Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Celestine Battles To Overcome Early Bad Break
March 29, 2010 | Football, B.G. Brooks
Seeking to make an immediate impression in early practices, the junior receiver suffered a broken right ring finger on the second day of practice. It wasn't the kind of start he dreamed of during his time away from football.
"That made me drop a couple of balls (and) kind of upset me," said Celestine, a 2007 scholarship signee who left the team for personal reasons the following year but since has regained his academic eligibility, worked his way back onto the roster and reclaimed his scholarship.
"I'm definitely trying to get a push in the last two weeks (the spring game is Saturday, April 10)," he continued. "The first two weeks were OK, but I didn't do anything as good as I can. I'm really going to try and step it up."
Celestine said last week's spring break - the Buffs were off for 10 days before resuming practice Monday afternoon - afforded his finger additional time to heal. Rather than wearing a splint, he's practicing with the third finger taped to his middle finger for support.
"The first two weeks were OK, but it was still kind of like a learning process for me," he said. "I was making sure before every practice I was studying the playbook a day ahead of time. But it was just the finger that was really messing me up. I dropped a couple of easy balls, which made me kind of get down on myself.
"But it still felt real good just to be back out there with my teammates and to be back in a football atmosphere."
Celestine, of Mamou, La., was eager to show well for new receivers coach Robert Prince, who succeeded head coach Dan Hawkins at the position. So despite the broken finger, Celestine continued to practice and continued trying to make receptions.
"The (broken) finger hurt him," Prince conceded. "The first couple of weeks, with his hand, were disappointing (for him) because he'd get himself open and then wouldn't finish the play. But I didn't want to let that be an excuse for him, that he wasn't catching it because of the finger."
Celestine didn't want it to be an excuse either. But in addition to the injury, Prince said Celestine needs more polish at what is still a relatively new position.
"I still think this is new for him," Prince said. "He was a quarterback in high school, a 'wildcat' kind of guy. There's things he definitely still learning; but he's very willing to learn, he's working at it."
Celestine's impression of Prince mirrors that of the other Buffs receivers: "He's a very inspiring guy . . . very motivated. He lets me know me what I'm doing with my details. I really like him."
Although he has been getting most of his work with a No. 3 group of receivers, Celestine isn't concerning himself with spring depth charts.
"I'm just trying to make sure I do everything right, get all my assignments right," he said.
As for CU's other receivers, Prince saw enough of them over the first seven practices to believe "we'll have a solid group." He said junior transfer Toney Clemons (Michigan) "will be a big asset for us. He's shown good hands and the ability to catch in traffic."
His take was very similar on junior Markques Simas: "He's got a great knack of how to get open and creating separation. He's also strong in a crowd; someone can be right on his back and he's still making the play."
Senior Scotty McKnight suffered a lower leg/foot injury in the first spring scrimmage and immediately afterwards was on crutches and wore a protective boot. However, his injury wasn't as severe as initially believed and he said Monday he was recovering quickly.
Hawkins said McKnight told him he might even practice Monday, but that didn't happen. Still, Hawkins didn't discount CU's leading receiver returning before spring drills end.
"He's a tough guy; I really like him," Prince said. "He's very smart and has a knack for getting open, knowing how to attack a defender's leverage and creating space. And he has really good hands."
Of the receivers he wasn't able to see on tape when he was prepping for spring drills, Prince said walk-on Kyle Cefalo was impressive before spring break: "He's been good with the ball in his hands and running the sweeps."
CU-CSU KICKOFF SET: CU's 2010 season-opener against Colorado State (Sept. 4, Invesco Field at Mile High) will begin at noon and be televised on The Mtn. The game returns to Denver after being played in Boulder last season. Since 1998, only three games in the fierce intrastate rivalry have not been played in Denver. The 2004, 2005 and 2009 games were played in Boulder.
KEEPING IT SIMPLE: Prior to spring drills, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Eric Kiesau said the theme on his side of the ball would be overall simplicity and becoming as polished as possible while adhering to a pared-down playbook.
Prince, who doubles as the passing game coordinator, believes that goal is being met without sacrificing the amount of offense needed to avoid becoming predictable.
"There's always the fine line of (having) enough offense," he said. "Is it simple enough or are you missing the details? I think that's one thing we've trying to do - be detailed on the things that we've been installing. We've actually really slowed down our install, just so we get a lot of repetition on the stuff we're doing."
BUFF BITS: After the 10-day layoff, Hawkins described Monday's early work as "sluggish," but said the Buffs "picked it up" as the practice progressed . . . . Hawkins said he spent his spring break visiting his grandson in Boise, Idaho, and also said he paid visits to other programs undergoing spring work . . . . While Hawkins was non-committal on the fall status of junior defensive back/receiver Anthony Wright, who is out of spring drills due to a knee injury, he said sophomore Steven Hicks (academics) would not return in the fall . . . . Former Buffs linebacker Ron Woolfork, now the head coach at Denver East, attended Monday's practice. Three of Woolfork's former players - running back Quentin Hildreth, tight end DaVaughn Thornton and kicker/punter Zach Grossnickle - currently are on the CU roster.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
