BuffDad2020
Well-Known Member
1) Momentum. CU Football didn't drop into an abyss overnight to become a poor football team, nor did the climb out of the dumpster occur overnight. MM has built, step by step, a culture of accountability and commitment to do everything you can today to improve. While the P-12 South Title surprised everyone in the country, it wasn't a surprise to the locker room. Last year, the team needed to learn that they can win games in the final seconds and win games in a way they weren't supposed to. This Fall, the team knows they can win and expect to win even with the media picking them 4th in the division.
2) Experience . The world is telling us that CU will be back in the crapper because they lost so much experience and that last year was a fluke riding senior leadership. MM said yesterday, CU returns 360 starts with this years squad. That is the 4th most in CU history. Yes, the team graduated a lot of experience but starting 2017 with the 4th most game starts in school history shows that this years' team has legit experience and isn't the greenhorn squad many expect.
3) Leadership - MM develops leadership in a more strategic and purposeful way than any other coach I've watched. Of the 6 Captains this year, 4 have been Captains before. By all accounts this summer was a step up in effort and work over last summer. Last summer, the leaders on the team set a standard. This year's team has leaders that took summer workouts and commitment up another notch.
4) Coach Wilson - By all accounts. Drew Wilson has been a home run hire and the summer workouts this year have been tougher than last summer. The players have bought into what he's selling and he's prepared a team that will be physically ready come Sept. 1st.
5) Montez - When a player is truly special, you see it immediately. I vividly remember Darian Hagan's first start against Texas when the second or third snap from scrimmage went for a long TD because Hagan was that special. In Kordell Stewart's first start, he threw for over 400 yards and was OMG good. In Montez's first start on the road against Oregon, he became the first QB in CU history to throw for 300 yards and run for 100 in the same game. First player in history and he does it in his first start. That is not a fluke, that is a real deal athlete who is very good right now but will only get better.
6) OLine - 4 returning starters with another 3-4 who have played and been in the system a couple years is usually a line ready to open holes. MM says this is the best Oline in his 5 years at CU. That is a legit reason to be excited for 2017.
7) DLine - many here will think I have a fever by including the Dline as a reason to be excited, but there is more depth at Dline than anytime in the past 20 years. Jackson, Franke, Coleman, Umu, Edwards, Mulumba, Frazier, Tuiloma - that's 8 guys for a 3 man Dline. We had enough depth where Eddie Lopez is a 300lb TE instead of DT. It wasn't too many years ago when George Hypolite came in as a true freshman FB but was a starting DT before September was over because we were so depleted on the Dline. As Jim Jeffcoat said waiting for a flight at DFW this spring "I'm very happy with the talent and depth we have."
8) Skills Position Players - The WR corp is considered one of the best in the country. We have so many players at WR where we have TWO named to the Biletnikoff Award list. Lindsey is one of the top RB's in terms of production returning in CFB. We have skill players who can make plays.
9) The DB's - The outside world sees three DB's drafted by the NFL and sees a huge hole. What the outside world doesn't see is that the three players drafted were so-so college recruits who NO ONE expected would be draft picks. I. Oliver is the perfect example of a MM DB who had zero offers other than CU, but the NFL has already noticed. MM knows DB's better than any position on the field and recruits and develops them exceptionally well. Also, our DB's are practicing against one of the top WR corps in the country. Michael Gallup may be a great WR for CSU, but every CU DB is practicing against guys just as big and fast and talented as Gallup on pretty much every rep.
10) Coach MM - the two greatest things to happen to CU in the past 5 years was having Butch Jones say no (leading us to MM) and hiring Rick George as AD. MM has proven to be the real deal and has now resurrected two programs from the ash heap. With the Champions Center and all the Boulder offers, MM is recruiting strong players who are high caliber kids. The fact that he won a P12 South title before Wittingham at Utah who had 8 years at Utah before MM came to CU shows the guy can coach.
Most importantly, MM had pegged 2017 as the break out year, not last year. Nothing has changed to suggest that this team can compete for the conference once again.
So I expect another year of quality football from the Buffs and guess 8 wins this year.
Go Buffs!
2) Experience . The world is telling us that CU will be back in the crapper because they lost so much experience and that last year was a fluke riding senior leadership. MM said yesterday, CU returns 360 starts with this years squad. That is the 4th most in CU history. Yes, the team graduated a lot of experience but starting 2017 with the 4th most game starts in school history shows that this years' team has legit experience and isn't the greenhorn squad many expect.
3) Leadership - MM develops leadership in a more strategic and purposeful way than any other coach I've watched. Of the 6 Captains this year, 4 have been Captains before. By all accounts this summer was a step up in effort and work over last summer. Last summer, the leaders on the team set a standard. This year's team has leaders that took summer workouts and commitment up another notch.
4) Coach Wilson - By all accounts. Drew Wilson has been a home run hire and the summer workouts this year have been tougher than last summer. The players have bought into what he's selling and he's prepared a team that will be physically ready come Sept. 1st.
5) Montez - When a player is truly special, you see it immediately. I vividly remember Darian Hagan's first start against Texas when the second or third snap from scrimmage went for a long TD because Hagan was that special. In Kordell Stewart's first start, he threw for over 400 yards and was OMG good. In Montez's first start on the road against Oregon, he became the first QB in CU history to throw for 300 yards and run for 100 in the same game. First player in history and he does it in his first start. That is not a fluke, that is a real deal athlete who is very good right now but will only get better.
6) OLine - 4 returning starters with another 3-4 who have played and been in the system a couple years is usually a line ready to open holes. MM says this is the best Oline in his 5 years at CU. That is a legit reason to be excited for 2017.
7) DLine - many here will think I have a fever by including the Dline as a reason to be excited, but there is more depth at Dline than anytime in the past 20 years. Jackson, Franke, Coleman, Umu, Edwards, Mulumba, Frazier, Tuiloma - that's 8 guys for a 3 man Dline. We had enough depth where Eddie Lopez is a 300lb TE instead of DT. It wasn't too many years ago when George Hypolite came in as a true freshman FB but was a starting DT before September was over because we were so depleted on the Dline. As Jim Jeffcoat said waiting for a flight at DFW this spring "I'm very happy with the talent and depth we have."
8) Skills Position Players - The WR corp is considered one of the best in the country. We have so many players at WR where we have TWO named to the Biletnikoff Award list. Lindsey is one of the top RB's in terms of production returning in CFB. We have skill players who can make plays.
9) The DB's - The outside world sees three DB's drafted by the NFL and sees a huge hole. What the outside world doesn't see is that the three players drafted were so-so college recruits who NO ONE expected would be draft picks. I. Oliver is the perfect example of a MM DB who had zero offers other than CU, but the NFL has already noticed. MM knows DB's better than any position on the field and recruits and develops them exceptionally well. Also, our DB's are practicing against one of the top WR corps in the country. Michael Gallup may be a great WR for CSU, but every CU DB is practicing against guys just as big and fast and talented as Gallup on pretty much every rep.
10) Coach MM - the two greatest things to happen to CU in the past 5 years was having Butch Jones say no (leading us to MM) and hiring Rick George as AD. MM has proven to be the real deal and has now resurrected two programs from the ash heap. With the Champions Center and all the Boulder offers, MM is recruiting strong players who are high caliber kids. The fact that he won a P12 South title before Wittingham at Utah who had 8 years at Utah before MM came to CU shows the guy can coach.
Most importantly, MM had pegged 2017 as the break out year, not last year. Nothing has changed to suggest that this team can compete for the conference once again.
So I expect another year of quality football from the Buffs and guess 8 wins this year.
Go Buffs!
