Woelk: Buffs' Adams Excited About Competition On O-line This Spring

BOULDER — Virtually every position on the Colorado football team will be open for competition this spring.

Some, however, will be wide open, meaning every day of spring ball will be crucial.

Throw the offensive line into that group.

Gone are three seniors from last year's team that represented half of the overall starts on the line. Also absent during spring ball will be returning starter Tim Lynott, who will be rehabbing an Achilles injury.

That means competition will be wide open — which is exactly the way O-line coach Klayton Adams wants it to be.

"I always thought that was the best thing when I was a player — you have to earn it," Adams said. "If you truly have to compete and earn it and scratch and claw every day just to have your job, you're probably going to push yourself into being a better player."

There are three players available for spring ball who have ample starting experience: senior Josh Kaiser (five starts at left and right tackle last year), junior Aaron Haigler (nine starts at tackle and guard) and junior Isaac Miller (six starts at tackle).

But there is also a large group of youngsters with the ability and desire to break into the starting lineup, including juniors Dillon Middlemiss and Brett Tonz, along with redshirt freshmen Colby Pursell, Grant Polley, William Sherman, Hunter Vaughn and Chance Lytle.

The situation will definitely be different than the last couple of years, when the Buffs entered spring and fall camp with a very good idea of who the starters would be. This year, it is much more wide open at virtually every spot on the line.

"There's not as many starts coming back," Adams said. "I like to go into every camp, whether it's spring or training camp in the summer, with the idea that anybody could win a job at any spot. It's the mentality that we always want to have. You're going to have to compete for anything you want. It's just more of an emphasis now because there's going to be some guys that start the first game of the year who haven't started a game. It's exciting."

A year ago, head coach Mike MacIntyre set the bar high in fall camp when he said he expected CU's line to be the best in his tenure in Boulder. But a variety of issues — from injuries to suspensions — prevented the Buffs from ever establishing the continuity that is a requirement for a solid, consistent offensive line.

"At the end of the day, whether it was continuity or toughness or any of the other factors, the bottom line is the product we put on the field was not up to our standard," Adams said. "That's a big emphasis for us this offseason — improvement, being tougher, being better finishers, getting stronger."

That means Adams — who will also be in his first year as co-offensive coordinator alongside Darrin Chiaverini — will do his best this spring to find the right spots for players early and get them focused on that position.

"I think last year we probably had people maybe playing too many spots," Adams said. "A lot of that was out of necessity because of injury. But ideally you'd like to figure out who three or four of the guys that you really think are going to be starters are. Then you start fitting them into spots where they can get comfortable playing next to somebody. It's a fine line between creating continuity and also creating that competition. That's what our goal is."

Despite losing three starters to graduation, Adams believes the Buffs have a good starting point with a large group of upperclassmen.

"We have guys like Aaron (Haigler), Isaac (Miller) and Josh (Kaiser)," Adams said. "There's also a big group of other juniors, guys like Dylan Middlemiss, who are going to get their opportunity to win a job. Brett Tonz is a guy who played a little bit for us last year and we want to see more from him."

And, there is the group of very promising youngsters.

"Colby Pursell is a guy we almost played as a true freshman last year," Adams said. "I'm really excited to watch him compete. He's had a great offseason and is really working at it. Will Sherman is a guy who's really showing up this offseason. A guy who's kind of been quiet throughout the process and hasn't had a lot of people talk about him is Chance Lytle. He's quietly put together a really nice redshirt year and a really nice offseason. He's massive, he's strong, he's a very sharp, cerebral kid.

"I'm excited about all of those guys. None of them have done anything yet, so we have to get out there and play football and see what some of them can do."

But what may be the biggest key for the line — and the rest of the team, for that matter — will be the attitude throughout the offseason.

"I think there was a big lesson learned by the team during the season that you can't just show up and expect to win," Adams said. "You have to earn it throughout the offseason. I think especially the juniors and seniors on this team learned that the hard way. As unfortunate and disappointing as it was, I think it will be a good motivation for us throughout the offseason."

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu