When Mike MacIntyre accepted the Colorado job, he knew he had a big rebuilding job on his hands. After all, Colorado had not had a winning season since 2005, and had not ended up in the Top 25 to end the year since 2002. Did that scare Mac? Not at all. Rebuilding is what MacIntyre does. It's in his blood. He did it at San Jose State, just like his father George did before him at Vanderbilt.
The 2012 Buffs were arguably the worst team in Colorado history and the worst team in the FBS. They finished 1-11, and most of the losses were of the VERY ugly variety. Fresno State scored 35 points before the end of the 1st quarter. The team and its players were as down as a team could be. They did not enjoy football. They did not enjoy each other, and, as a team, they just went through the motions.
This is what faced MacIntyre when he came aboard at Colorado. He had to change the culture. He had to change the attitude. He had to instill desire and create a work ethic and a dedication to fun which had been sorely missing. To his credit, he did all that.
The results showed on the field. After six games, the Buffs had tripled their win total from the previous year. For the first time in a long time, the Buffaloes were actually winning the games they were supposed to win.
What made this amazing was that MacIntyre had done so much even though he faced something that could not easily be changed. Other than the recruiting class he brought in this year, Mac's only choices for players were the ones that were already here, brought in by other coaches.
Coaching the players here would be no problem for MacIntyre and his staff, but the one thing they could not do was coach players who were NOT in Boulder. Poor and destructive recruiting by prior coaching staffs left MacIntyre without the most important parts of any football team, the "big guys" in the trenches.
Any football coach will tell you that the games are won or lost on the backs of the linemen. The offensive line protects the quarterback, allows for a passing game, and opens holes for the running backs. The O-line allows the offense to function.
As Colorado seemingly struggles against the high and mighty competition of the Pac-12, it is important to remember what MacIntyre and offensive line coach Gary Bernardi have had to work with. The CU roster includes 17 offensive linemen. Of those 17, only TWO are seniors and only TWO are juniors. That means that 13 of the 17 offensive linemen are either freshman (8) or sophomores (5). That being said, it's pretty darn amazing how well the group has done.
Colorado lost two starting offensive linemen from last year that could have certainly helped the Buffs make it to a bowl game this year. David Bakhtiari left school early and is now a starter for the Green Bay Packers. And Alexander Lewis announced he was transferring to Nebraska, and then was arrested for assaulting an Air Force cadet. He is currently free on bond awaiting trial.
How bad is it for the offensive line coach at CU? The November 4th depth chart shows only a total of NINE players for the 3-deep of FIVE offensive line positions. Mac and Bernardi are doing their best to give every freshman on the line a chance to redshirt this year, while also doing their best to win as many football games as they can this year.
It's a tough task. But the coaches know that the best thing for the future of the program is to let these young men adjust to college life, get stronger, and grow their bodies. Two of the young men listed on the depth chart have yet to play a down and are scheduled to redshirt if injuries to starters do not force the hand of CU coaches.
Things on the defensive line of the ball are not much better for Colorado and defensive line coach Jim Jeffcoat. Like the O-line, the defensive line has 17 players listed on the roster. Among those 17 are only TWO seniors and THREE juniors. Five more (including two starters) are sophomores, and the final seven are freshmen. Two freshmen and five sophomores from the DL are listed on the current depth chart and playing.
As Colorado gets ready to head to Washington this weekend, Buff fans should look at what the CU coaches have accomplished this year, especially in the trenches, and truly appreciate how fine a job they have done against one of the toughest conference schedules in the country.
The team is remarkably better. It is tougher. It plays hard for the entire game. And most importantly, the young men seem be be enjoying college football for the first time in years. They are having fun, and working harder each week to win. Their results on the field are telling in the eyes of coaches and students of football, even if they do not show up just yet in the final score for the casual fan. Those days are coming, however, and the magic of MacIntyre and his staff will remake the Colorado Buffaloes into the team that CU expects and deserves.
*********************************
Postscript note--
Many folks commenting on blog sites and news sites have been complaining about the status of the O and D lines at CU. Those complaints should be directed at Jon Embree and Dan Hawkins.
At least one of these folks pointed out that UCLA had three true freshman starting on the offensive line, and came to the conclusion that "youth" could not be used as an excuse by CU.
UCLA and head coach Jim Mora had the #3 recruiting class in the NCAA this past February. TWENTY of those recruits were rated as either 4-star or 5-star recruits by both main recruiting services. Those 20 highly rated recruits by UCLA also roughly equals what CU has brought into Boulder in the last 11 years combined. Colorado had ZERO 4 or 5-star recruits this past year.
The star rating of recruits is not always a predictor of how good a high school player will be in 3-4 years, but highly rated (4-5 star) recruits are usually much more ready to play as freshmen. Things tend to even out as the young men grow and mature. For example, David Bakhtiari was only a 2-star recruit, but now he's starting as a rookie in the NFL.
No comments:
Post a Comment