Fall Camp is almost upon us!

My World Cup fever has subsided and real football, American-style that is, fever is kicking into high gear.  The summer is flying by (less than three weeks until I go back to school/work) but CU Fall Camp officially opens this week!   Players report Friday, and hit the fields Saturday with the first two weeks of practice open to the public.  Most days will have a full practice in the morning (either 7:40-10:30 or 8:50-11:30) with a walk-through in the afternoon.  The team will go through two-a-days, with a second practice from 4:00-6:00, on odd dates from the 9^th to the 15^th as well as the 18th.  The first day of pads will be the 7th, with CU sports media day on the 9^th; with off days on Sundays (10, 17, 24).  Saturday the 16^th will be a scrimmage, as well as being the last practice open to the public before the squad begins preparing for csu.  I am excited to see this second version of Mike MacIntyre’s team and will definitely be headed up to a few practices.

Amidst all of the comings and goings of players this offseason I had been wondering if the Buffs were still be one or two bodies over the 85 scholarship limit once everyone reported, but  it looks like this problem has been solved as it always seems to work out one way or another.  The probable available scholarships include: DB/WR Jeff Hall was arrested, again, this time for failing to take his court-mandated drug test and missing a check-in; after missing spring practices, I doubt he is long for the team at this point; two incoming frosh have decided to greyshirt, delaying enrollment until January and likely counting against the 2015 class- LB Grant Watanabe and OL Isaac Miller;  RB Donta Abron, who had been declared academically ineligible anyway, has decided to transfer to a junior college. Also, defensive lineman Samson Kafovalu is still listed on the latest roster but Coach MacIntyre said he still had academic work to do, so it is unclear if he available to play this fall although Justin Solis is good to go. Watanabe had foot surgery and although he might have factored in on special teams this season, with a lot of experience depth at linebacker, Watanabe probably wasn’t going to see the field much on defense and this time to develop will be helpful when he is ready to contribute in the future.  Isaac Miller also is recovering from an injury and will look to put on some weight in the months ahead. 

The Buffs will have a full field of players with at least 32 walk-ons joining the team  in camp, including two QBs, providing depth and drill numbers. Outside of the gresyhirts, all of the Buff frosh recruits will be ready to go as everyone was fine academically and enrolled in a summer course to get started with player-run summer workouts and meet with coaches (which is now allowed), and will be ready to go.  That is not the case with other Pac-12 schools as Arizona St. already has lost one of their “Top 25 recruiting class” who is not going to qualify, with four more players waiting for clearance still.

On the injury front the Buffs appear to be in generally good shape heading into camp.  DB Josh Moten was the only name from the two-deep depth chart to come out of the spring with a bad, season-ending injury (and he opted to graduate in May and retire from football).  The biggest question will be if OT Jeromy Irwin is healthy enough to compete for the all-important left tackle job with default current “starter” Marc Mustoe and transfer Sully Wiefels (and then, will Stefane Nembot hold everyone off on the right side?).  Others who are recovering from injury and hopefully will be healthy participants include DE Tim Coleman (Achilles), S Terrel Smith, FB George Frazier, CB Yuri Wright.

Other Buff notes:

After being snubbed by all but one previous national award watch list (Wil Oliver was named to Lou Groza list), the Buffs finally have another named, even though he will probably not be the main guy at his position.  Christian Powell was named to the Doak Walker Award watch list, even though he will often line up as a fullback and share carries with (at least) Michael Adkins, who is expected to get the heaviest share of the load; and they still have SR. Tony Jones and frosh Philip Lindsay fighting to get on the field.  Of course, this is a nice recognition for the team and Powell, who had decent freshman and sophomore campaigns, but it’s a little curious. The only other Buff to receive any preseason recognition was senior defensive lineman Juda Parker, who is a nominee for the 2014 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, for student/athletes whose charitable involvement and community service contributions go above beyond.

Rick George has been on the job for just about a year now and so far has received generally raving reviews and grades from all the articles recently written and I must agree.  His open, friendly attitude and genuine demeanor have been refreshing after the previous smugness and arrogance of the bohnhead.  George has basically kept the same core group of people that were in place to move Colorado’s athletic department forward, with a big picture vision and long-term strategic plan to go along with record-breaking fundraising.  Many of the sports programs have had some on the field success (both basketball, new lacrosse, cross country/track), even if it’s not the football team, yet.  The facilities upgrade plan is moving right along with the northeast corner of Folsom Field is still torn up as they work on the main foundation of the project. This area, with a few new sections of seats, should be completed by the time the season starts, while the rest of the project will take the next year or so to complete.  Also, Dave Plati cryptically and vaguely hinted at some upcoming announcement about something to do with BuffVision this fall but cannot say anything more yet.  I hope it is a new sound system.  Here is a link to Live Construction Cam which has a current photo, plus you can check the play button in the upper right hand corner for a time lapse video of the project so far: http://www.cubuffs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=600&ATCLID=209458799

I will be putting together an updated look at the position battles soon.  See you on the practice fields. 

 Go Buffs!

June and July recruiting commitment and other notes

I am finally settled from my trip to Brasil, wrapping up my obsession with the other football (if you would like to read about my travels and experiences with the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, check out my other blog: http://copabound.blogspot.com/ ) so I thought I would finally catch up on the world of Colorado football, as suddenly quite a bit has happened recently with our beloved Buffaloes, between summer workouts, August camp rapidly approaching and especially, a flurry of verbal commitments for the 2015 class!

The biggest news has been the Buffs growing their commitment list to seven recruits for the 2015 cycle after four new summer verbals (full list at right).  The biggest name to give the Buffs his verbal pledge is Regis offensive lineman Tim Lynott, who is nationally recognized and will be an important figure in recruiting other names, both in and out of state, to Colorado.  Lynott is the biggest in-state name to commit to Colorado in years, makes the ESPN top 300 list and had offers from all over the country.  This is actually a pretty big deal, probably the biggest name yet for Mike MacIntyre. 

Previous to Lynott the Buffs got a commitment from their next QB, Steven Montez from , CA.  Although his ratings may not be stellar, he has the tools the coaches like.  Schools and QB prospects especially, are having to make their choices earlier and earlier as some schools really push young QBs and then ask them to also act as a recruiter.  The dominoes have many school scrambling to sign a QB relatively early in the process because all of the highly rated and known commodities. 

Former ASU recruit WR Josiah Blandin will be coming to Boulder after completing his JC work at Long Beach CC this fall, and should be eligible to participate in Spring practices and to compete in the fall of 2015. Originally part of the 2012 class, Blandin was committed to be a Sun Devil but ended up in Long Beach. He will bring some size (6’4”, 185), speed (4.6 40), experience (41 catches for 627 yards and 4 TDs in 8 games) and talent to Sefo’s third year crew.

Lastly, the next punter for the Buffs is also in the fold as Alex Kinney, from Rocky Mountain in Fort Collins, gave his verbal to the Buffs. Although not given national “stars” in any ranking, Kinney is rated as the third best punter in the country by at least one kicking guru, and got kudos from the man he hopes to replace, Darragh O’Neill. With two in-state commits, four of the Buffs’ seven total committed prospects are Colorado kids, including two offensive linemen.  Along with the recent late commitment of Isaiah Holland for the 2014 class, these are the first real signs that Mike MacIntyre is starting to close the doors on the in-state talent, especially the o-lineman, the position group that has been strongest in recent years in Colorado, but whom we have seen leave the state in large numbers in recent years.

One last recruiting note: The Buffs picked up another player who can start to contribute this fall in the form of S Travis Tilianko, who originally committed to Mike MacIntyre at San Jose St. in 2012, but then left when his coach did, sitting out last season at College of the Canyons, making him eligible to play immediately.  He has also played wide receiver.  I am assuming that he is walking on for now.

Other Buff notes:

The first national position award watch lists are being released and the Buffs have not really been represented very much, although LB Addison Gilliam makes most Pac-12 conference lists in some capacity. Finally though, this week K Wil Oliver was named to the Lou Groza watch list.  Surprisingly, however, albeit after a mediocre season as a junior, punter Darragh O’Neill did not make the Ray Guy watch list for punters and no one has been given love from the Rimington (centers), Mackey (TE), or any of the bigger awards.

       I can’t say it is really much of a surprise, but no one is giving the Buffs any credit to do much this year as they are still generally young, unknown and playing in a very competitive conference and division.  They are still usually picked to finish last/6^th in the south (occasionally 5^th over Utah) and usually 11^th overall in the conference (at best 10^th), really only ranked ahead of woeful Cal.  In fact, one silly student blogger from UMass has already picked his Minutemen football team to beat the Buffs when they travel east in September.

Colorado is moving right along with its facilities upgrade plan and the northeast corner of Folsom Field is still torn up as they begin the main foundation of the project. Rick George said that section has already been funded and that is why it had work begun before the full $47 million originally targeted to start the plan was raised. However, he now says that they are finalizing a large donation that will put them over the $47M mark and should be announced in the coming weeks.  Here is a link to Live Construction Cam which has a current photo, plus you can check the play button in the upper right hand corner for a time lapse video of the project so far: http://www.cubuffs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=600&ATCLID=209458799

It looks like the Buffs came out relatively injury-free from spring practices, losing only DB Josh Moten and walk-0n d-lineman John Tuso.  However, the biggest injury concern is that of anticipated LT starter Jeromy Irwin, who still hasn’t fully recovered from a freak yard work foot injury almost a year ago.  RB Donta Abron, has been declared academically ineligible and DL Samson Kafovalu has to complete some work this summer in order not to join that inactive list. It appears D-linemate Justin Solis got his act together in the Spring and is good to go.  I don’t believe there are any other issues as August and camp approaches.

One interesting change this offseason has been the ability of football coaches to meet with students for a total of eight hours a week during the summer months, as long as they are fully academically sound and/or taking summer classes, which most do anyway these days.  In the past, only the strength and conditioning guys had any contact with players, but now all coaches all allowed some contact, never with a ball in sight, but up to two hours a week of football and film meetings. This means every player, especially the freshmen, who all report by the end of June, can start learning the program’s system, terminology and expectations.  It also allows the coaches to get to know their players better and keep track of how they are doing off the field.  For a hands on, family style staff this like Colorado’s, this is a bonus for them, especially since they are counting on a lot of young faces to contribute again this season.  So most everyone, including the incoming true freshmen, have been on campus since mid-to-late June, already working towards those six wins and a bowl game.

More as August camp approaches! Go Buffs!