Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Embree Promises Freshmen To Get Good Look
April 08, 2011 | Football, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - It has been a getting-to-know-you kind of spring in Colorado football. Late summer and early fall promise more of the same.
If returning players have learned anything in 14 spring practices about Coach Jon Embree and Coordinators Eric Bieniemy (offense) and Greg Brown (defense), it is that reinforcements in the form of incoming freshmen will be warmly received.
Early on in spring drills, which conclude with Saturday's Spring Game (6 p.m., Folsom Field, free admission), Embree promised his returning players this: The 19 freshmen who arrive this summer will be given genuine opportunities to position themselves on the depth chart and contribute. If his 2011 signees can make an impact, Embree wants it to be immediate.
A number of injuries at several positions have complicated the new staff's spring evaluation of returning players. But their absence has offered opportunities for others, which Embree views "as a positive . . . we're looking at some guys who we might not have seen otherwise. And like I said, when these freshmen come in, we're plugging them in. Guys can't say they didn't get their chance. They've had 15 practices, they've had the off-season workouts, they've had all the opportunities to show what they can do. We're plugging (freshmen) in, then we're going to evaluate them and see what they can do."
That's SOP for most college coaches, particularly in the skill positions and various spots on defense. But at CU, it's especially vital for Greg Brown as he sifts through contenders to replace departed cornerbacks Jimmy Smith and Jalil Brown. On offense, Bieniemy wants to eyeball two pairs of incoming running backs and receivers, with the special teams focus by assistant coach J.D. Brookhart on an arriving placement specialist and anyone else who can enhance his kick/punt teams.
Overall, Embree will want to gauge his newcomers' toughness and physicality - traits he says the Buffs developed over the past month. "We're physical," he said. "They way we practice without pads, the way we've started chasing the ball . . . guys getting after each other. It's been a very good spring from that standpoint. I know that they understand how to practice. I know it's been pretty grueling. We've done a lot of hitting. We've been on them; they've been coached very hard and 95 percent of the guys have responded. I'm very happy about that."
In some areas, August camp could provide a daily personnel scramble. But first comes Saturday's conclusion to Embree's first set of spring drills. The scrimmage looms large for some players, he said, because "there's a couple of guys fighting for positions, whether it's No. 2 at a certain spot, or being a starter or just their spot on the team and a chance to go to Hawaii . . . so for some guys (Saturday) is a big day."
A (nearly) post-spring look at the Buffs from Brown's, Bieniemy's and Brookhart's perspectives:
OFFENSE
Bieniemy's unit and Brown's went back-and-forth for most of the practices preceding the Spring Game, interspersing good with not-so-very good days. Not surprisingly, each coordinator pointed to more consistency as an August goal.
Still, neither coach faulted his unit's effort.
"The kids have worked their tails off . . . everybody has bought into what we brought in as a staff," Bieniemy said. "The kids want to do it the right way. When you've got kids who've bought in and want to do it the right way, you've got a chance. Now, is it perfect? No. Are we where we want to be? No. But each and every day we've seen improvement - and that's all you ask for."
Bieniemy said while only "a small percentage" of the new pro-style offense has been installed, broader concepts have been introduced - which is as important as the total package. Senior quarterback Tyler Hansen appears to have grasped the schematic changes and has the inside track to becoming the starter.
"I like the fact that we're teaching concepts to our players and our players are learning that," Bieniemy said. "To me, that means a lot. I spent the past five years with certain guys who couldn't grasp some of the concepts in five years. Some of these kids have grasped the concepts in the past three weeks or so. That's a bonus."
Preseason camp initially will bring a review of those concepts and offensive packages introduced this spring before more of the offense is installed. But the overriding theme is confidence.
"There's some more things we'd like to add to the offense, but we want to make sure we're picking and choosing what we add to make sure it's going to help us to keep building," Bieniemy said. "The bottom line is to have our players develop confidence in their ability to perform at a high level. I think that has been shown . . . we're not there yet, but they are developing some confidence in what we're teaching. That's important.
"If we go into a game with 15 to 25 plays and go out and execute them with great attention to details, we'll feel pretty good about that. But there are some more wrinkles that we want to add. We want to make sure we're utilizing the skill set we have."
And that's where the newbies enter the picture. Every August practice will bring "an evaluation process" for the incoming freshmen, Bieniemy said. "The thing you don't want to do is leave a kid out who may come on and be a big contributor. A lot of freshmen don't play their first year, but you don't want to count any of them out until they've gotten here, settled and had a chance to grow in this offense. It's always a constant evaluation process.
"You always say an offensive lineman is not physically ready to play, but you don't want to count them out either. It's more at a skill position where you say a guy could help you right away. We're going to be smart about that and not close our eyes . . . the bottom line is, we want to play the best players, regardless of where he is in school - whatever gives us the best opportunity to have success."
High on the Buffs' spring to-do list was developing a running game with an edge. Before spring drills started, Embree wanted a handful of fail-safe run plays installed, then executed to perfection. "They're coming . . . oh yeah," Bieniemy said.
His running backs have had their spring moments. Bieniemy wants senior Rodney "Speedy" Stewart to become "a more complete" back, improving his receiving out of the backfield and his blocking. "He's a tremendous football player . . . his numbers, his body of work, have shown that," Bieniemy said. "His challenge is to become a complete player."
Bieniemy's only on-field look at senior Brian Lockridge has been on tape, but he's seen Lockridge in meetings and calls him "a cerebral player . . . it's almost like having an assistant coach in the room. I watched him play on a broken ankle against Georgia. I know what he brings to the table."
Redshirt freshman Tony Jones "is still trying to figure his way around, learning the pass game and protections . . . he's coming along," Bieniemy said, adding that fellow redshirt freshman Cordary Allen and transfer Josh Ford also have shown signs of improvement. "I'm proud of them for that."
As for the development of an overall punishing ground game, Bieniemy laughed and noted, "Yeah . . . one thing I think these guys know is that the old offensive coordinator/running backs coach, he loves to run the ball. These guys know that, and I think there's an attitude that's being developed here.
"But we have to learn how to be consistent here; you just can't run it sometimes. You've got to be able to force your will at all times. That's one thing we're trying to instill into all our players."
That task falls primarily to Bieniemy and O-line Coach Steve Marshall - and the process is familiar to each.
"We've worked together in the past and we've spoken that language," Bieniemy said, adding that Marshall's group and the quarterbacks "have done an outstanding job of picking up the blitz . . . Marshall has been doing this a long time. You can only throw X amount of blitzes at him that he hasn't seen.
"He's done a great job; he's getting those guys to understand and have an awareness of just seeing things. The thing I love about practicing against 'Brownie' is that we're seeing stuff that we might not ever see during the season - but it's good work, great work, for us."
DEFENSE
Brown will emerge from his first spring as CU's defensive coordinator having looked at the puzzle but not all of the pieces.
"They won't be there at all," he said. "We have to look at the (incoming) freshmen. Now, those guys could surprise you, too. They could come in and not be what you thought they'd be . . . but we need to take a long look at them."
"A lot" of those long looks will be taken in the secondary, "but at some other spots, too. But no question in the secondary; we're going to need some reinforcements - especially at corner."
Brown, who spent a season at Arizona as co-defensive coordinator before returning to CU, is familiar with injured (all knees) safeties Anthony Perkins, Parker Orms and Vince Ewing. All three are expected back in August, but Brown doesn't discount giving Orms a look at corner to get his four best players in a No. 1 secondary.
Versatile Travis Sandersfeld could enter the picture at any spot, said Brown: "He's smart as a whip, knows every assignment and we ask him to do a lot. He wears a lot of hats and does a tremendous job; he's just solid and made a lot of plays."
But not enough other players in the secondary have done that. Brown's best-case spring scenario would have been for two of the returning corners to move to the forefront, but it didn't happen. Thus, evaluating the freshmen becomes an August priority.
As for Sandersfeld setting into one spot, Brown said, "That's going to be interesting . . . we get Perkins back, and he's an established safety. Ray Polk is an established guy. Travis has come on like gangbusters; whatever it takes to get our best people on the field. That's part of the reason that we're not afraid to look at Orms as a corner."
The pair of defensive players Brown says made marked spring improvement is junior inside linebacker Doug Rippy and senior defensive tackle Conrad Obi. "Those are the two that jump out big time," Brown said. "Those two guys have come leaps and bounds from where they were when I was here in 2009.
"Obi is a credit to Mike Tuiasosopo (D-line coach) for getting that switch turned on. Rippy is a big, heavy load; when he hits you, that's a big body colliding in there."
Another pair of seniors - Tony Poremba, David Goldberg - took advantage of injuries at outside linebacker/defensive end to assert themselves this spring. "Both came forward and showed us something," Brown said.
Overall, Brown said his players have picked up schematic changes on a defense that will feature multiple looks: "To our guys credit - and we've thrown a lot at 'em - every day they've taken the new install, which has been three or four new things a day, and run with it. And they've not blown assignments at all. That's a big credit to our guys. They've studied the defense and schemes and done what we've asked them to there."
But there's that missing element of making plays . . . "Yeah," Brown said, "we've got to get guys to be playmakers. We've got to hang our hats on something and somebody. There have been some guys who have improved a great deal this spring, but not enough of them."
Preseason camp for the defense will feature more installation of sets that might be used early or late in the 2011 season - or even held for future reference.
"Just because you're putting things in doesn't mean you're using it right away," Brown said. "We've exposed them to a lot just so they'll get used to the idea that we don't sit in one defense all day long. We have to adjust to what the offense does and have some different weapons at our disposal.
"We have to learn that, and they've got to figure out they might run a defense in Week One and not run it again until Week Seven. It just depends on what the offense is doing. That one of the reasons we decided in the spring to give them new stuff each and every day - just learn it and give them an idea of what it feels like during the season when you're learning a new defense for this week or next week."
SPECIAL TEAMS
CU's biggest improvement for 2011 arguably must come in this area, and Embree remembers how much emphasis his former CU coach - Bill McCartney - placed on special teams play.
McCartney called the punt "the most important play in football" and gave hand-written invitations for players to be on the punt team. Embree remembers "because I was the only player on offense to get one. I was happy with that."
When a team is "not the most talented, you need win in all three phases," Embree added. "We need to make teams go a long ways; you can't give up short fields. All that stuff kind of goes hand in hand."
For CU's special teams, spring drills brought an emphasis on "kicking and as much coverage as we could do . . . to me it's more about coverage," Embree said. "We really gave guys all different looks and scenarios. We were trying to get kickers, especially our punter, to understand how he can change the field."
Sophomores Zach Grossnickle (punter) and Justin Castor (placement) received most of the spring work in their areas, but Brookhart wants to evaluate signee Will Oliver (placekicker) and possibly a walk-on or two before settling on a No. 1 punter and kicker.
"Nothing is set," he said. "(Spring practice) was a good chance for us to get a good feel for those guys, put in our system and evaluate special teams . . . there's too much time and too many unknowns (to name his punter/kicker now)."
Still, he said Castor, whose only field goal attempt last season was blocked, "made big strides the past two weeks." Of Grossnickle, he noted, "We've got a guy who's played, who's been on the stage, so that piece I feel good about. I think he understands what we're trying to do and he'll have a good summer to prepare. He's got a big leg."
Sophomore Ryan Iverson returns as the short/long snapper, while redshirt freshman Justin Gorman handled the bulk of the spring holding duties. Brookhart liked the work of both: "Iverson is really a good snapper and Gorman is one of the best holders I've been around. He's very, very natural."
By "cross-training" in assembling punt coverage and return teams, Brookhart believes he got a spring jump in those two areas. "I flipped my thinking," he said. "We put a two-deep together on punts and cross-trained, putting a two-deep together on returns, which was very beneficial."
As with his other special team spots, No. 1 kick and punt returners will be determined in August.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
|
High School (19) |
||||
| Name |
Pos
|
Ht
|
Wt
|
Hometown (Previous School) |
| ASIATA, Paulay |
OL
|
6-5
|
295
|
Honolulu, Hawai'i (St. Louis) |
| CLARK, Jermane |
ATH
|
6-2
|
205
|
Winston-Salem, N.C. (Oak Ridge Military Academy) |
| CREER, Malcolm |
RB
|
5-11
|
200
|
Los Angeles, Calif. (Palisades) |
| DAIGH, Brady |
LB
|
6-2
|
235
|
Littleton, Colo. (Mullen) |
| DORMAN, Stevie Joe |
QB
|
6-4
|
210
|
Somerset, Texas (Somerset) |
| GREER, Woodson |
LB
|
6-2
|
225
|
Carson, Calif. (Juniper Serra) |
| HALL, Rashad |
RB
|
6-0
|
200
|
Lynchburg, Va. (Oak Ridge Military Academy) |
| HARLOS, Will |
DB
|
6-4
|
200
|
Somerset, Texas (Somerset) |
| HARRINGTON, Sherrard |
DB
|
6-1
|
175
|
Washington, D.C. (Howard D. Woodson) |
| HENDERSON, Greg |
DB
|
5-11
|
185
|
Corona, Calif. (Norco) |
| KELLEY, Alex |
C
|
6-3
|
295
|
Oceanside, Calif. (Vista) |
| McCULLOCH, Tyler |
WR
|
6-4
|
200
|
Albuquerque, N.M. (Eldorado) |
| MUSTOE, Marc |
OL
|
6-7
|
280
|
Broomfield, Colo. (Arvada West) |
| NEMBOT, Stephan |
DE
|
6-8
|
280
|
Van Nuys, Calif. (Montclair Prep) |
| OLIVER, Will |
PK
|
5-11
|
185
|
Los Angeles, Calif. (Harvard-Westlake) |
| PARKER, Juda |
DE
|
6-2
|
245
|
Aiea, Hawai'i (St. Louis) |
| SPRUCE, Nelson |
WR
|
6-2
|
190
|
Westlake Village, Calif. (Westlake) |
| TU'UMALO, K.T. |
LB
|
6-2
|
200
|
Honolulu, Hawai'i (Punahou) |
| WASHINGTON, Kyle |
DB
|
6-1
|
200
|
Pasadena, Calif. (Florence, Ariz.) |
