Friday, April 19, 2013

CU Quarterback Nick Hirschman Transferring; Connor Wood Now QB to Beat in the Fall

The CU quarterback battle which started the spring with six QB's on scholarship has taken another hit. Nick Hirschman, who is graduating next month, has decided to transfer to another program for his last two years of eligibility. Because he graduating, he can transfer to another school without having to sit out a year (provided that the graduate program he goes into is not offered at Colorado).

After the first half of spring training was completed, Stevie Joe Dorman and John Schrock were dropped from the race to be named the number one QB. That left Hirschman, Jordan Webb, Connor Wood, and Shane Dillon tied atop the depth chart released on April 2nd. Since then, Jordan Webb has injured his knee and will be lost for the 2013 season, Hirschman has announced his departure and Shane Dillon had been dropped down the depth chart. For the time being, this leaves Connor Wood as number one on the depth chart.

There is no word yet on whether any other quarterbacks on the roster plan to transfer, but CU will welcome touted recruit Sefo Liufau for fall camp and may also go after JC transfer Nelson Fishback (Butte College in Oroville, California). With the injury to Webb and the transfer of Hirschman, Shane Dillon may be thrown back into the mix as well. Dillon may very well have the strongest arm of the bunch and is also considered by some to be the most athletic, but his mechanics could use a year of tutelage from QB coach Brian Lindgren.

Head Coach Mike MacIntyre has granted Hirschman a release from his scholarship to any school not in the Pac-12 or on CU's non-conference schedule for 2013 or 2014. MacIntyre wished Hirschman well but also noted the Buffs were losing a good leader going into player-led workouts for the summer.

2 comments:

  1. Nice piece on Webb-the woes of this program are certainly no fault of his.

    From what I saw of Dillon, he needs a lot of work on his mechanics. His arm and the ball is all over the place. He didn't seem to have any touch short or long.

    MacIntyre seems like a good man and coach and just might have what it takes to turn this thing around.

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    1. Your views on Dillon are the same as mine. Unfortunately, I think a lot of guys on the team were neglected as far as development is concerned over the last couple of years. Mac and his staff seem really focused on fundamentals, which I think is what the team needs.

      I was looking forward to a good old fashioned battle for the QB spot and was really hoping that Hirschman and Wood would bring out the best in one another. The chance is now for Wood to live up to the leadership award he was just given by the coaching staff. His demeanor seems to have improved immensely since the new coaches came aboard. I'm hoping they can develop the talent that made him one of the top QB recruits in the nation several years ago.

      Looking forward to seeing Liufau this August, but the guys who can come out of high school and start at this level are really few and far between. I am really hoping he can come in and redshirt and grow his body and develop his skills.

      More and more I am convinced that CU got immensely lucky when they got MacIntyre. Although it took a couple of years in San Jose to really turn things around, the fact is that these guys now know exactly what they are doing. We are fortunate that they just need to implement what they know will work, as opposed to San Jose when they had to develop the plan that worked.

      I am hoping that there are not too many more surprises in the transfer department from potential starters. By the same token, I hope that all of the players on the team will choose to take advantage of the new start they were given by Mac and staff, and commit themselves to their studies and their team.

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