Buffs CB Witherspoon Turning Confidence Into Consistency

BOULDER — While a long list of Colorado players have improved their game thus far in camp, a few have taken significant, head-turning "Did you see that?" steps forward.

Count senior cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon among the latter group. Witherspoon's third camp with the Buffs has been by far his most consistent, one in which he has made plays day after day after day. He's had several interceptions — including one in an open scrimmage at Folsom Field — and he's made pass breakups a regular part of his daily regimen.

It's a development that has put a smile on his coaches' faces.

"He has all the tools: athleticism, length, ability," said cornerbacks coach Charles Clark. "It's just his consistency has been a lot better this fall camp, even from the spring. I've been really pleased with him."

The 6-foot-3, 190-pound Witherspoon's ability has always been apparent. Last year, he played in all 13 games and started in eight, finishing with 41 tackles (36 solo), seven third-down stops, four pass deflections, two interceptions and two touchdown saves. One of those interceptions, a perfect read in the end zone, halted an Oregon drive deep in CU territory.

But this fall, he's taken his game to another level, something he attributes to finally having confidence in himself and his abilities.

"Honestly … I'm finally feeling like a football player, officially," Witherspoon said recently. "It's kind of cliche to say, but I finally feel like I belong out there. I couldn't say that the last three years."

Witherspoon's late-blooming confidence is understandable. He is, after all, a late-bloomer by the very definition.

As a junior in high school, Witherspoon was barely 5-feet-8 and had never played organized football. But by the time he was a senior, he had sprouted to 6 feet tall — enough to catch the eye of the football coaches at Christian Brothers High School in Sacramento, Calif., who convinced him to give football a try.

In his first year of organized football, Witherspoon earned a starting spot at cornerback and finished the season with 25 tackles and an interception. That — plus another couple inches of height by the end of his senior year — was enough to attract the attention of college coaches. He ended up at Sacramento City College, where he started as a freshman and finished with 21 tackles, seven pass breakups and three interceptions.

That spurred some interest from the Buffs. He appeared in 10 games his first year in Boulder (2014), including one start. That was followed by a better year last season — and now he's aiming at finishing his college career with his best season yet.

"It's confidence and consistency," Witherspoon said. "Confidence first. I don't think you can be confident until you start making plays and seeing that you can actually be a consistent player at this level. That comes hand in hand with consistency, just playing every day, making plays every single day. That's really what's happening, is that it's all coming together."

Part of Witherspoon's improvement is simple repetition. While many of his peers have been playing organized football since they were 6 or 7 years old, Witherspoon has barely four years of the game under his belt. Now, with nearly 600 snaps of Division I ball to his credit, he's finally catching up.

Also playing a role this year is the maturity factor. Simply, he's learning the nuances of what it takes to be a good player on an every-down basis.

"Just growing, getting comfortable with my new size, just really understanding what it takes to be mindfully present every single play is a big part of the whole process," Witherspoon said. "That's so important with this game and I'm finally getting to that point."

Clark says he's seen the growth in Witherspoon, both physically and mentally.

"He's clearly more confident," Clark said. "That comes one, with maturity, and two, with experience. He has both of those now and that's what's helping him be so much more consistent."

Maybe the biggest difference this year in Witherspoon's game has been his ability to break on the ball. There's no hesitation, no moment of indecision. The result has been him regularly forcing incompletions — or coming up with an interception.

"That's just being comfortable with your body," Witherspoon said. "Having your feet under you at all times, playing low — just not having that extra pause between breaks. You learn to trust what you know you can do. That's the stuff that comes with the athleticism and the confidence all kind of cultivating together."

While Witherspoon is technically listed on the depth chart as playing the same spot as fellow corner Isaiah Oliver — also having an outstanding camp — the reality is that he and Oliver will likely be on the field together a great deal of the time.

What's certain is that the Buffs are expecting big things from the senior. After his interception in the scrimmage early in camp, head coach Mike MacIntyre said it was not a surprise.

"Ahkello made a great play," MacIntyre said. "Ahkello should do that a lot, as long and big as he his. That's what we want to see."

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu