Brooks: Swift Or Otherwise, Derek McCartney's Star Is On The Rise

BOULDER – Derek McCartney most likely had been dreaming of his first college interception, and last Thursday night he leapt high and pulled it out of the sticky hot island air in Honolulu.

Now, his dream has a sequel. In it he will outrun everyone in pursuit. No, he doesn't fantasize himself as being a blur; he merely wants to be swift enough to . . . well, let him tell it:

"I'm obviously not the fastest guy; I got caught, got run down from behind," he said with a laugh the other day after practice. "But I've worked a lot on speed and quickness stuff and my feet have gotten a lot better since last year."

Truth is, he's gotten a lot better from the feet up. He's on the way to becoming the toe-to-head total package, maybe a defensive end/outside linebacker from the same mold that longtime University of Colorado football fans remember from late '80s, early '90s.

Top five plays from Hawaii. Derek McCartney picks it off. #GoBuffs https://t.co/Y6fPri2WeB
— Colorado Buffaloes (@cubuffs) September 10, 2015

"I see a player that can become great," said CU defensive graduate assistant Tyrone McKenzie, who works specifically with the DEs/OLBs and has a resume that allows such a bold projection.

Continued McKenzie: "He's not there yet; it's going to take a lot a work. But he doesn't fight it when I'm on him, when coach (Jim) Leavitt (defensive coordinator) is on him, when coach 'Mac' (head coach Mike MacIntyre) is on him. He just wants to push and get better each day."

A 6-3, 240-pound redshirt sophomore, McCartney returned his interception 33 yards before being hauled down from behind. But his first college pick couldn't have been more timely; it set up the Buffs' first touchdown, enabling them to pull within a point (8-7). They managed that twice more (15-14, 18-17) but never took the lead and ultimately fell 28-20 to Hawai'i.

IN ADDITION TO HIS INTERCEPTION, McCartney contributed six tackles (five solo; one for lost yardage, two for zero yardage) and one quarterback pressure. The loss clouded those numbers, if not his overall performance.

"I wouldn't say (I was) satisfied," he said. "I made a couple of good plays and I worked hard. In that sense I can say I did well. But our team needs me to play great in all aspects. I have to work on a lot of different stuff to get to that point."

Specifically, he wants to rev up his pass rush in concert with CU's D-line accomplishing the same result. Against the Rainbow Warriors, the Buffs registered just two sacks – one by a lineman (Jase Franke), the other by a linebacker (Rick Gamboa).

"Our team needs the D-line to get there," said McCartney, and that opportunity will present itself Saturday against Massachusetts in CU's home opener (noon, Folsom Field, Pac-12 Mountain).

Tyrone McKenzie

That's where McKenzie enters the picture for McCartney and his fellow OLBs. McKenzie is in his first year on the staff but he's very familiar with Leavitt, having played for the former University of South Florida head coach as a junior and senior. An initial signee with Michigan State in 2004, he transferred to Iowa State, then to USF in 2007 to help support his widowed mother after she was in an automobile accident in Florida.

Playing linebacker for Leavitt, McKenzie set a USF single-season tackle record (121) in 2007, followed that with 116 as a senior and was first-team All-Big East. The NFL took notice; New England picked him in the third round of the 2008 draft but he tore his ACL in his first minicamp and missed his rookie season. Recovering in time for the 2010 season, he was a team captain before being moving to Tampa Bay. His next stop: Minnesota, where he was also a captain for two of his three seasons (2011-13) and was selected as a Pro Bowl special teams player (2012).

Throughout his NFL career, he and Leavitt were a phone call away. They had pregame photos when their NFL teams (Leavitt coached San Francisco's linebackers) played. McKenzie's pro coaches said they could envision him entering the profession and after retiring he took that step.

"I love being around athletes; (coaching is) something I want to be a part of," said McKenzie, who also had opportunities to work as a grad assistant at North Carolina and Georgia but settled on CU mainly because of Leavitt and MacIntyre.

"One of my mentors, Mike Singletary, told me, wherever you start coaching, find a place where you can be around a head coach and a 'D' coordinator that can mentor you," McKenzie said. "Then, you take a lot of their tools and bring them anywhere you go as a coach. I've found that here."

IN MCCARTNEY, MCKENZIE SEES an edge defender with "range, explosion and smarts . . . when I'm able to sit down with him and give him corrections he picks it up on the fly. And in the games when coach Leavitt sits him down on the sidelines he picks up everything very well. Those are the tools you want in a player."

Watching McKenzie coach and interact with the DEs/OLBs, it's obvious that a swift connection was made. "The chemistry happened really quick," McCartney said. "He's really a cool guy. I think the biggest thing is that he's done what we're doing. He's lived what we want to do – play in the NFL. He gets where we're coming from so it's easy to relate to him and him to us. That makes for real good chemistry."

McCartney's bloodlines are well-known. They run deep at CU and they also play a part in motivating him. Legendary former Buffs coach Bill McCartney is his grandfather, "But he's really like a dad to me," Derek said. "I lived next door to him my whole life. It's great to be able to talk to him about anything. He encourages me about school, socially, spiritually . . . he means the world to me.

"I've been a part of CU my whole life. I want to be part of something big here, like my grandpa was. It would be really cool to be able to say I helped CU grow, just like my grandpa did. That's something that's really important to me."

Losing at Hawai'i ups the ante for the Buffs to win this weekend as well as their next two non-conference games (Saturday, Sept. 19 vs. CSU in Denver; Saturday, Sept. 26 vs. Nicholls State at Folsom Field). McCartney said he and his teammates were disappointed but not disillusioned by the opening defeat.

"We fought hard, but were disappointed with the outcome," he said. "We know where we're going and we're headed in the right direction. There's disappointment, but it's fueling us. We're going to turn the setback into something bigger."

Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU