Brooks: Oliver's First-Year Balancing Act Already Impressive

BOULDER – Isaiah Oliver isn't very big on down time – and that's probably because someone might have to explain the concept to him.

This is one busy freshman, a time-is-precious guy who juggles academics, football and track at the University of Colorado. In itself that could be a crushing load, but Oliver has pushed the track component of his balancing act to another level.

He's a decathlete, which means his practices are focused on 10 events rather than a couple. It's a grueling, demanding, often brutal grind – and Oliver loves every step, every drop of sweat in the process. He feels the same way about playing cornerback.

How else to explain his finishing spring football on a Saturday afternoon and the following Wednesday competing in the first decathlon of his college career? That's four days to take off the pads and cleats, find the singlet and spikes and make the transition.

"It was all right for the amount of practices I had doing the different events," Oliver said of his swift turnaround a week and a half ago. "It was taking what I know from doing it in high school. It went well. I was just about where I thought I would be going into it. I would take that."

To recap, Oliver finished the Buffs' spring scrimmage on Saturday, April 9 with a nifty interception, five solo tackles, three passes broken up and a third-down stop. Four days later, on Wednesday, April 13 – the first day of decathlon competition at the California Invitational – he earned four top five finishes, winning the 400-meters (49.32) and earning runner up honors in the 100-meters (11.12).

After starting the second day one point out of first place in the 'B' section, he finished his first college decathlon in sixth. But his 6,415 points ranks him first among football players turned decathletes, a list compiled by the USTFCCCA. He is the only decathlete/football player from a Power 5 conference on the list.

To Oliver, the surprise wasn't in how well he did after his quick departure from football, but being in second place after day one. "I've always been a day one decathlete and am usually leading," he said, adding with a laugh, "Just because there's no pole vault on day one. But overall it was a good decathlon, definitely a good start to the season. I had a lot of fun too."

A high school decathlete in Arizona (Brophy Prep), Oliver didn't ignore the pole vault. But with nine other events to train for, neither did he benefit from having a coach who could teach him the finer points of vaulting.

At CU, he said, he expects that to change under assistant Lindsey Malone, who sees Oliver's potential as a decathlete as limitless. "I've worked with some very talented athletes over the years," she said. "But Isaiah is different, a different physical and mental beast . . . he's one of those kids when you say here's your workout, it's a straight-faced, look-you-in-the-eye, 'OK coach, let's go.'"

THAT ATTITUDE AND WORK ETHIC surely aided Oliver in his first season of college football, but learning the fundamentals of vaulting is very different from reading a quarterback's eyes and making a break on the ball.

When you vault, said Malone, "Your thoughts can be nowhere else; it's committing yourself to jumping out of an airplane 10 to 15 times in a practice. And there are many, many ground drills to complete before the first takeoff . . . there are things you can't replicate when you're upside down at 14 feet."

Oliver has a ways to go before he experiences 14 feet. His height in the California Invitational was 10-8 but the vaulting mechanics and the mental prep are the same. It is arguably the decathlon's most demanding event, and as Malone says, "It's not easy for anyone; it requires a lot of courage, a lot of bravery . . . and it has to be at the top of the list (of events) for safety concerns.

"In running events you might be dealing with strained calves and pulled hamstrings. In the vault you can be dealing with things that could be catastrophic."

Oliver isn't dissuaded by any of those possibilities; he merely hasn't vaulted enough or been coached in it to yet be proficient. But that's not a bad thing, noted Malone: "He's very green in the event, which means he's got no bad habits. We can build from the base up."

That's the goal in football as well, although Oliver's speed and athleticism put his ground zero above most incoming freshmen when he reported last August. He's now in prime position to be one of the Buffs' starting corners next fall on a defense he believes will be improved in all areas.

"I feel like we'll be a lot better than last fall," he said. "We were good in some games last year, really good, but overall we lacked consistency . . . now, with pretty much everybody coming back and coach (Jim) Leavitt being here more than a year, we're used to his system. We're all a lot more confident."

Malone said Oliver will be in competition again this weekend at a meet at the Colorado School of Mines. His optimum recovery time from a decathlon is a week, which should leave him an adequate recuperative stretch before the Pac-12 Conference meet the first week in May.

Before that event, which Oliver has underscored, Malone will stress vaulting fundamentals, particularly in "figuring out how to bend the pole . . . he's pretty much a straight-pole vaulter now," she said. "We've got a lot of work to do in the next three weeks."

That's fine with Oliver, who's no stranger to hard work or hectic schedules. He hopes to follow his dad's career path, which means making a place for both football and track. His father, Muhammad, was an NCAA All-American in the decathlon at Oregon, as well as an elite cornerback for the Ducks. He played five seasons in the NFL but also left room for his track career in the off seasons.

"I would love to do that," Isaiah said. "But it depends on the (NFL) organization and how they feel about it. My dad was lucky enough to play football throughout the season, then in the spring he was back in track. If I'm able to do it, I definitely want to."

GETTING TO THAT POINT, THOUGH, might be more demanding than adding another five feet to his pole vault height. "It's very difficult because the decathletes you're going against obviously have been training all year," he said. "It becomes their life, their job. Same with people in football on your team and other teams – that's their job, their life, what they do every day.

"You could find yourself behind at some point but I feel if you're given the opportunity it would be something I would take up just because I wouldn't want to go 15 years down the road and ask, 'What if I did this or that?' I'd love to give it a try."

Of course, having enough athletic skill is a prerequisite but so is the ability to manage yourself and your time. Even as a second-semester freshman Oliver appears to be in command of those qualities in balancing academics (he's focused on business with an emphasis on finance) with his two sports.

"It can be very difficult, especially if you lose focus on any three – school especially," he said. "The main thing for me is to stay focused and make sure my time management is there, that my day is planned out, that my whole week is planned out – what I'm going to do here at this time and stick with the plan.

"Once I get it all planned out for the week, as long as I stay on top of it, stick with it and remind myself to go do this, whatever, then I'm able to do it. It's just when you skip one thing it kind of trickles down and you end up missing too many other things at different times. As long as you keep on doing what you're supposed to do you'll be all right."

Malone knows Oliver means it, lives it. She's also amazed by it.

"Sometimes I have to remind myself that he's just a freshman," she said. "He handles almost everything with ease. He's able to manage things now with a grace that doesn't usually exist at this age. He's got a great perspective. He knows all of this takes time but he's willing to jump in with both feet and go with it."

It's what you do if your dreams as big as Isaiah Oliver's.

Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU