Finally, Spring Practices Begin!

Spring Practices start today (Thursday, March 7^th) and will be open to the public, as long as fans are not posting too much on the internet.  I won’t be able to make the first two practices, but will try to attend at least one session in each of the other weeks, and I will try not to give too many secrets away here. 

Here is the tentative spring schedule (15 total days of spring practices, generally starting 3:30 or 3:45 and going until as late as 6:15PM):

Thursday, March 7                First practice

Friday, March 8                     Practice
         Saturday, March 9        Junior Day

Tuesday, March 12                Practice
         Wednesday, March 13  Pro timing day

Thursday, March 14              Practice
Friday, March 15                    Scrimmage
Tuesday, March 19                Practice
Thursday, March 21               Practice
Friday, March 22                   Scrimmage
                        Spring Break

Tuesday, April 2                     Practice
Thursday, April 4                   Practice
Friday, April 5                                    Scrimmage

Tuesday, April 9                     Practice
Thursday, April 11                  Practice

Saturday, April13                   Spring Game, 10:30AM, televised on Pac-12 Network, radio KOA 850 AM

Monday, April 15                    Final practice

There is no official depth chart going into the spring (it’s actually just alphabetical) and there are not even any specific positions on the offensive and defensive lines, or with the linebackers or defensive backs.  MacIntyre said seniority would play a role in getting reps at the beginning.  The general plan is to keep it simple at the start, slowly implementing just the basic concepts of the offense and defense, and very few of the “wrinkles”.  The first two days will be light though, with MacIntyre saying they will practice in their “pajamas”.  They will try to evaluate everyone during the first eight practices and figure out exactly what they are working with to create a depth chart.  Those on the two-deep will earn the reps in the latter half of practices and the scrimmage. 

The team will work 25 minutes a day on Special Teams, under the supervision of a special teams coordinator. If this unit is not vastly improved this year then we really do have a talent issue.

Buffnik on AllBuffs posted this great chart of the entire roster for each position, each year and total number of scholarships (they will indeed be six over the limit when all frosh show up so expect some type of attrition after spring ball): http://www.allbuffs.com/showthread.php/84499-2013-Colorado-Football-Roster-(with-14-commits)

Roster break-down from Stuart of CUattheGame: 97 players/71 scholarship, 17 seniors, 29 juniors, 28 sophomores, 23 freshmen (18 red-shirt/5 true), with 63 returning lettermen (29 on offense, 30 on defense, and four specialists), including 18 starters (9 offense; 9 defense-although these may not mean much after all the spring dominoes are done). 

Here is the list of new walk-ons for spring practices: Wesley Christiansen, WR, Jr.; James Carr, OL, Soph.; Tim McLaughlin, LB, Fr.; Blake Allen, SN, Fr; John Finch, SN, Fr.; and Kevin Murphy, SN, Fr.

Position changes: Coaches have made no secret of the fact that they will try guys at a variety of positions and there will definitely be movement within units as MacIntyre said there are no positions at four of the groupings (O-line, D-line, LBs, DBs). 

DD Goodson (WR from RB/DB) and Clay Norgard (LB from FB) have already made position switches, and many others will be tried out at more than one position as coaches see what they really have the first two weeks.

Could one of the SIX quarterbacks change positions?  It doesn’t appear that any have much experience playing elsewhere, but with five scholarships (and a 6^th in Sefo in the fall) and six over the limit as a team, this is an area to thin out.  Could Nick Hirschman play TE?  He is also graduating in May and could transfer to another program with two years of eligibility, like Jordan Webb did.  I could see Connor Wood transferring again to an FCS school where he wouod not have to sit out a year and where he might better fit.  What about Stevie Joe Dorman-does he have any talent anywhere on the field?  Someone has to go from this group.

Injuries: Defensive lineman Juda Parker will be out with a shoulder injury.

Offensive lineman Alex Lewis, who should compete for the LG and/or the LT spot, is out of action.

RB Terrence Crowder will also still be out recovering from his second ACL tear.

WR Colin Jonhnson (walk-on?) is also listed out with a knee.

We still don’t know who the two (?) Buffs MacIntyre referenced earlier that may not play at all in 2013 due to concussions. Speculation is that RB Christian Powell is one of them, and LB Kyle Washington may be the other.  Both suffered multiple concussions last year, among numerous injuries, and I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see one or both on the sidelines for spring ball.

Other Buff Notes:

CU received a $1.6M donation from Jeannie and Jack Thompson, who also organized some matching donations to bring in over two million dollars!  That means only 48 million to go for the new facilities…oh wait, that money is actually for the Jazz studies program, not for athletics or the new upgrades at all, so I guess it is still 50 million to go to get the shovels moving.

Here’s the latest from the CU video department (everyone is raving about it): http://vimeo.com/60876285

We can probably pencil in Daniel Munyer somewhere on the offensive line as he appeared with MacIntyre at his pre-spring press conference.  Munyer said all the right things about the new regime without trashing the old one, too much anyway.  He said, “I liked Embree but I believe Mac can get it done.”  He also said that the new “mentality is going to weed out all the bad attitude we’ve had here and undisciplined behavior… We went 1-11. Something was going wrong.”

TE Vincent Hobbs, whose father is dealing with a few issues back in Texas, remains the most likely to transfer after the spring, more based on his dad than anything else.  Most of the other murmurings seem to have subsided, but we will see in April.

Former Buff LB Doug Rippy is preparing for the NFL draft hoping to catch some team’s eye and be drafted in the 7^th round or signed as a free agent.

There seems to have been no official statement from MacIntyre or CU about the first incident of the MikeMac era after defensive lineman Samson Kafovalu was arrested for trying to force his way into a frat party.  Kafovalu has now agreed to a plea deal will perform 24 hours of community service and take some classes.  If he stays out of trouble, the charges will all be dropped in a year. Will the new coach give any comment and/or punishment now that the case is settled?  Will there at least be a one-game suspension, something harsher, or just some extra running?

Eric Bienemy and Bill McCartney have both been nominated for the College Football Hall of Fame (Beinemy obviously based on his playing not coaching) again.  Nate Kreckman wondered if anyone else was rooting for them “just for the awkward ceremony with Bohn at Folsom Field.”

Go Panthers!  Boulder High Football has decided to get serious in hiring Bob Simmons, former Oklahoma St. head coach, to head up their high school program.  Simmons was a former CU assistant under Bill McCartney, and was many people’s choice, including Coach Mac’s, to replace him in 1994, but administration went instead with the hot, young name (dare I say white? yes, I think I will) Rick Neuheisel.  The crosstown rivalry has just gotten a little more interesting and has a very distinct flavor with Coach Mac’s son (Fairview coached by Tom McCartney) vs. his former assistant.