Buffs Name 2016 Team Captains
July 05, 2016 | Football, Neill Woelk
Liufau, Olugbode, Irwin, Lindsay, Frazier selected by teammates
BOULDER — Colorado football coach Mike MacIntyre announced Tuesday that the Buffs had selected five team captains for the upcoming season, including one player who will serve for a third straight season.
Players elected by a vote of the team to serve as captains are quarterback Sefo Liufau, linebacker Kenneth Olugbode, offensive tackle Jeromy Irwin, tight end/H-back George Frazier and running back Phillip Lindsay. Liufau and Olugbode are seniors; Irwin, Frazier and Lindsay are redshirt juniors.
"All those guys have been here at least four years," MacIntyre said. "They're truly ingrained into what we want, they know the culture that we have and what we are striving to achieve. Each one of them is a great competitor and will represent the team well."
A year ago, MacIntyre elected to go with a 12-man "leadership council" for the season, from which four captains were chosen each week. This year, he said, he chose to return to a more conventional system.
"I felt like the leadership council was a need for last year's team," MacIntyre said. "But I think we have so many juniors and seniors who have been through our program now that I thought it was time to have four or five guys that would speak out and lead the team. I think each of them truly embodies what our team and our program is about."
Liufau, a three-year starter at quarterback and owner of 75 CU records (and within reach of at least nine more), is just the second player in CU history to serve as a team captain for three seasons. The only other player to do so was Pat Carney, who served as the team captain more than 120 years ago, in 1891-92-93.
Olugbode is expected to step into the starting lineup at inside linebacker this year for the third straight season. Irwin, a full-time starter as a sophomore in 2014, is returning from a 2015 season cut short by a knee injury. Frazier started four games at tight end last year and also lines up at fullback when CU uses a two-back set. Lindsay was CU's leading rusher last year, finishing with 653 yards and six touchdowns on 140 carries. Lindsay and Olugbode were also in last year's leadership group.
"It's a good group," MacIntyre said. "They know what our program is about and where we want to be."
In other football news:
— After five weeks of offseason strength and conditioning, the Buffs have this week off. They'll return next week for three more weeks of drills before all players report for the opening of fall camp the first week of August. The team will report on Wednesday, Aug. 3, with the first practice of the fall scheduled for Aug. 4.
— MacIntyre said two members of the 2016 recruiting class will "grayshirt," meaning they will delay their enrollment until the spring 2017 semester and then have five years to play four seasons with the ability to still redshirt a year if desired. The two players who will grayshirt this year are offensive linemen Chance Lytle and Colby Pursell. Lytle is from San Antonio, Texas, and Pursell is from Valencia, Calif.
— MacIntyre also said sophomore linebacker N.J. Falo and redshirt freshman running back Dino Gordon are still under suspension after an off-the-field incident in the spring. MacIntyre said both are still completing a list of requirements for possible reinstatement from CU's judicial system and the football program, and are not participating in team activities. Their final status, MacIntyre said, has yet to be determined.
— The CU coach also confirmed that running back Patrick Carr (Woodlands, Texas) had requested and been granted permission to transfer. "He's a good young man and he needed to go home to address some family issues," MacIntyre said. "We're trying to let him get back near home. We wish him well."
— MacIntyre will join coaches from Air Force, Colorado State, CSU-Pueblo and Northern Colorado on Wednesday at the SportsCorp's annual College Football Kickoff Luncheon in Colorado Springs. Also present will be AFA head coach Troy Calhoun, CSU-Pueblo head coach John Wristen, UNC head coach Earnest Collins Jr. and CSU offensive coordinator Will Friend.
— MacIntyre, Liufau and cornerback Chidobe Awuzie will represent CU at next week's Pac-12 Media Day festivities in Los Angeles. On Tuesday, Awuzie was named as one of 90 players on the official watchlist for the Chuck Bednarik Award, which is presented to the nation's most outstanding defensive player.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
