Buffs TE Sean Irwin: 'Time To Get It Done'

BOULDER — In case you missed it, Colorado tight end Sean Irwin was recently named by ESPN as a Buff with “dark-horse” all-Pac-12 potential this season.

“Irwin caught only 15 passes last year, but his 16.5 yards per reception hints that the rising senior perhaps should have been targeted more often,” wrote ESPN's Ted Miller. “That figures to happen this fall with the departure of record-setting receiver Nelson Spruce. While Irwin isn't huge — 6-foot-3, 245 pounds — he's an asset as a run blocker, too.”

Don't feel too bad if you missed it. So did Irwin. The big Texan admits he doesn't pay too much attention to the media — or to statistics, for that matter, particularly his own. When it comes to his receiving totals, he simply shrugs his shoulders and says, “I've always tried to do the same thing: do the best I can for my teammates, do whatever I can do to help us win, and maybe come up with a ball now and then.”

But there is a set of numbers that Irwin knows by heart — the number of wins the Buffaloes have produced in his three years at Colorado.

Irwin knows the Buffs haven't won more than four games in a season since he and his brother Jeromy arrived in Boulder from Cypress, Texas. He knows the Buffs haven't been to a bowl game since he was a grade schooler. Those are the numbers that stick in his craw, the numbers he can't forget — and he knows he has one last chance to flip those numbers.

“I come from a winning program in high school that we turned around,” Irwin said. “To see the other side, not winning after putting in so much work — it changes you. It makes you look at everything differently. I've seen three classes of seniors leave here without really winning. I've seen coaches come and go … it changes you as a person.

“In some ways, maybe it makes you better as a person because you see what the other side is like. You see what adversity really is. But what it really makes you realize is that it takes everything you have to get out of this slump, and that's what we have to do. We have to win some games early, get it rolling and turn this thing around.”

Irwin has first-hand knowledge of turning a program around. When he was a sophomore in high school, his Cypress Fairbanks team posted an 0-10 record. That mark turned into a 9-3 record as a junior, followed by a 12-1 senior season that included a district title.

Now, he has one last chance to help the Buffs get their numbers back on the positive side of the ledger.

“After games last year, everybody would come up to me and say, 'Oh, you were so close,'” Irwin said. “To be honest, that's like somebody punching you. You just get sick of hearing that. To not have a winning season since I've been here is something I honestly can't stand. We can turn it around, but it's going to take everyone getting on board and doing the right things all the time.”

Irwin is doing his his part. Along with the organized summer strength and conditioning sessions, he's been a regular at the player-run volunteer workouts. He continues to work on his pass and run blocking techniques, and he continues to work on his receiving skills — just for those rare moments when a ball actually comes his way.

“I do the best I can with catching the ball because I only get so many opportunities,” Irwin said. “I like to think I'm the whole package when it comes to tight end — it's what I truly believe. But if I had to define myself, I'd have to err on the side of caution and call myself a blocking tight end. I don't run a 4.5 or 4.6 (40-yard dash). I'm not 220 pounds.

“But I do like to hit people. I can do that.”

Irwin can also catch the ball. His 16.5-yards per catch average last season was the best on the team. Of his 15 catches, five were for 20 yards or more, including a 47-yarder against Arizona and a 42-yarder vs. Arizona State. He's a big target over the middle, can catch the ball in traffic and can more than hold his own against opposing linebackers.

But he also knows that his role — particularly in CU's revamped offensive scheme — depends on him first being able to block.

“I'd love to be that guy in the end zone when we're down on the goal line, but you don't get to choose those things,” Irwin said with a hint of a smile. “When we get down there, maybe it will come my way, maybe to George (Frazier), maybe to (Dylan) Keeney, maybe to Shay (Fields).

“But I usually do a pretty good job of blocking down there, so I'm pretty sure I know what my job will be this fall.”

One things the Buffs must do this year is find a way to replace the 80-plus receptions that Spruce has represented the last couple of years. That should mean more passes to everyone.

Irwin, though, isn't worried about those numbers.

“I'm not much of a stats guy,” Irwin said. “I don't worry too much about my numbers. What I do care about is wins and losses.This is a do-or-die year. It's time to go all-in. That's it. I've seen three senior classes come through here and leave without a winning season. I think we're all working harder this summer, we have more people coming in for volunteer stuff. We're two months away from camp and we have a long way to go.

“But what do we expect? We expect a lot. We expect to win a Pac-12 championship. It's time to get it done.”

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu