Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Hansen Hopes To Stand Tall Among Pac-12 QBs
July 26, 2011 | Football, B.G. Brooks
LOS ANGELES - The Conference of Champions also is the Conference of QBs, and Colorado's Tyler Hansen is eager to prove he belongs. Buffs Coach Jon Embree believes Hansen already does.
The CU senior was among 12 Pac-12 players appearing here Tuesday with their coaches at the expanded league's inaugural media day, held at the Fox Studios Lot. Among that dozen players, almost half (five) were quarterbacks, with the list topped by Stanford's Andrew Luck and Southern California's Matt Barkley.
Luck, who finished second in last season's Heisman Trophy balloting, generally is regarded as college football's top returning QB and the 2011 Heisman frontrunner. Hansen hung with him briefly Tuesday morning and came away impressed.
"I met Luck for the first time this morning and he was really a down-to-earth guy," Hansen said. "He asked about Boulder, about what there was to do . . . it was cool to see and talk to somebody who's going to be a top-tier player in the nation. It was also pretty cool to see that as a team this summer we're doing the same things that (Stanford) has been doing."
Except for maybe his size, the 6-foot-1 Hansen didn't feel misplaced among the group that included the 6-5 Luck; 6-2 Barkley, a Davey O'Brien Award semifinalist last season; Arizona's 6-5 Nick Foles; and Arizona State's Brock Osweiler, who at 6-8 is the league's tallest player at his position. Barkley and Osweiler are juniors, the other three are seniors.
"I'd like to think I can be (competitive among that group)," Hansen said. "I need to have a good beginning and I can be among those mid- or top-tier guys. I'm confident in our offense, and if we start with a good couple of games I think I can be considered to be among them."
But Embree, about to begin his first season at CU, had this to say about his senior QB: "I think Tyler fits and belongs with the groups of guys that you have here, and the quarterbacks that you have in this conference. For Tyler to be effective, I look at touchdown and reception ratio. If he's throwing a lot of touchdowns, not a lot of interceptions, I'm happy with it. My last year at UCLA we had Drew Olson who was overshadowed by everybody in the conference, and I think Drew finished with 37 touchdowns and four interceptions - in that range. I'll take that every year.
"So to look at Tyler, that's what I think he'll be judged by as far as his on the field performance. But off the field he's done everything we need to do. I tell Tyler, the thing that I think will make him a successful person and help him be successful this year is he loves to prepare probably more than he loves to play.
"When you have that within you, that allows you to be successful. You know, he loves watching tape. He gets the guys out there to throw. He understands when we say something to him. He picked up the offense very quickly. He had a spring practice where he went 18 out of 19 for about 250 and three touchdowns. The thing that was really most impressive about that is out of his 19 attempts, only twice did he get downgraded for having a poor decision.
"So that tells me he knows where to go with the ball. He understands progression, he understands how coverage dictates some things to him, and he had a good feel for it. I'm very happy to have Tyler sitting up here next to me. I wish he was a junior (laughing)."
Embree has called Hansen the Buffs' undisputed team leader - a title Embree wanted Hansen to assume shortly after Embree was hired early last December.
"Coach 'Embo' has told me that the team goes as far as I go," Hansen said. "If I perform well, the team performs well. That's a lot responsibility, but I accept it. As a senior quarterback, that's something you have to do.
"He was hired last Dec. 6, and on Dec. 7 we met for half an hour. He told me then he wanted me to be a team leader, and I think I've done everything he's wanted me to do."
That includes taking the reins for the Buffs' voluntary summer conditioning work, which must be organized by players in the NCAA-mandated absence of coaches. Hansen took control early, getting a June jump on game-planning with the partial installation of offensive schemes for Games 1 (at Hawaii, Sept. 3) and 2 (Cal, Sept. 10).
"That's the first time since I've been here that we've got something in this early," Hansen said. "It should be an advantage for us; we're already starting to get it in our brains."
In a preseason media poll, Hansen and the Buffs were picked to finish last in the Pac-12 South Division, trailing (in order) USC, ASU, Utah, Arizona and UCLA. The poll, voted on by media who regularly cover the conference, has correctly identified the eventual conference champ in 10 of the past 11 seasons.
Oregon, the 2010 BCS runner-up, was picked to win the first-ever Pac-12 championship game.
Of being projected as the probable last-place South finisher, Hansen said, "That's OK . . . we all have the same record right now. We've got 27 seniors coming back, 17 starters returning; I think we've got the experience to compete. People aren't expecting a lot from us - and I kind of like that."
Imperative for the Buffs is a good start - and Hansen knows it. "Last year we went out 3-1 (to open the season) but we didn't build on it," he said. "This year, if we do that it's going to help us get through 13 games without a break. That's tough . . . we have to stay focused and develop a routine that's going to work for us."
Essentially, that was identical to Hansen's spring objective. New QB coach Rip Scherer's goal for Hansen was to mold him into a pocket passer in CU's new offense. But Hansen said Scherer's biggest contribution might have been teaching him "how to prepare and study, and he's also shared stories of quarterbacks he's coached and what made them tick. He's been everywhere and he's coached some great ones."
He believes Scherer's influence has been instrumental in tamping down a penchant to run impulsively from the pocket. Hansen said that's mostly been accomplished, sometimes even to the point of Scherer mildly scolding him for not taking advantage of running opportunities.
"But overall, I really grew in the spring," Hansen said. "My comfort level at the position has never been greater. The staff has put a lot of trust in me, naming me the starter after spring ball. That's good to know. I think it's helped me focus for the past three months."
He has completely recovered from the spleen injury that cost him the final month of his junior season. He called the recuperation "easy . . . it was just resting, really, for two months. The biggest thing it cost me was my appetite."
But that has changed. His hunger has returned and he now is up to 215 pounds - a weight he calls "ideal" before venturing into training camp next week and entering that period where weight comes off all players whether planned or not.
FIRST THINGS FIRST: From Boulder to Westwood, Rick Neuheisel and Jon Embree have a history. They both coached together at CU and UCLA, where Neuheisel is entering a fourth (and very critical) season. Neuheisel also is coaching Embree's eldest son, Taylor, a wide receiver.
And that, according to Neuheisel, already has planted the seeds for a potential dilemma come Nov. 19 when CU visits UCLA on Senior Day. Embree's looming quandary: Should he be with the Buffs or Taylor when his son is recognized before kickoff of his final home game?
Neuheisel has suggested a solution: "You've got to be there (with Taylor) . . . you just need to run out there on the field, make it quick, then go back to your team. If he doesn't get out there, I'm going to go get him."
Might be an exaggeration, but maybe not.
DOS AND DON'TS: Neuheisel's central advice to Embree is to "be yourself. You're not always going to be right, but do it your way, make your own mistakes. That's what you have to do in this job."
He called CU "a great fit for CU and for Jon, and he's very deserving. I'm very excited for him."
Meanwhile, Neuheisel is 15-22 at UCLA, 81-52 in a college career that has seen him also hold head coaching jobs at CU and Washington. His fourth season at UCLA could be of the "get better or get lost" variety - and Neuheisel recognizes it.
"We just haven't turned the corner to the extent that I thought possible," he said. "I thought we were on the verge of it after 2009 with the bowl win and coming back. But last year, unfortunately, we took a step backwards with respect to our progress for a number of reasons not to be gone into again.
"But I think what drives all competitive people are great challenges, and this is certainly that. It's a great challenge. I have a real stake in this. This is not just my job, it's my alma mater. It's kind of my dream to be the head coach at UCLA."
He opened his portion of media day with this: "As a coach on the proverbial hotseat I guess you're excited to be invited to any of these things."
WHEREVER, WHENEVER: CU has played on almost every day of the week over the last several years. Cal is about to see what that's like. The Golden Bears have a pair of Thursday games (at Oregon, Oct. 6; vs. USC, Oct. 13) and one Friday contest (at ASU, Nov. 25) this season.
"That's kind of what our season is going to be about," Cal Coach Jeff Tedford said. "We're in transition anyway, playing all our games at AT&T Park (San Francisco)."
That's because their stadium in Berkeley is undergoing major renovation.
NICE PEDIGREE: Some eyebrows were raised when David Shaw was tabbed as Jim Harbaugh's replacement at Stanford. Shaw hasn't been a head coach, but he thinks he possesses many of the same characteristics that Harbaugh employed to find success at The Farm.
"I think we're both competitive and the players feel that," Shaw said, listing his father, Jon Gruden, Bill Callahan and the late Bill Walsh as the coaches who have had the most influence on him.
Gruden, said Shaw, "beat me up; he threw me in dark room with mountains of tapes to educate me." Callahan "is a big reason I'm here right now; he taught me protections and running game." And "playing for Bill Walsh was an unbelievable experience - he was a step ahead, always the smartest person in any room."
PAC-12 PIECES: CU's 13-game schedule with no breaks will test the Buffs' conditioning, as well as their good fortune - particularly at QB, where Hansen is the only experienced competitor. Cal's Tedford knows the importance of keeping your QB healthy. Directed by a healthy Kevin Riley last season, the Bears averaged 37 points a game. When Riley was sidelined by injury, that number plummeted to 13 . . . . Luck is sporting a Geico caveman-style beard, although he says the growth's future is day-to-day. "I never had a beard; I'm hesitant to call it a beard," he said. "I don't think it's quite there yet. I don't know. I'd never done it before, so why not try? We'll see if it lasts. When I get annoyed with it, I'll shave it." . . . . A question to Oregon State Coach Mike Riley about new celebration and taunting rules was framed like this: "Is it like the Supreme Court's definition of porn - you can't define it, but you know it when you see it?" Riley handed off the question to senior safety Lance Mitchell, who diplomatically said his coach knows taunting and doesn't tolerate it . . . . Arizona Coach Mike Stoops on being picked fourth in the South Division: "I didn't even see it, it doesn't affect me. We're never picked high . . . they must think I'm a bad coach." . . . . How has Utah's fan base reacted to Pac-12 membership? "We've had 98 percent season ticket renewal," said Coach Kyle Whittingham. "Which is unheard of." . . . . Arizona State 60-something coach Dennis Erickson's opening remark: "It's great to be here; it's great to be anywhere at this point."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
