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CU Football 2022 – Believe
“I truly understand what you want…an opportunity to win…to be amongst the best. I’m going to give you that.”
Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders – CU Press Conference 12/4/22
Buff Nation –
In his best Bud Fox (Wall Street) impersonation, CU Athletic Director Rick George indeed bagged the elephant with the hiring of Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders as our next Colorado Football head coach. In a literal split second, the CU Football program, which was the laughingstock of the NCAA and left for dead, went from an afterthought as a desired destination to top of mind for nearly every football recruit.
As news emerged of CU offering Deion the head coaching position, pools of believers and doubters emerged. Yes, Deion had a proven track record of being a winner (NFL, MLB, coaching, recruiting), yet is Deion the right guy for CU and the Republic of Boulder? Was this an act of desperation or a brilliant administrative calculation? For years CU had wallowed in an identity crisis, and was the Prime Time identity really the answer?
Despite the naysayers, pundits and doubters, Coach Prime accepted the job. Wait, what??!!!. Oh yeah, it is on! Immediately CU reaped the benefits. CU merchandise sales shot up 700%, players far and wide signed on with CU, and it is expected that CU season tickets will sell out. We are living out, real-time, a once in a lifetime program resurgence, and there is no place on the sidelines, but plenty of room on the CU Buff bandwagon. It is time to believe again. After all, it’s the holidays and it don’t cost nothing.
This Christmas, Santa is not the only one coming to town. So, you better watch out, and so should the rest of college football. We Coming!
Go Buffs (and Merry Christmas!),
Doug
CU Football 2022 – The Road Not Taken
Buff Nation –
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”
Robert Frost – The Road Not Taken
Like the traveler in Robert Frost’s poem, CU stands at a crossroads. Soon after this email hits your inbox, the University of Colorado will be announcing the hiring of its next football head coach. It is an understatement to say CU has struggled over the past two decades (rounding up), and that this past season has been the worst in the program’s 133-year storied history. CU has been outscored an average of 28 points / game. 2022 saw CU’s program deteriorate at an accelerated rate and currently ranked 122nd out of 131 division 1 programs. Get this hiring decision wrong, and AD Rick George will have effectively signed his own expulsion papers.
Later today CU plays #14 Utah for its final game of the season. College football loves its rivalries, and the Pac-12 looked to manufacture a rivalry between Utah and CU (which is why CU plays Utah each year as the last regular season game), when both schools joined the Pac-12 in 2011. Yet, over the years, these two schools have traveled significantly different paths to arrive at today’s game (point spread is Utah by 29.5).
For Utah, their success can be traced back to 2005, and the hiring of their current head coach Kyle Whittingham. Utah has posted a .640 winning percentage since joining the Pac-12 and is always considered a worthy opponent. For Colorado, their woes can be traced back to 2005 (ironically) with the erroneous (IMHO) firing of Coach Barnett, and the now infamous series of five unfortunate head coach hires (Hawkins, Embree, McIntyre, Tucker, Dorrel). Add in Barnett, current Interim coach Sanford and the soon to be head coach, and that is eight HC coaches during the same span Utah (our so to speak rival) has had one. No wonder these programs are viewed so differently by recruits and peers.
There is talk of potentially hiring Deon “Prime Time” Sanders as the next coach. Another top candidate is Illinois DC Ryan Walters (former Buff player). Both have their pros and cons. Time will tell who is hired, and time will tell whether it was the right decision. What we do know is today, the Buffs stand at a crossroads and are able to only choose one path. Years from now, may Buff Nation look back on this time in our program’s history and see that this (future) coaching hire has indeed made all the difference.
Go Buffs!
Doug
CU Football 2022 – Mercy Rule
Buff Nation –
In a Colorado High School football game, if a team is winning by 40 or more points at any point in the game, the “mercy rule” goes into effect, and the “continuous game clock” begins to run, and it doesn’t stop until there is no time left. This expedites the end of the game for the safety and mental health of all involved. In college football there isn’t a mercy rule for a game or for a season. There are nine days left for Buff Nation to endure what has been the hardest season in decades. Nine days. This season was over the day CU came out without a clue against TCU seventy-eight days ago.
So, as CU prepares to take on #15 Washington on the road tomorrow, and then finish out the season against # 10 Utah (if feels like everyone in the pac-12 ranked except CU), the Saturday after thanksgiving, here are the good, the bad and the ugly for Buff Nation to ponder:
The Good: Interim Coach Mike Sanford. While CU continues to get crushed by their peers on the scoreboard, this is not due to lack of heart of effort. Coach Sanford has a contagious high-level of energy, and CU players are now playing with passion. If CU decides to hire Mike as the next permanent Head Coach, I will be 100% on board. I had the chance to attend a meeting with Mike (hope he doesn’t mind calling him Mike) a mere 90 minutes before CU took on the (then) #8 Oregon Ducks. He was over the top enthusiastic and positive about what CU can become. I instantly had a man-crush on him (which is why I call him Mike). I even took a picture.
The Bad: We don’t have Division 1 talent on this roster. It all left through the portal. No disrespect meant to all the hard-working Buffaloes who are on the team, but we can catch, throw, block or tackle. These are all important parts of football.
The Ugly: We are boxed in. Competing in College football is all about competing in the Transfer Portal and NIL (money). We don’t fare well in either. CU literally doesn’t offer the general and physical education degrees which are popular with college athletes, which makes it virtually impossible for CU to be competitive getting players who can help us win on the field. Every other Pac-12 school except Stanford (who is also free falling) has these programs in place. A house divided cannot stand. 2022 has proven that, and without some changes, 2023 will echo the same message.
Final Thought: Yes, CU was caught sleeping at the wheel as these changes occurred (IMHO), but at the end of the day (in nine days to be precise), what matters most is what CU does next. Are they willing to reinvent themselves to stay relevant (e.g., start up an integrated degree) or are they going to dig in their heels, stick their head in the sand, close their eyes, twinkle their knows, click their heels and point to the days of old when we were once somebody. Our new CU President Todd Saliman has come out strong in support of the CU Football program and his understanding of what football means to a university. My guess is CU is going to do the right thing and level the playing field in order to give CU coaches, players and fans a chance to be competitive and proud to call themselves Buff Nation. They better hustle. The (continuous) clock is running.
Go Buffs!
Doug
CU Football 2022 – Ten Commandments
Buff Nation –
One doesn’t have to be a theologian to be familiar with the Ten Commandments, and unless you are a sociopath, most of the commandments are quite reasonable. “Thou shall not kill” (Duh). “Thou shall honor thy parents “(For sure). “Thou shall not steal” (Fine. Wait, does office paper count?).
Yet, given our Colorado Buffaloes are taking on the #8 Oregon Ducks tomorrow at Folsom Field, and the fact that Oregon has been the golden child of the Pac-12 for years, I feel the last of the commandments, “Thou Shall Not Covet…” should be an exception. Buff Nation needs the space and grace to covet the Oregon football program (even for a day). Buff Nation should desire, demand, want, covet a top ten ranked football program, and educate themselves on what that looks like, what that means, and what that takes. Tomorrow, the Ducks will show all of us what one looks like, and we should take notes.
So tomorrow, let’s look to keep most of the commandants (low bar), and covet to our hearts desire, unless of course the Buffs beat the Ducks. In that case, I’ll see you on the field.
Go Buffs!
Doug