comes east a little bit and if Malcolm Bracken, a total Embree guy, goes back to the NFL.

Recruiting and roster: This class was originally thought to be 14-16, but could grow with further attrition.  There will certainly be current guys who do leave, whether because they were staunch “Embree guys”, don’t think they will fit the new system, or who may even be asked or encouraged to go elsewhere.  

There have been some rumblings of CB Kenneth Crawley and TE Vincent Hobbs looking elsewhere, but nothing substantiated yet and they haven’t had their one-on-ones with MacIntyre yet.  At QB does Jordan Webb really stick around? Nick Hirschman is graduating in May and could go elsewhere with two year to play like Webb did this year. We’ll have to see how many that will be, and which position groupings would be affected.

Coach MacIntyre has stated that he has honored all of the 12 scholarship commitments to CU if they still want to come and has been reaching out to them.  Most of the response from them has been positive and it appears they will mostly come with tweets from at least WR Elijah Dunston, a few of the O-lineman, and QB Sefo Liufau.  The biggest question would be WR/DB Devin Ross.

Sure-fire starter and now former greyshirt DE Kisima Jagne has decided to enroll at ASU, whose coaches jumped on him as soon as Embree was fired.  His academic paperwork was very late getting “approved” and it was deep enough into fall practices that they decided to greyshirt him; and now because of letting Embree go, he is gone as well.  I have not read anything specifically about the other greyshirts, DE Derek McCartney, WRs Peyton Williams and Jeff Thomas, or OG Gerald Kough. 

San Jose State had 10 commits, including three receivers, some guys whom Colorado was also recruiting (some overlap I think in those two groups) and all-Arizona QB Darrell Garrestson, although he is only about 6’ flat.  I would expect some of those guys to follow MacIntyre to Colorado.

What about Colorado kids?  I already wrote that I hoped Chaparral TE Mitchell Parsons was one of MacIntyre’s first phone calls but I have not heard anything concrete in that regard.  Valor Christian QB Luke del Rio has de-committed from OSU since their OC left and is now being recruited by Alabama, Oregon St. and…Colorado State?  Dan Skipper, a highly ranked offensive lineman is committed to Tennessee, but they are also bringing in a new coach and his decision could be affected. Stuart from CUattheGame.com suggested the three in-state csu commits-Castle Rock’s OL Blake Nowland, Grand Junction DE Austin Berk, Lakewood’s OL Jake Bennett-could be targeted.

I would expect MacInytre to make a run at a few “name” players, not sure who, but many programs are changing a lot of coaches and many recruiting decisions could be changed.  He will want to make a splash if he can and might be able to flip a few or pick up some scraps from somewhere else. 

As luck would have it, Embree’s staff was saving most of its visits for December and January so MacIntyre’s guys will be able to host as many players as they want each weekend in January.  They also have a couple of weekends with some great basketball, including an already sold-out men’s game vs. UCLA on Jan. 12.

Buffscoop, a pay site I am too cheap to pay for, is teasing via twitter “a high –profile transfer from a high-profile program.  A four-star recruit CU barely missed on last year.”  I have no idea if it’s true or who it might be, but their info has been good in the past and if it is true, it will come out in a few days.  However, a transfer means he would have to sit out next year, and then have three years to play beginning in 2014.

Interesting Stats by posters on NetBuffs when discussing if any QB on roster is fast and mobile enough to run the pistol: Shane Dillon runs a 4.6 40, while Heisman winner Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel a 4.55, Oregon’s Marcus Mariota 4.7, , Kansas State’s Collen Klein and UCLA’s Brent Hundley both 4.65 and Tyler Hansen and Tim Tebow 4.6. Dillon himself is excited for the pistol, and although he wasn’t asked to run a lot in high school, he likes to do it and loves the stats that QBs have put up in the offense.