Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Bell's Return Deepens Buffs' Already Deep Pool Of Safeties
August 07, 2015 | Football, B.G. Brooks
(First in a series of position-by-position previews of the 2015 Buffs to be posted on CUBuffs.com during the preseason. Today: Safeties/nickel backs)
BOULDER – Last season offered more time for reflection than he ever wanted, but on Wednesday morning Jered Bell and his new position coach squeezed in a private reflective moment before the Colorado Buffaloes assembled for their first on-field work of August camp.
“Jered and I were talking before practice,” said Joe Tumpkin, hired last winter to coach CU's safeties. “It's been 360 days since he was on the field. That's a long, long time.”
Bell has pondered every bit of it, ticking off days and hours until a possible return. “Possible” is necessary here because last season was to be his final year of eligibility.
A mid-camp knee injury scratched his 2014 season and left him petitioning the NCAA for a sixth year of eligibility. Three camps prior, an injury to his other knee cost him his sophomore season and outfitted him in a redshirt for 2011.
So it was up to the NCAA to give him a thumbs up or down for 2015 – and last spring the thumbs that counted pointed skyward. Bell was ecstatic. “I'm just happy to be out here, blessed to be in this position,” he said following his first practice in nearly a full year. “I'm trying to enjoy every moment of it that I can.”
Before last August's injury, he was set to enjoy 2014 in the same way. In a breakout 2013 season he started 11 games at free safety and proved to be a dependable big playmaker, scoring touchdowns on an interception and fumble return and setting the stage for a superb final season.
“I worked hard that off-season,” he recalled. “Going into fall camp I felt the best I've ever felt. I just knew I was going to have a great season. It was heartbreaking . . . but it's a blessing for me to come out here and do what I was going to do last year. I'm happy with where I'm at right now. I got stronger in the off-season and am pleased with the progress I've made.”
Tumpkin, who spent the previous five seasons as Central Michigan's defensive coordinator, only saw Bell in a limited capacity last spring. Thus, what a full-speed Bell shows Tumpkin over the next couple of weeks will determine whether Bell's rare sixth season will measure up to those great expectations for 2014.
Now up 20 pounds (210) over his last playing weight (190), Bell impressed Tumpkin through spring work, then from what Tumpkin could see in the offseason. He also caught glimpses of Bell's overall abilities on day one: “From what I saw (Wednesday) on the field, the communication part and lining up correctly, I thought he did a good job. Now, it'll be interesting to see film (of practice) and see how he adjusts to being back.”
Even though he was rehabbing when Tumpkin arrived, Bell never abandoned his leadership role – something Tumpkin had come to expect from sixth-year players he coached at Central Michigan, Pittsburgh and Southern Methodist.
“That's one thing I was impressed with during the spring and summer when (Bell) was going through his rehab – he was always in tune, always out there helping, always coaching the younger guys and re-communicating some of the things I was saying and keeping everybody in tune with it,” Tumpkin said. “He's good in a leadership role in the locker room; he does a really good job there.”
Sixth-year players, Tumpkin added, have experience drawn from five previous years in a program. “They're 22, 23, 24 years old. That's a little different than sitting there with 18-year-olds. They've been in the battle, they don't get wide-eyed when you walk out of the tunnel. When a freshman walks out of the tunnel at Folsom Field, that's the first thing I'm going to do – check his eyes. Now, if he's behind Ralphie then (wide eyes) might be OK.”
Bell has been there, seen Ralphie's backside, run in her wake, then lined up and played. He expects to do that again this fall: “That's my goal . . . I feel like I have the ability to do it, so I just have to get back in the swing of things. I missed spring, so I'm a little behind. But learning the playbook isn't hard for me; I've learned four different defenses since I've been here. I'm confident I can get it done but there's going to be great competition.”
Indeed, CU's secondary might be the deepest spot on the team and, according to Bell, safety might be the most talented position. Experience abounds, as does confidence.
Said Bell: “Everybody's got experience now and the confidence we have now is what we didn't have in previous years. And everybody wants to start, so the competition has just risen so much from last year and the year before. We all know we can get the job done, but we'll find out in fall camp.”
KEY SHIFT IN 'D' RESPONSIBILITY: Another camp discovery will be how well the safeties have taken to calling plays in new coordinator Jim Leavitt's defense. That's the biggest difference in last winter's defensive coaching change, said Bell.
In two previous seasons under former coordinator Kent Baer, the linebackers were responsible for the defensive calls. Leavitt and Tumpkin determined the safeties were better equipped for that role, and Bell contends his experience lends itself to that job.
“Now it's all on the safeties' shoulders to make the right calls,” Bell said. “We (safeties) have a lot more responsibility from the coaches. I say, 'Put it on my shoulders' – I don't have a problem with that. Learning defenses has always been easy for me. If someone else is struggling I'm confident enough to help them out.”
THE 'RIFLEMAN' HITS HIS MARK: CU's talented corps of returning safeties/nickel backs includes Chidobe Awuzie, Tedric Thompson, John Walker, Evan White, Marques Mosley, Ryan Moeller. Then there's JUCO transfer Afolabi Laguda. In Bell's estimation, that's a very solid group, one that should benefit the Buffs in Pac-12 play when the number of DBs on the field usually rises to counter ultra-fast offenses.
The name Bell mentioned first when asked about players who stood out in spring/offseason work was . . . Moeller. A sophomore, Moeller regularly played defense at Rifle, Colo., but gained more notoriety as a running back. As a senior, he ran for 3,002 yards and 43 touchdowns and came to CU wanting to be a running back.
But after joining the Buffs as an invited walk-on in 2013, he spent his redshirt freshman season as a DB – and he's never looked back. He made two starts (Oregon, Utah) last season and played in all 12 games, with his 14 unassisted tackles at Oregon setting a school record for a player making his first start.
That game, along with a sparkling spring (second most tackles in four main scrimmages) and a monster work ethic, undoubtedly factored into him being put on scholarship the week before August camp opened.
“It's a big relief,” Moeller said. “I definitely wanted to earn a scholarship and play as fast as I could . . . it took me a couple of years, but I can see now the hard work is paying off. It takes a great load off of my shoulders; I feel like now I can just play ball and stop worrying about this or that.”
SETTLING IN, SMOOTHING IT OUT: Tumpkin is gaining the reputation among his players as a straight shooter. Moeller has taken to him because, “I can be sarcastic with him; I like that.” And Bell says Tumpkin's overall demeanor has made the coaching transition in the secondary much easier. Last season Charles Clark coached the safeties and got help with the corners from head coach Mike MacIntyre. Now, works solely with the cornerbacks and nickel backs.
“Every time you go through a change, everything becomes new,” Tumpkin said. “Spring ball being with coach 'Mac' was new for me. I'd never been with the staff, of course. You learn to adjust; coach Clark, coach (Jim) Jeffcoat, all those guys who have been around are keeping coach (Jim) Leavitt and I up to speed with what's going on.”
Tumpkin didn't have a history with Leavitt, who came to CU from the San Francisco 49ers. “We hadn't coached together,” Tumpkin said, “but we'd been opponents.” That was when Leavitt was the head coach at South Florida and Tumpkin was an assistant at Southern Illinois and Pittsburgh.
“He's considered one of the great defensive football minds – one of the coaches younger guys looked to,” Tumpkin said of Leavitt. “As a young football coach, of course we'd heard of him and what he and (Bob) Stoops were doing at Kansas State.”
The addition of Tumpkin and Leavitt, who coaches the linebackers, gives CU two coaches with coordinator's experience on that side of the ball. Tumpkin noted “slight differences” in Leavitt's scheme here and what Tumpkin did at Central Michigan.
“And those are basically in terminology – his and fitting that into what I know, then incorporating that into what they did last year,” Tumpkin said. “Spring was a chance to mesh it together. Then, in the summer, the kids had a chance to get a really good bead on the terminology as we start to execute it.”
THE INSIDE LOOK AT . . .
Safeties/Nickels
Coach: Joe Tumpkin, first season at CU.
Returning starters: FS/N Chidobe Awuzie, Jr.; SS Tedric Thompson, Jr.; N John Walker, Jr.
Returnees: FS Jered Bell, Sr.; S Marques Mosley, Sr.; S Evan White, So.; FS Ryan Moeller.
Newcomers: FS/SS Afolabi Laguda, So.
Key losses: SS Terrel Smith; FS Richard Yates.
Stat line: Four of last season's top 13 tacklers – Awuzie, Thompson, White and Walker – lined up at either safety or the nickel position. Awuzie (64) and Thompson (59) were third and fourth, respectively, in total tackles, while White (31) and Walker (28) were Nos. 12-13. The versatile Awuzie, who can play corner and nickel, led the team in third-down stops (11) and was second in passes broken up (8). And Thompson, despite missing the season's final month, was the leading interceptor (3) – but those were the Buffs' only thefts.
Bottom line: On paper at least, Tumpkin couldn't have checked into a better first-year situation, given the experience, depth and talent at his position. The secondary figures to be the Buffs' deepest area, and in the pass- and speed-crazed Pac-12 that's a bonus. But there is plenty of work to be done. Over the previous two seasons, CU had been trending downward in TD passes allowed, improving from 39 in 2012 to 25 in 2013. Unfortunately, that number climbed back to 35 – second-highest in the conference – last season. If he's fully recuperated, Bell's return should be of huge overall benefit in the back end in both leadership and productivity.
Next: Offensive line
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
