Buffs Push Tempo As Spring Drills Begin
February 23, 2018 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — There was no easing into the swing of things Friday morning for the Colorado Buffaloes on their first day of spring drills.
Instead, the Buffs hit the field at full speed and didn't stop until their first two-hour session of the spring was over. From the up-tempo pace of 11-on-11 drills to the rapid-fire progression of individual work to the final conditioning session, CU's coaches kept players moving.
"The pace we go at, moving drill to drill, all the demands were giving them — trying to put a lot of pressure on them," head coach Mike MacIntyre said. "Kind of make it chaotic at times like happens in a game so they'll be able to react to it. I thought they handled it well — it wasn't pretty, but I thought they handled it well."
The rapid pace was particularly evident in 11-on-11 drills. While CU has done its best to boost the offensive tempo over the last couple of years, offensive co-coordinator Darrin Chiaverini appeared to ratchet up the pace another notch as he enters his first year of calling plays.
"That's the way I want to call it," Chiaverini said. "I like to envision in my mind how the play's going to work out so I can get to the next tempo call. We want to set the tempo early and understand that we want to play fast, understand that we want to apply pressure to the defense instead of the defense applying pressure on us. "
Monday's first spring practice was understandably a little erratic at times as the timing between quarterbacks and receivers was by no means razor sharp. But there were still some big plays on both sides of the ball and the pace kept the ball moving up and down the field.
"I thought the effort was great," Chiaverini said. "The execution was OK today, but first day of spring, I expected that. I expected the timing to be a little off and it was a little bit for the quarterbacks and receivers. The execution is going to come as we get our timing down. Right now, we want to make sure everyone understands that we're going to play fast. That's my philosophy when we're calling it and and that's how we're practicing it."
The rapid pace meant plenty of repetitions for everyone. Quarterbacks Steven Montez, Sam Noyer and Tyler Lytle all got their fair share of snaps and the opportunity to throw to a wide variety of receivers.
"I loved the effort," Chiaverini said. "They gave great effort today and we made some plays. I like the fact that we're getting a lot of man-to-man from our defense, so it's helping these receivers work their routes. I saw some good things. That's what's fun about spring, is watching guys make plays and compete. That's what you want to see, is guys competing."
With so many spots up for grabs, this will no doubt be a competitive spring on both sides of the ball.
"There's some new guys out there, a lot of guys competing for jobs," MacIntyre said. " That creates a lot of hunger. I definitely felt like they had a sense of urgency. (But) they wanted to do it right. They're helping each other. The thing I like is there's a lot of good chatter between each group of guys when somebody messed up. It wasn't griping, it was helping and pushing them. I hope to keep seeing more of that."
PRACTICE NOTES: The Buffs practiced in the Indoor Practice Facility on the first day, but MacIntyre said he hoped to move outside either Saturday or Monday if the weather cooperates. The Buffs were in shorts and helmets Friday, and will be again on Saturday. Their first day of pads is scheduled for Monday, although it will be a no-tackling practice. NCAA rules allow 15 spring practices, with four in pads with no tackling, five in pads with tackling allowed 50 percent of the time or less, and three in pads with tackling allowed throughout (as in extended scrimmages). …
Although it was just the first day, both the offense and defense delivered some big plays. Wide receivers Juwann Winfree and Kabion Ento both came up with big catches on deep balls while defensive end Terrance Lang had a batted ball and interception.
"Juwann made a play that not many guys make," Chiaverini said. "Kabion made another deep ball catch. We're counting on those guys to make big plays and we have to keep bringing Laviska (Shenault) along and bringing K.D. (Nixon) along."
Lang, who redshirted last fall, is now a solid 6-foot-5, 275 pounds and should be a force coming off the edge.
"Doesn't have an ounce of fat on him," MacIntyre said. "We'd like him to gain a little bit more weight but we want him to keep being able to run like he can run. He's extremely athletic."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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