A Few More May Morsels

§  2013 Recruiting

Here is a compilation of anything else interesting related to the program that has happened during the last few weeks:

§  The Buffs are still standing at five verbal commitments next year’s recruiting class, but there is a lot of action, offers and interest going on behind the scenes.

§  Luke Del Rio (enrolled at Valor Christian of course), son of Broncos Defensive Coordinator Jack Del Rio, recently took an unofficial visit to Boulder with his father and met with Coach Embree. The former Jacksonville Head Coach commented that he knew Embree from the NFL and liked what he was doing here, that the Buffs could make some noise with a couple of good recruiting classes.

§  Castle Rock OT Blake Nowland is the latest Colorado recruit to receive national attention.  Besides in-state offers from CU, csu and Air Force, he also has one from Washington State, along with interest from Oregon, TCU and others.

§  OT Cameron Hunt (Corona, CA) turned a lot of heads at the recent Bay Area Nike Camp as he earned MVP honors among a very strong offensive line group.  Hunt said he is very interested in CU and plans on taking an official visit (same for Boise St. and Arizona).

§  2012 Frosh

§  Embree had said that they still might ask a player or two to join DE Derek McCartney as a “greyshirt” and delay their enrollment until January.  We know now that at least OG Gerald Kough will do so, although he is not thrilled about it.  It was once thought this would be a thin area with the graduation of starters Ryan Miller and Ethan Adkins, but the development of many other interior guys (Handler, Crabb, Munyer, Kelley and others), plus super-backup Ryan Dannewitz, creates enough depth without Kough, who could still use some muscle and weight.  He says that when he does officially join the team next Spring he is “going to be hungry.”

§  Shane Dillon is coming off shoulder surgery (labrum) but should be throwing by now and should be good to go by August camp.  He is scheduled to arrive in Boulder June 3.

§  At least three of his classmates (and receivers) will also be arriving in early June: roommates-to-be WR Jeff Thomas and TE Vincent Hobbs, both from Texas, move in June 1; WR Gerald Thomas will also arrive from Texas June 7; many others will be following shortly thereafter.

§  Other Program Notes

§  There is still nothing official on former Kansas QB transfer Jordan Webb, but all signs point to him enrolling at CU for 2012 and he should be here soon to get involved with summer passing groups.

§  No word yet on who might accelerate their graduation status next year.

§  CU is one of only nine teams in the country to retain their entire coaching staff.  Although O-line coach Steve Marshall and D-coordinator Greg Brown were supposedly pursued by the NFL, no one left for greener pastures.

§  CFN gave the Buffs one of their best rankings to date: #75 in the country, but still projecting a 5-7 record.

§  However, Kevin Gemmell of the ESPN Pac-12 blog, also wrote that they actually do have a chance to start 5-0 if they win the first expected three games (CSU, Sacramento St. and Fresno St.), then go revenge last year’s late loss to Wazzu, they would be welcoming a UCLA team, adjusting to a new coach and system, to the altitude of Folsom Field.

§  Phil Steele only put 5 Buffs on his top 4 All-Pac teams, with only one on the 

1^st team:  OT David Bakhtiari

Second team – defensive tackle Will Pericak

Third team – linebacker Jon Major; safety Ray Polk

Fourth team – punter Darragh O’Neill

*It’s a joke that LB Doug Rippy, even coming off an injury, nor DE Chidera Uzo-Diribe get no love here!  Let’s hope they, and the rest of the team, are motivated to prove many wrong.

§  John Wooten became the sixth Buff to be named to the College Football Hall of Fame (Byron “Whizzer” White/1952, Joe Romig/1984, Dick Anderson/1994, Bobby Anderson/2006, Alfred Williams/2011).   Wooten was the second African-American at CU and went on to be a two-time All-American guard on offense while also playing defensive tackle, before going on to play for Cleveland in the NFL.  He is also a member of CU’s All-Century team. The award given to the team’s most improved player at the end of each season is named after him.

§  It looks as if CU will play a home-and-home with Purdue, the only Big10 team they have never faced, in 2016-17 to help kickoff the Big10/Pac-12 schedule.  Nothing is official yet, just a “handshake” so far, but the Buffs would visit West Lafayette first, with the Boilermakers visiting Boulder the following season.

§  The ESPN Pac-12 blog continues to pummel the Buffs, along with everyone else, this time listing them yet again as the bottom #12 team in the conference power rankings after spring practices. No big surprise really, since Hirschman did not play and Wood didn’t do a ton to instill confidence in outsiders. 

§  Mike Bohn, for better or for worse is by far the lowest paid AD in the Pac-12, and he even has the lowest possible bonuses.  I think it is great that the university and department don’t have to spend so much cash on him as so many people, especially in the sports world, are way overpaid.  However, when he leaves, they will have to pay top dollar to the next AD as everyone else in the conference makes at least double what Bohn does and over a half million dollars.  Bohn is currently only hauling in a paltry $250,000, which is middle of the pack nationally.  Interstingly, Vanderbilt, a school which advertises its academics and have done things differently than other schools with its sports pays David Williams over 10X as much as CU pays Bohn: $2,560,505.  It’s good to be the AD!

§  Buffs in the NFL

§  Tyler Hansen felt he had a strong opening rookie mini-camp for Cincinnati and he received some nice praise from OC Jay Gruden.  The Bengals don’t have a set #2 or #3 option so Hansen’s got a fighting chance to realize his dream.

§  Rodney Stewart tore his ACL in Bengals rookie camp and will be put on IR for the season.  While Speedy was more of a long shot to make the team, focused more on making the Bengal practice squad than the actual roster this year, this does connect him with a team, gets him paid and a likely shot again next year.  Always a smiling, positive type, Stewart says he will work hard to be ready to contribute next year and will likely write a biographical account of his life so far while he is rehabbing.

§  Tony Clemons remains humble in his quest to make the Pittsburgh Steelers.  He knows he hasn’t “made it yet” as he drives his Mom’s Hyundai to practice.