Rick George was named Athletic Director and chief fundraiser after a relatively short search. It seems he was the only candidate they seriously considered. He has background everywhere in sports and previous experience as Asst. AD and also worked as Dir. of Football Operations under Coach McCartney. He is receiving almost unanimous praise in the media and on message boards. George plans to thoroughly look at everything, form his own opinions on everything (including 10% budget cut request) and then go about making decisions. On paper he appears to be a good match to me at least, with a stellar resume, says all the right things (even that the $50 million is still feasible by December?!), has infectious enthusiasm and passion similar to MacIntyre. Although, I have not met him yet, I do not sense any of the smug, arrogant attitude vibe I always felt from the bohner and tharp. But what the hell do I know? We all want to be positive but can only wait and see.
For the first time this year, someone has chosen NOT to list the Buffs as an underdog, listing CU as 1.5 point favorite over csu by VegasInsider.com. Does this mean there has been a lot of betting on the Buffs as a dog? They also expect a shootout and lay the over/under at 54 points, even though these teams have not combined to score that much since the 2008 38-17 Buff win.
QB Shuffle: Okay, is it time to get worried at all about the QB position? Since entering spring with what most perceived to be too many QBs at six, three of those have left, and one is in limbo. Walk-on John Schrock is the latest to bail, having deciding to focus on academics so he can pursue becoming a doctor. His leaving only really hurts for practice purposes, so I would expect them to bring in another local walk-on QB.
I guess this is the QB preview: It sounds like Connor Wood is the man (remember he was also named captain by his peers) unless he really screws it up. Frosh Sefo Liufau will be given a chance early, but his arm probably needs another year, OC Brian Lindgren has even said it will be difficult for Sefo to compete against the experience at this point, and he will likely be slated for a redshirt, barring injuries. JC transfer Jordan Gehrke is the backup now, although he is very confident and is definitely talking about the starting job. He will have to really pick up nuances of the offense to catch up with Wood, or really wow with other ability to overtake him, but it will be good to have a backup with some experience above high school.
Stevie Joe Dorman (not his Uncle Koy), actually the longest tenured Buff QB, is not conceding anything, as I guess any scholarship player should, but, c’mon…although we could possibly “get” to see on the field this year as he will be third string.
Wood also was a counselor at the now famous Manning Camp along with about 30 other college QBs. I guess he actually woke up, participated and stayed the whole time unlike the Heisman winner. Wood said he got a lot out of listening to the Mannings, as well as watching and competing against some other top QBs: “I definitely feel like I can stick with those guys.”
ESPN “carwash” and Media
Days: Mike
MacIntyre toured ESPN studios Thursday and got all kinds of exposure. Chris Fowler came away impressed after his
interview and tweeted out twice about it, including “Relentlessly positive, a
true rebuilder. Buffs WILL be improved.” & “To (Buff) fans who have asked,
I AM quite impressed with (him) natural rebuilder: enthused, positive. Buffs
will improve fast.”
Pac12 Media picked CU to finish last in the
South and received fewest vote points in the whole conference, a few behind WSU-big
whoop, so has everyone else, but has to be written. The team is shrugging it
off and using it as a little motivation.
Pac12 Commish Larry Scott is asking all Pac12 fans, or anyone even knows a Pac12 fan, well, everyone, to drop DirecTV, since they refuse to cut a similar deal with Pac12 Networks as every other major provider has done. The conference has even set up a website outlining how to go about dropping the provider.
Coach MacIntyre was again relentlessly positive and reminded us that it wasn’t too long ago that Colorado was one of the top-15 programs in the country, and that the predictions don’t matter, the “future is bright” and the team will work hard to continue getting better.
Also incredibly upbeat, enthusiastic and ready for the year was WR Paul Richardson, who has huge expectations from everyone outside the team, but none bigger than his own. David G. of
RalphieReport did a nice little interview with him that will get you pumped for the season: http://www.ralphiereport.com/2013/7/27/4561960/paul-richardson-interview-pac-12-football-media-day
Team will be adding eight total, four in-state, walk-ons
for camp. One is Ath. Ryan Moeller
(Rifle), who has been known for a while, but if you really need to know who the
rest are, go to one of the websites listed on the right.
Fellow Pac12 coaches from Oregon’s Mark Helfrich
(who asked what happen with CU and where are they now if Alex Henery doesn’t
make that ridiculous 58-yard FG for the fuskers-Buffs would have gone bowling
and…) to Stanford’s Brian Shaw (who almost lost to MacIntyre’s San Jose
Spartans last season) and UCLA’s Jim Mora all had great things to say about
MacIntyre and the Buffs future.
Recruiting 2014: After the flurry of
commits in early July to get the Buffs to eight (see list at right), the trail
has been pretty quiet since. We probably
won’t hear a lot more except rampant speculation until the season gets started
and kids take actual visits. The Buffs
have probably offered most who they are targeting, keeping in contact with the
next tier of players, waiting to see where their first choices pick.
MacIntyre told Kyle Ringo of the Camera that he
planned on signing 22 this cycle. That
number seemed a little high to most people when it was announced, but it had been
speculated that up to three players were possibly still questionable. On the
ESPN podcast he told Ivan Maisel that there were still a few players not quite
all the way on board with the new program.
The next day it was announced during Pac12 media days that three players
were indeed removed from the roster (MacIntyre said two had no choice in the
matter-he wouldn’t say who but I would bet Thomas and Stuart). One unfortunate but not startling was WR
Gerald Thomas, who has had various struggles and is intending to transfer to
Sam Houston St., in order to be closer to home and his child. It is not a surprise to learn that TE Vincent
Hobbs will go back to Texas to be near family and his paralyzed father—all the
best to his family, but this one is going to hurt, after it was thought he
would stick around. The third, and most
surprising, was that defensive lineman John Stuart was leaving for “personal”
reasons. MacIntyre even hinted some more
that some are still not following through on all their responsibilities, so the
exodus may not be done-I bet at least one or two more players are gone. Even though he plans to reward a few walk-ons
with a scholarship, now the 22 makes a little more sense.
Avinash Kunnath of PacificTakes.com did a CU
recruiting roundup, listing a lot of names that are connected to Colorado. http://www.pacifictakes.com/2013/7/17/4530384/colorado-buffaloes-recruiting-zach-gentry-darius-lee-campbell-matt-dickerson-reggie-turner/in/4219153
One name that will basically be added to that
list is LB Deaysean Rippy, cousin of former Buff LB Doug Rippy, who is
transferring from Pitt and all indications are that he is coming to
Boulder. The younger Rippy was a highly
sought after four-star recruit that ultimately chose Pitt, close to home. Things didn’t work out well there-questions
about academics and work ethic-but his talent is too much to pass up. He was in the 2012 class and would have to
sit out a transfer year here to be eligible for 2014 with three years to play.
Preseason honors, previews
and premonitions:
Christian Powell was named to the Doak
Walker Watch List for running backs. I’d
say this one is the biggest stretch so far.
Derrick Webb then made it seven Buffs on preseason
watch lists, making the prestigious Butkus Award Watch List for linebackers.
One note: These “watch” lists are typically
pretty large and expansive, although they tend to also still leave out a few
players. While the recognition is nice, it is doubtful any Buffs will win one
this year, even their most talented player, Paul Richardson, who is competing
against a deep field of wideouts.
Sophomore S Marques Mosley (special
teams), O’Neill (punter) and Richardson (wide receiver) are all on the initial
watch lists for the College Football Performance Awards, a computer-based
system that gives out a performer of the week throughout the season and then awards
players of the year at each position.
ESPN Pac12 blog has previewed all the offensive
groups and while they were in the “good shape” category for RBs and WRs, they
are in the “we’ll see” for QB, O-line and TEs, which makes them a “we’ll see”
overall in my opinion. They have some
skill position talent, but the QB and how much protection he gets are the two
biggest factors to see if they can get the ball to those players like Powell,
P-Rich and others in successful situations.
Since Wil Oliver is experienced the Buffs are in
“good shape” at kicker!
PacificTakes’ Jack Follman seems confident the
Buffs will rally and get revenge for the Fresno St. game last year when the
Bulldogs come to Boulder the second game.
Other Buff Notes: Pac12 Networks is doing a “Timelines” series on each school and their athletic program’s year; Colorado’s aired Thursday, but should be shown numerous times.
Seven current Buffs were listed as possible NFL prospects: P-Rich, Chidera, O-lineman Gus Handler, Daniel Munyer and Jack Harris, as well as LB Derrick Webb and DB Parker Orms.
It turns out that MacIntyre’s contract does not actually contain an “out” clause based on money raised toward a facilities upgrade, only that a plan be submitted this year. By December 1, 2014, the “design contract” must have been started. The $50 Million was merely the bohnhead’s big splash unrealistic goal statement, even though George still thinks it’s “doable”. So, basically they only need to submit (any) plans this year, but would need the cash by next year to actually get a contract going.
Mark Kizla of the Denver Post came up with a decent piece on the state of college football and where the Buffs fit in the big picture. http://www.denverpost.com/kiszla/ci_23701271/kiszla-how-cu-buffs-won-football-national-title-1990-wont-work-now
Grantland did a very nice article on Mike MacIntyre-nothing new but great exposure for the program. http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9486558/can-mike-macintyre-lead-colorado-winning-season
Jeremy Bloom will be announcing at least the first three Buff games on the Pac12 Network.
Former Buffs: S Ray Polk was released Monday by the Seahawks but then picked up the next day by Jacksonville, where he will be teammates with WR Tony Clemons.
OT Ryan Miller was knocked out and taken to the hospital during Browns practice and has since been released.
I heard somewhere that FB Lawrence Vickers got cut by the Cowboys, but no word if anyone else had picked him up.
Shane Dillon is transferring to the University of San Diego to play basketball, presumably on scholarship since it is private and they couldn’t afford to pay for him to walk-on at CU. Stay classy Shaney D.
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