Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: CU Coaches Caravan Postcard - Day 5
May 17, 2013 | General, B.G. Brooks
Was it a success?
CU Athletic Director Mike Bohn and the Buffaloes' new football coach, Mike MacIntyre, gave the tour an emphatic thumbs up.
"Anytime you engage the public on a broad spectrum from people associated with the university and people who are not - some may be disconnected, some may be close - you get feedback and feel their connection with the institution," Bohn said. "It's been extremely gratifying and inspirational - it's touched all of us - that they're paying attention and that they care."
MacIntyre, hired in December and seeing much of Colorado for the first time, termed the tour "very beneficial" from the standpoint of "seeing the different communities, getting a feel for the exact locations, the distances in between - that sort of thing. It's been a lot of fun meeting the ground-floor faithful, so to speak."
On four days of bus trips - kudos to Horizon Coach Lines - to Fort Collins to the north and Pueblo to the south and stops in between, MacIntyre also got acquainted with men's basketball coach Tad Boyle and women's basketball coach Linda Lappe. That, too, he said was beneficial after only five months on the job.
"As you well know, we've all been in the bus for a while, cars and speaking at different places and interacting," MacIntyre said. "That's been a lot of fun seeing the different personalities, which is great. I think it's really been good because now we can make connections, help each other in recruiting or different situations that arise from time to time and have each other's back."
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| Having had practice on Tuesday, women's basketball head coach Linda Lappe is in a zone working the McDonald's Drive Thru in Vail. |
Central to the tour's mission was helping CU build on a sense of statewide community among its fan base. Bohn believed the Caravan and the interaction it provided for coaches and fans helped this tour accomplish that this spring maybe more than any past tour.
"Our expectations are always high, but we couldn't be prouder from the military to the civic leaders to all the different people that came and talked to us and shared their views," Bohn said. "We're appreciative of them. It's one of the missions of our statewide tour to say thank you for their support and emotional connection to the university."
Bohn said meeting so many new people and reconnecting with others "has been a real treat."
MacIntyre managed to "keep it fresh" with a new story at nearly every stop - although he said the final stop in Grand Junction "might tax me . . . maybe I'll have to tell one over again." He didn't, recalling his tenure as secondary coach at Temple in 1998 and a stunning schematic change in a week that helped the Owls to a 24-20 upset of No. 5 Virginia Tech - a 38.5-point favorite.
Bohn said MacIntyre's repertoire of football tales will expand: "He's going to have a chance to grow some of his own (at CU) and that'll make it even better."
Bohn called MacIntyre "a true gentleman and a professional at each and every spot. He's shared so much about himself; he's all in, he's jumped in with both feet. He realizes the pride and the connection with the community. That's been so important this week - community and how we're all interconnected. Mike really drove that home in a big way. It's been great for him to be able to see the state and meet the people. It's been invaluable for him."
Bohn also said the interest shown by Buffs fans at every stop provided "a great message to take back to our student-athletes. They represent so much more and so many things that are bigger and greater than themselves. We have the ability to deliver that message back to them."
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| CU mascot Chip has a rare quiet moment before heading to Vail during the final day of the CU Coaches Caravan. |
Friday's stops included the McDonald's in West Vail, the Berry Creek Middle School in Edwards, and one final happy hour meeting at the Doubletree Grand Junction.
Hitting Friday's highlights:
- On the final day, the Caravan picked up a "newbie" - CU Chancellor Phil DiStefano, who joined the tour for the morning flight to Vail, then the afternoon trip to Grand Junction. He had attended Day One's final stop in Boulder. "From what I saw from our three head coaches and other coaches in attendance then, they've had a wonderful outreach to the state," DiStefano said. "I want to congratulate all of them."
- Former CU tight end Quinn Sypniewski (2000-05) met the Caravan at the McDonald's in West Vail, making the short trip from his home in nearby Avon. He's married now (Mia) and has two children (Keira, Kolt). Sypniewski played four seasons for the Baltimore Ravens before a series of left knee injuries terminated his NFL career 21/2 years ago. Sounds nearly unbelievable, but he's had nine surgeries on his knee - the most recent on April 12. He's on crutches for three months and wearing a brace, and when he discards the crutches he'll be relegated to low impact exercise. Of his time with the Ravens, he laughed and said, "I don't know what they were thinking, but they had to go ahead and win their Super Bowls without me."
- Also visiting the West Vail McDonald's for a visit with the Caravan was former college athletics administrator Chuck Neinas, whose son, Toby, coaches special teams for MacIntyre. Chuck Neinas and wife Patty Pacey have a home in Vail and were in the area for the day. "When I heard about this stop on the tour, I thought I'd drop by," he said. "It's good to see so many familiar faces."
- Chuck has received a glowing report from his son on MacIntyre. "He tells me he's never been with a better coach in terms of leadership and organization," the elder Neinas said. Only 41, Toby Neinas this fall will enter his 18th season as a full-time college assistant. He's been at Temple, Alabama-Birmingham, San Diego State, New Mexico and most recently at Montana State, where MacIntyre found him.
- Friday's second stop was at the Berry Creek Middle School in Edwards, where principal Amy Vanwel assembled her 350 students to hear Boyle talk about goal setting, MacIntyre on what it means to be a student-athlete and Lappe on sportsmanship, team work, respect, pride and competition.
- As a bonus, the students received an extemporaneous and insightful message from Associate Athletic Director Jim Senter on the courage required to stand up to bullying.
- The coaches complied with students' autograph requests, but the middle school session's rock star was mascot Chip. Apologies to MacIntyre, Boyle and Lappe, but the line for Chip's autograph dwarfed the coaches' lines. No surprise, but Chip was a week-long hit.
- At the tour's last stop, Boyle told of an affinity for Grand Junction that arose from a bet with his mom that he could stop drinking Coca-Cola for a year. When he did and won the bet, his payoff was going to the Ed McCauley basketball camp at Mesa State. Boyle went that year and for the next several. "I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Grand Junction," he said.
- Lappe's team will travel to Italy in August, which she said will give her added time to ponder how to replace leading scorer/rebounder Chucky Jeffery. Throughout the tour, Lappe said that replacing Jeffery likely would be done by committee.
- The Caravan's 30 stops didn't magically fall into place. Josi Carlson, assistant director of special events, and Gail Pederson, chief of staff, fashioned a five-day tour with few hitches. If there's a tour next spring, here's hoping it unfolds as smoothly and productively.
