Where is this team right now? Is it a better or worse situation than last year?

[Joe Theismann's Leg]

I would bet at the end of 2016, a lot of Buffs fans were pretty satisfied. 10 wins, a bowl game, returning starters at RB, LT, WR, and a bunch of other important positions, a head coach who pulled the program out of the dumpster fire that we made a big commitment to... things were looking alright. We ended the season ranked 17th and were at one point in the top 10.

A lot of us probably expected Sefo to pass the reigns to Montez and continue the success.

Then the squad won ONE close game in a season where they slid back to 5-7. We beat one divisional opponent. It was right back to where we were.

I'm a big believer in patience. I think you need to give coaches time and the resources they need to build their programs. Our patience was rewarded in 2016, but punished in 2017.

Personally, if it were possible, I'd fire Mac... but it's not. I could see a situation where the team commits to him in 2018 and beyond too. We have a much better situation as far as attracting assistant coaches, right? New facilities, new contract rules, etc?

Is this school in a better position this offseason than they were last offseason or no? Last offseason we were losing our very important DC and then a key member of his staff in a messy domestic violence and cover up scandal. We lost a QB who, while some felt he was overrated, re-wrote the CU record books...

This year we have key players coming back from injury and a QB with a year's experience under his belt. Montez could be frustrating to watch sometimes, but for two more seasons we'll have a guy who should steadily improve and get better... who is a big workout warrior and a leader...

Does anyone have any faith in this staff to re-assess, re-group and hit the reset button or are we content to have 2018 be a lost year where we just wait out MacIntyre to get another job or re-negotiate a buy out?

 

[Daaah]

We'll see.

 

[BuffsNYC]

The team underperformed this past season. Hearing about MM going all in for the Ole Miss job just added to the disappointment and gave rise to the idea that he wasn't fully committed this season. There smoke around that idea, but the subpar season could also be attributable to other things (like a lack of leadership among players.)

In any case, it appears MM will be here next season and likely beyond that. It's clear that he hates to lose. I believe (assume?) that he and RG will look at what went wrong, try to fix it, and move forward. If MM mailed it in this season, I wouldn't expect him to do it again--he would personally bear the brunt of another bad season.

 

[Bison]

Getting fired from CU hasn't been good for Dan Hawkins and Jon Embree when it comes to finding head coaching jobs. HCMM would be wise to be aware of that and he would need to be receptive to any changes to the coaching staff.

Sure going 5-7 sucks but the Buffs aren't getting blown out like in 2011-15. But if the performance of the interior lines do not improve next season, we could be back to pre-2016 suck. Let's say next season will be pivotal.

 

[MiamiBuffs]

We'll see.

It's gonna pop

 

[SerenityBuff]

We'll see is the only correct answer.

 

[SerenityBuff]

Sure going 5-7 sucks but the Buffs aren't getting blown out like in 2011-15. But if the performance of the interior lines do not improve next season, we could be back to pre-2016 suck. Let's say next season will be pivotal.

Since beating Utah last year to win the South, the Buffs are 5-9 with losses to UW by 31, OK State by 30, UW again by 27, WSU by 28, USC by 14 (after being down 27-0), and Utah by 21 (after being down 28-0 at halftime). This is obviously not counting the close losses to UCLA, AZ, and ASU in games that we could have won. So no, it's not 2011-2015 historically bad blowout proportions, but it's a scary trend.

 

[WarBuff]

My biggest disappointment isn't necessarily the overall record, although that was not great.

It was that I expected us to be in some real shootouts (see AZ). We couldn't stop the Wildcats, and they couldn't stop us. I expected this purportedly unstoppable offense was going to have to win games while the defense got experience. And if they couldn't win them, at least we would be in them until the very end.

It was anything but that. The offensieve line was a true sieve. The DropBall Boys rarely failed to make a key drop. The OC couldn't seem to understand that the QB had to run for his life far too often to call long developing plays (what a shock since he had already seen it for 3 years with Sefo). and we had one truly outstanding RB, but only one. Glad we got some meaningful reps for the backups while resting that remarkable kid from South High

 

[Joe Theismann's Leg]

I guess what I’m getting at is, is this a temporary bump in the road or a sign that we’re on the wrong track?

Is it unreasonable that this team could bounce back? I don’t think it is.

 

[fatbuff]

I guess what I’m getting at is, is this a temporary bump in the road or a sign that we’re on the wrong track?

Is it unreasonable that this team could bounce back? I don’t think it is.

Is recruiting getting any better? Are we upgrading talent?

 

[sackman]

The team itself, save for a few guys like Landman, are relieved that the season is over. They had no intention of going to a bowl game after they gave up 28 4th quarter points in Tempe in a game they had no business losing.

Can they bounce back? Sure. That comes from the top, though. MM and whatever staff he manages to assemble needs to open every position up for competition in the Spring, and that includes QB. He needs to get a fire kit under the team so we don’t go through this type of season again next year.

Do that, and MM will have a long, prosperous career in Boulder. Fail to do that, and he will be unemployed this time next year.

 

[MtnBuff]

I guess what I’m getting at is, is this a temporary bump in the road or a sign that we’re on the wrong track?

Is it unreasonable that this team could bounce back? I don’t think it is.

The talent level means we won't be a great team, line up when it matters and we won't beat USC, UW, or when they are playing well Stanford or Oregon.

We weren't a great team last year either which showed in the last two games of the season. What we did have, and what won us 10 games was the attitude. We had a bunch of guys who were good enough to take advantage of opportunity and they did. The team believed they could win, should win, and did what they had to do to win.

This years team in comparison seemed to lack that leadership, that attitude, that commitment that came from the players themselves. When we lost guys like Sefo and Chido and Tupou, etc. we didn't just lose their talent, we also lost their influence over how the other guys on the team approached every practice, every game, every play.

Can we bounce back next season. The talent ceiling on this team will probably prevent us from winning the division but we could have won games this year we lost and could win more next year than this. The critical factor though will be the attitude of the team. How important is winning to them? If it is like this year the results will be the same, maybe worse. If they can get back some of what was lost in attitude this year then 7-8 wins is very reasonable to expect.

 

[buffaholic]

L

Is recruiting getting any better? Are we upgrading talent?

If you believe rankings, then yes, the talent that just redshirted is twice as good as what we have been running out there. As are the guys currently committed.

Look at the black out Boyz offers and compare to the slew of WRs redshirting and on the commit list. It's 10x better. Just don't expect that at DL!

Now, of course, that's a fantasy, but it is exactly what the recruiting rankings and offer lists suggest.

 

[PAHIBuff]

I'm not optimistic about next year. MM wants out but has nowhere to go. If his flirtation with Ole Miss was accurate, RG probably wants him out too, but can't afford it. I can see 5 or 6 wins but the mental landscape up there looks like a ****ty marriage that isn't going to be able to stand a lot of stress or problems. In some ways I don't blame MM for seeking a better gig culturally, but if he's really torqued off 24/7 he needs to Man Up and quit without a place to land. He'd find a job, even if he had to sit out a year.

 

[Go Buffs]

Is recruiting getting any better? Are we upgrading talent?

 

[4BienemyTDs]

Why does MAC not get on top of the available assistants??? There are at least 2-3 coaches at Texas A&M and 2-3 at Tennessee that would be home run hires and would be 10 times more impressive than Lindgren, Adams, Jeffcoat, Bernardi. Jim Turner at Texas A&M would be a homerun for the Offensive Line!!!

 

[Buffnik]

There is every opportunity for this offseason to be better than last and for that to set the team up for a more successful 2018 season.

I can be patient with leadership if I see issues being identified and corrected. Right now I'm waiting impatiently to see some things that would seem to be obvious changes to most of us.