MacIntyre Says Buffs Have 'Chip On Shoulder' After Last Year's Finish

COLORADO SPRINGS — A year ago, Colorado head football coach Mike MacIntyre told a Colorado Springs luncheon crowd that his Buffs were ready to compete for a Pac-12 championship in his fourth year at the helm.

That proclamation was met with polite applause — and more than a few raised eyebrows.

Wednesday, MacIntyre once again joined four other college head coaches from around the state at the annual Colorado Springs Sports Corp kickoff luncheon — and once again, MacIntyre made it clear to the crowd and the media in attendance that his Buffs fully expected to compete for a conference title.

There were no raised eyebrows this time around. A year after the Buffs compiled a 10-2 regular season record to win the Pac-12 South and a spot in the Pac-12 title game, earning MacIntyre consensus national coach of the year honors in the process, there are quite clearly a few more Buffs believers around the state.

Joining MacIntyre on Wednesday were Colorado State coach Mike Bobo, Air Force's Troy Calhoun, CSU-Pueblo's John Wristen and Northern Colorado's Earnest Collins Jr. Each conducted interviews with a variety of media before the luncheon; then the coaches sat together on stage and answered questions from an emcee.

"Every year a team changes," MacIntyre told reporters before the luncheon began. "We lost a lot of good players and we have a lot of good players returning. Last year's group was a great group; this is a whole new group. But I told them, 'You have something you can do that nobody's done at CU since 2005 and that's repeat as a champion, and then finish off the season as a Pac-12 champion — and that's what we want to do."

Indeed, the last time the Buffs won back-to-back titles of any kind came in the 2004 and '05 seasons, when Gary Barnett's teams won consecutive Big 12 North championships.

MacIntyre has made a point of meeting with his team captains — senior running back Phillip Lindsay, senior tight end/defensive end George Frazier, senior tackle Jeromy Irwin, senior linebacker Derek McCartney, senior safety Afolabi Laguda and junior linebacker Rick Gamboa — on a regular basis over the summer.

In those meetings, MacIntyre said, the players have made it clear that while they are no doubt proud of last year's success, they are not happy with the way the season finished — back-to-back losses in the Pac-12 title game and Alamo Bowl.

"One of the things they keep talking about is they didn't finish the way they wanted to last year," MacIntyre said. "They're realizing they have another step to take. There's a great emphasis on that by the players. I see great fortitude and attitude this summer that they still have something to prove."

But, MacIntyre said later, one thing last year's success did accomplish was that the players now believe him when he tells them they have the potential to achieve great things.

"You talk to kids all the time and they hear you, but you don't always know how much they're hearing you," MacIntyre told the crowd. "Then when it actually happens, now they believe what you say. … (Now) the culture is there to keep it going and to rise to the occasion. We didn't finish good at all. So there's a chip on those guys shoulders to finish better than we finished last year."

All four of the teams to beat Colorado last year — USC, Michigan, Washington and Oklahoma State — finished in the top 11 in the final national polls. The Buffs finished No. 15 in the final coaches' poll and 17th in the Associated Press rankings.

"We would like to be a top 10 team and hopefully get to the playoffs," MacIntyre told the crowd.

But, he added, this year won't be a process of picking up where last season left off.

"One of the things (former NFL coach) Bill Parcells always told me, he said when he was building pro teams and they would win a Super Bowl or go deep in the playoffs, don't ever say, 'We're going to start where we left off,'" MacIntyre said. "That's the worst thing you can do. You start back at zero and you go from there."

This season, MacIntyre will face two of the coaches who joined him on the stage Wednesday. CU opens its season Sept. 1 against Bobo's Rams in Denver, one week after CSU opens its season and new stadium by hosting Oregon State. Two weeks later (Sept. 16), the Buffs will play host to Collins and Northern Colorado.

BOBO LIKES OPENING WEEK EARLY: CSU's Bobo, who is 0-2 against MacIntyre and the Buffs, said he likes the idea of his team getting the chance to play a game a week before they face the Buffs — particularly with the game also serving as CU's opener.

"There's a couple pluses," Bobo said. "One, you're going to play in a big-time environment, opening the new stadium. It's going to be a packed house and there's going to be pressure from opening your new stadium and playing well. Our guys, especially our young guys, are going to feel that pressure. There's obviously going to be pressure in Game 2 when you're playing your big rival Rocky Mountain Showdown. So they're going to feel some of that pressure and hopefully gain some confidence coming out of that game and know how to react a little bit to pressure. You can't duplicate that."

Bobo said he also likes the fact that his Rams will open against the Pac-12's Oregon State instead of a lesser foe.

"You're going against that quality opponent back to back weeks," Bobo said. "Going against some guys that may be a little bit bigger, a little bit stronger. You're going to have to strain a little bit more, and you're used to that strain going into that second week. You can't replicate some of the size and speed in our practices that we're going to see in either one of those first two games."

Of course, Bobo added, playing the week before Colorado means the Buffs' coaching staff will have the opportunity to closely scout the Rams.

"You have to show some cards against a team like we're going to see," Bobo said. "Obviously they've got tape of us the last two years and they know kind of what I do as an offensive coordinator, what we do defensively. But you've got a new team every year so your identity might be a little bit different. They'll kind of have an idea of who we are, what we're trying to do offensively, defensively, special teams, where we don't have any idea with them."

Bobo also said his staff is already studying the tendencies of new CU defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot. MacIntyre told the crowd that the transition to a new defensive coordinator (as well as two other new defensive assistants) has been smooth, but Bobo said a new coordinator always holds an element of the unknown.

"(MacIntyre) says it's the same terminology, but heck, we're watching Kentucky film from when D.J. was there just to see what we can pick up," Bobo said with a laugh. "Nothing is ever exactly the same."

Bobo's Rams will report to camp July 23 and hit the fields for their first practice July 24. Along with Oregon State and Colorado, the Rams will also travel to Alabama for a nonconference game.

"Our nonconference schedule is challenging, but I like that," Bobo said. "You're going to test yourself. It's going to make us tougher for when we get into conference play."

BUFFS BITS: Most schools around the nation are opening camp earlier this year as they adhere to an NCAA recommendation to eliminate two-a-day practices. Teams are allowed 29 practices prior to the first game, meaning they have to open camp earlier in order to get all 29 practices in.

MacIntyre's Buffs will report July 28 and have their first practice July 29. The Buffs will practice in the morning and still hold evening walkthroughs, with the NCAA-mandated one day off per week mixed into the schedule. …

While much of the talk surrounding CU's offense — expected to be among the Pac-12's best — centers around the returning skill position players, MacIntyre said it begins up front, where he said he will have the best offensive line the Buffs have had since he arrived. … Running back Donovan Lee, who suffered a broken leg in spring ball, has been cleared for full drills and has been participating fully in summer workouts. Fellow running back Kyle Evans, meanwhile, who suffered a dislocated hip in the spring, is far ahead of his original rehab schedule and could be cleared for full speed work late in camp. … The Buffs have another week and a half of summer strength and conditioning before getting a few days off prior to the opening of fall camp. … MacIntyre and two players, Lindsay and McCartney, will head to Los Angeles on July 26-27 for the conference's annual Media Days.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu