Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Hartigan Finds Himself, Then His Natural Position
August 27, 2010 | Football, B.G. Brooks
For Josh Hartigan, it happened last season when he was relegated to a role on Colorado's scout team.
As the Buffs were preparing to visit No. 2 Texas in early October, Hartigan was asked to emulate Longhorns defensive end Sergio Kindle, who later would become the first player to be a finalist for both the Butkus (linebacker) and Ted Hendricks (defensive end) awards before being drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the second round.
Hartigan, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., had come to CU in January 2007 as a linebacker - a misplaced linebacker as it turns out. But he also felt misplaced in general as a mid-year enrollee trying to settle into college life and football halfway across the country.
"That took a toll for a long time," Hartigan told me following Thursday's practice. "I'd never been out of Florida before I came here. It was definitely hard. When I came in, it was after the 2006 season; all the guys who came in as freshmen (in August) were here and had their groups. I was kind of in the middle; I lived in a dorm by myself. It was hard to figure how and where to fit in."
Hartigan's first CU position coach was veteran linebackers boss Brian Cabral, who usually can make his "puppies" believe they belong and ease their acclimation to Boulder regardless of their roots. Hartigan was different. More often than not, his normal expression was a scowl. Rarely did he offer more than a nod and a hello.
"I wasn't myself for the first two years here," he conceded. "I wasn't happy too much; it was kind of rough. I know it was hard on the coaches trying to work with me. I just think that was me being young and stubborn - not doing what they wanted me to do and not doing what I needed to do to further myself on the team."
With Cabral's 'backer numbers on the south side of low, Hartigan practiced everywhere (Sam, Will and Mike positions) but played mostly on special teams - when he played. He was a nomad on his side of the ball and not really at home anywhere he settled.
Cabral, though, had advised him that the way to find his niche and get noticed was to excel on scout teams. But that never happens until a player wants it to happen.
"Being a young dude for first two seasons, I was just kind of going through the motions," Hartigan said. "I wasn't doing everything that was needed - that's why I didn't play under coach Cabral. (He) demands a lot from us and if I wasn't getting the job done, I wasn't going to get on the field . . . that was definitely on me.
"I think I'm able to communicate with the coaches a lot better now. They know what kind of person I am. We're able to work together. But I took the initiative last season. I was like, 'I don't want to be here for four years, three years, and not play.' I came out during the season, was on the scout team and did what I had to do. I ran around a couple of guys and made some plays."
When he "ran around a couple of guys," the offensive coaches - particularly O-line coach Denver Johnson and Brad Bedell, a former All-America guard at CU and Johnson's offensive technical intern - took notice. Johnson and Bedell went to defensive line coach Romeo Bandison and declared, "We can't block this guy."
Hartigan apparently was doing a pretty fair job with his impression of Sergio Kindle. So Bandison figured Hartigan might be deserving of a couple of practice series with the first and second defensive units. "He showed up," Bandison recalled. "So we started travelling him and filling him in here and there."
For the rest of the 2009 season, his niche discovered, Hartigan practiced at defensive end. But unfamiliarity with the defensive schemes and undisciplined play stymied any further progress. In spring ball, though, that changed.
Progress made in April has continued through August. On the first fall camp depth chart, he was listed No. 1 at left defensive end. There's a good chance he'll start against Colorado State in the Sept. 4 opener at Denver's Invesco Field at Mile High.
"He's making very few mistakes now and understands what he's doing," Bandison said. "It all seems to go together; when you're happy everything's easier. When you work hard and good things happen, it just keeps going."
Starting fast and staying at full speed are two of Hartigan's top attributes, Bandison said of the 6-foot-1, 225-pounder: "He's got a non-stop motor; he's always going fast . . . 100 miles an hour all the time."
Coincidentally, Bandison briefly played with Hartigan's father, Sterling Palmer, when both were with the Washington Redskins. But Palmer, a defensive end/linebacker at Florida State, wasn't actively involved in Hartigan's life until Hartigan's junior year at Northeast High School in Fort Lauderdale.
"We're close now," Hartigan said. "He tries, does what he can. And he definitely wants me to succeed."
Hartigan believes he's in a position - his natural position - that will allow him to succeed. Having played defensive end as a junior in high school, the spot wasn't foreign when he lined up there at CU. But he needed to accept the role and its responsibilities and run with them.
I asked him if he believed outsiders were surprised when they saw him listed No. 1 at his position on the depth chart. "Yeah, I definitely think so," he said. "But going into camp, I just felt like I needed to come out and do a few things. And now that I have, I hope I'll have a chance to play a little bit this season and show some people. Maybe it won't be as surprising as it was when they saw the depth chart.
"Everybody has their points when they first come and their focuses are on other things than football - going out and having fun. Once you get to that point where you know you're going to be on the field, where you know that you need to step it up to help the team, I think you force yourself to grow up. You throw yourself into it and start believing in it."
Two and a half years ago, Josh Hartigan wouldn't have, probably couldn't have, uttered those words with any conviction. The kid has found more than his natural position on defense.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
