Brian Cabral (2019) - CU Athletic Hall of Fame - University of Colorado Athletics

Brian Cabral

Induction:
2019
Class:
1978

A Colorado Buffalo to the core, as he was a three-year letterman in football (1975-77) and an assistant coach for 24 seasons, 23 of which were full-time (1990-2012) … Those 23 years as a full-time assistant rank as the most in CU history, not only for football but for all sports, as he passed the previous record holders (two legendary “Franks,” Potts and Prentup, both of whom assisted Buff head football coaches for 18 seasons) … In his tenure, he held various other titles, including interim head coach, associate head coach, assistant head coach and defensive run game coordinator … He first joined the Buffalo staff as graduate assistant in 1989 … He always coached the inside linebackers, and occasionally had the outside ‘backers under his direction as well … From 1999 through 2005, he also coached the punt return unit on special teams, and served as the director of CU's summer football camps from 1995 through 2005 and for a brief time as recruiting coordinator … He worked under five head coaches during his tenure: Bill McCartney, Rick Neuheisel, Gary Barnett, Dan Hawkins and Jon Embree (for all seven seasons under Barnett, Cabral also was the assistant head coach) … He twice served as interim head coach, for a three-month period in the spring of 2004 and for the final three games of 2010 (CU was 2-1 under his direction) … He coached three first team All-Americans: Jordon Dizon (Butkus Award runner-up), Roman Hollowell (punt returner) and Matt Russell (Butkus Award winner), seven All-Big Eight/12 performers and 10 NFL players and/or draft picks, including another Butkus runner-up in Ted Johnson … Among other position players he recruited to CU were tailback Rashaan Salaam, the 1994 Heisman trophy winner, and Chris Naeole, a 1996 All-American guard … His players through the years registered over 6,000 tackles wearing the Black & Gold he once wore … He began his coaching career at Purdue, where he coached the inside linebackers for two seasons (1987-88), and once he left CU after the 2012 season, he was the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for four years (2013-16) at Indiana State … As a player under Coach Bill Mallory, he recorded 297 tackles in his CU career (120 solo, 177 assisted), a number that still has him tied for 18th on Colorado’s all-time list (a unique fact is that he coached 10 of the other 19 players in CU’s all-time top 20, including eight players on the list ahead of him) … He was a captain and played a big role on CU's Big Eight champion team in 1976, and CU with 13 tackles (12 solo) in the 1977 Orange Bowl against Ohio State … As a senior, he was honored as the Big Eight Conference’s player of the week for a monster 25 tackles in a CU 27-21 win over Stanford (it included 13 solo stops and is still tied for the fourth most in a single game in CU history) … He was a nine-year NFL veteran, as Atlanta drafted him in the fourth round in 1978 … He played two seasons with Atlanta, one with Green Bay and six with Chicago … As the captain of the Bears' special teams, he was a member of Chicago's Super Bowl XX champion team in 1985 (he was the team’s special teams captain) … He was selected as the Frito-Lay Unsung Hero in the Bears’ 45-10 win over New England, as he had two solo and two assisted tackles on special teams … He coached (14) or played in (two) a total of 16 bowl games in his collegiate career … Was a founding board member of the Polynesian Coaches Association, formed in 2007 … A 1978 CU graduate, as he earned a B.S. degree in therapeutic recreation … Now active in CU’s alumni organization, Buffs4Life, which helps former Buffs in need … Born June 23, 1956, in Fort Benning, Ga., but grew up in Kailua, Hawai’i … A longtime active member in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and authored a book, Second String Champion.