Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Day 1 Of The Embree Era Is In The Books
December 06, 2010 | Football, B.G. Brooks
At 9:10 a.m. Colorado Athletic Director Mike Bohn called a departmental staff meeting to order, immediately thanking chair Dr. David Clough for steering his selection committee through a "daunting process . . . they spilled their guts out on this. Everybody stepped up" . . . .
Enter Embree - to a standing ovation. "Embo" will be the first to tell you it's always about the bottom line, the wins and losses, but here's the departmental consensus: He's the right choice at the right time. "The right fit," as he and others would say later in the morning. His message, in a nutshell, to the AD staff: "Raise the standard" in CU football and university-wide as the school enters the Pac-12 Conference. "All of us are going into the Pac-12 - not just the football team," he said. "When we get there, we're all going to be sending the same message . . . I want us to be the flagship university for the Pac-12." . . . .
Embree expects to finalize his staff by mid-week or just after. Two assistants - long-time linebackers coach Brian Cabral and newly named offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy - already are on board. Bieniemy, currently the Minnesota Vikings' running backs coach, and Embree haven't talked about Bieniemy's position responsibilities. Current CU running backs coach Darian Hagan expects to be retained, but he's not sure in what capacity . . . .
Embree's introduction of his friend, Bieniemy, was classic. He told of his own responsibilities as an NFL position coach (tight ends, Washington Redskins), then outlined the duties of a running backs coach - which include picking up blitzes and protecting the quarterback. Said Embree: "So when you see Brett Favre limping . . ."
Your turn, "EB." "If you saw Brett Favre (get crunched from behind Sunday against Buffalo), it was his own fault. He held the ball too long." . . . .
Vikings running back Adrian Peterson on Bieniemy: "'EB' has helped me so much over the past four years. He helped me grow as a player and as a man and has been important to me off the field as much as on it. He brings tremendous passion and his background as a player makes you listen to him close. He wants the best for all his players and treats everyone equally. Going to Colorado is a great opportunity for him and I know how strongly he feels about Colorado. They're getting a great coach who is going to help them return to the glory days they had when he was a player there." . . . .
Bieniemy, a recent inductee into the school's Sports Hall of Fame, said on his recruiting trip to Boulder in 1986, he realized CU was "a special environment." He left without his degree in 1990, but returned and completed the necessary work before being hired as an assistant coach by Gary Barnett. Bieniemy called completing that work and getting his degree "the proudest moment of my life." . . . .
Bieniemy's observation and promise on Embree's work ethic: "Jon is going to work his livin' ass off." . . . .
Embree played at CU in the late '80s and later was on the staff of three former Buffs coaches (Bill McCartney, Rick Neuheisel, Barnett). Buffs traditions, of course, were transferred to his family. He said sons Taylor, now at UCLA, and Connor, at UNLV, "knew the (CU) fight song before he knew The Star Spangled Banner." . . . .
CU's 24th head football coach met with his players early Monday morning. He told them what expects from them and what they should expect from him. Starting Tuesday, it won't be easy. Spring drills - dates and times to come - will be, ah, interesting. Starting Tuesday morning at 7, Embree will get at least three minutes of face time with each player. He posted signup sheets in the football office, with orders for all players to pick a time slot between Tuesday and Wednesday mornings . . . .
Weather permitting (and it permitted Monday morning), could there be a better setting for a news conference than Folsom Field's East Side, with the Flatirons and Front Range as a backdrop? I haven't seen one. The official announcement of CU's impending entry into the Pac-12 was made there, as well as the hiring of Embree and Bieniemy . . . .
Embree's recollection of being hired by McCartney in 1991: Embree had been hospitalized when he received a call from 'Mac' asking him to come to his office. Can you wait a couple of days, "Embo" asked. In a couple of days, he appeared in McCartney's office and was told he was going to be the Buffs' tight ends coach. "For free," Embree recalled. But he had designs on bigger, better things: "I wanted his job . . . I never doubted I'd be standing here one day." . . . .
Here's a change of pace: Embree surveyed Folsom Field and the Dal Ward building at the north end and marveled at the . . . upgrade. "It was rock bottom when I got here (in 1986)," he said. "We had one dumbbell." . . . .
What's his biggest challenge? "Raising the bar," he answered. As he told his players, "It's not going to be easy, but it's going to be worth it." . . . .
A recent "Embo" observation about the Buffs: "When I watched Colorado play, I didn't sense they believed they could win . . . we need to change that." Embree wants to "get the swagger back in the program," and calls the fact that CU won a co-national championship in 1990 "one of the best kept secrets out there." . . . .
Embree on his predecessor: "I know Dan Hawkins did the best he could; I've got nothing against Dan Hawkins . . . but to see the program not flourish was hard." . . . .
Bieniemy also interviewed for the head coaching job, and his joining Embree's staff was seen by some as a dicey proposition. Not so, said both men. Embree and Bieniemy have long known they would work together again - and they were hoping it would be at CU. Bieniemy said if there was anyone he could have chosen to finish second to, "It would be him." When he knew he wasn't going to get the CU job, Bieniemy said he "needed 24 hours to digest it all" before he told Embree he would join his staff. "I wanted to have peace of mind. I needed to sleep on it . . . but it's great to be back in Boulder. Growing into a young man started here. It feels great to be part of something like this." . . . .
Was CU's coaching search indeed national? Bohn says yes. He also believes that during the search "too much" was made of the school not being able to pay top dollar - try $3 to 4 million or so - to its next coach. At the press conference announcing Hawkins' dismissal, Bohn said CU likely wouldn't exceed $2 million in salary for Hawkins' successor. Financial terms of Embree's contract have not been released, but it will be a five-year deal. Bieniemy also will get a multi-year pact, with Embree sacrificing some of his prospective income to increase the salary pool for his assistants . . . .
What sold Bohn and the selection committee on Embree? It was the entire package, but this answer loomed large in "Embo's" favor: When Bohn asked Embree about being the CEO of the football program, would he be the leader, the guy in charge, "Jon leaned in, looked me in the eye and said, 'Absolutely . . . there's no question about that." . . . .
Minus Bieniemy, who had to return to Minnesota, a BuffBus left the stadium at 1:20 p.m. for Embree's Denver meet-the-media tour and a couple of receptions (Blake Street Tavern first, Omni Interlocken Hotel later). About 400 persons showed up at Blake Street, including former CU president Hank Brown and former Buffs Chad Brown and Brian Daniels. Embree made a push to get more fans to travel to Pac-12 venues: "There are no excuses now . . . no more Manhattan, no more Lincoln. But let's get those guys (the Huskers) in the Rose Bowl one of these days, what do you say?" The crowd said good idea and sang the fight song. Twice. Noticed this during the morning and early afternoon: Embree's mantra seems to be "restore the luster" - and he's serious about it . . . .
Word spread on the bus about 4:35 p.m. that the Broncos had fired Coach Josh McDaniels. The initial reaction on the bus: Why Monday? Fair question, with the Buffs finally able to revel in the news of Embree's hiring. The Broncos' move wasn't timed to steal the Buffs' thunder or push CU off the front page - although that was the result. And that thought was conveyed to Bohn in a call from the Broncos organization. Classy . . . .
Last bus stop was the Omni in Broomfield, where a private reception preceded the public function at 6 p.m. Embree's energy level still was high. He told a crowd of about 250, "Thank you guys for the support you're going to give me; I'm going to need it." He also said the Buffs must establish an identity: "Our players have to know who they are before they know where they're going. We don't have an identity." But that's going to change. He wants the Buffs to get their "swag" back and believes that's a key element in a road losing streak that dates to 2007. The Buffs are about to encounter a coach who doesn't value talk. "Embo" let them know it on Day 1, and they'll hear more of it the more they're around him. "Show me who you are - don't tell me," he said. As was the case at the afternoon's first stop, Cabral was warmly welcomed by the crowd. If Embree was spot on with his first hire (Bieniemy), he also did pretty well with No. 2. It obviously was a popular choice among CU fans, Cabral called the reception "very humbling and gratifying. It meant a lot to me." The BuffBus left Broomfield minus Bohn, Embree, his wife Natalyn and their daughter, Hannah. Word was they had a better offer.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
