Colorado University Athletics
Ento, Buffs Head Down Summer Stretch With Eye On Fall Camp
July 06, 2018 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — There is no mystery to offseason preparation for college football teams, no shortcut, no secret sauce guaranteed to produce victories on Saturdays in the fall.
As the saying goes, "You put the work in during the summer. You cash the check in the fall."
Colorado senior receiver Kabion Ento, coming off a redshirt season, is a firm believer in the philosophy.
"That's absolutely how it is," Ento said. "When you get to the season, you want everything to be as close to perfect as it can be. That's why summer and fall camp is so important. That's when you get your timing down, you get your steps down, you get communication right, you get in condition. Summer is when you have to grind it out. If you're hurting now, I guarantee it will be less pain in the fall."
So far, Ento believes he and his Buffs teammates are putting in the work necessary to be ready for fall camp, which is no longer a dot on the horizon. Rather, the Aug. 1 opening date is now looming large, and CU players are eying the date. They are meeting for organized strength and conditioning sessions on a regular basis, as well as film study, player-led practices and impromptu workouts in the Indoor Practice Facility.
Certainly, there should be no lack of motivation for the Buffs this year. A team that lost more than half its starting lineup from last year to graduation has all kinds of starting spots up for grabs — and a bevy of players ready to compete for those positions.
But most of all, the overlying motivation is last year's 5-7 record, a mark that kept the Buffs out of a second straight bowl game. Now one year removed from a Pac-12 South title season, Colorado is anxious to show that last year's step back was a temporary setback, not a trend.
To that degree, Ento said, he and his teammates are trying to make sure they learn from last year.
"First of all, you have to come to work every day," Ento said. "You have to realize you can't do the same thing and expect different results. You have to do something different to get something different. We just have to grow up, stay together as a team and learn how to right through stuff."
Ento redshirted last year with an eye on getting more playing time this season. Because the Buffs had four returning starters in 2017, his chance for significant time was not great. Still, he played a major role in CU's weekly preparation, practicing against the No. 1 defense throughout the fall and traveling on road trips for much of the season.
Now, with one year remaining, he knows this is his last opportunity to build on his first year at CU.
In 2016, Ento came in as a junior college transfer and helped the Buffs to 10-4 record, finishing with eight catches for 174 yards and two touchdowns, including a 69-yard TD on his first catch as a Buff.
But this year, he is part of a receiving corps that has plenty of potential but not a ton of experience. CU graduated three of its four starters from last year, with the only returnee being senior slot receiver Jay MacIntyre.
It means all three wideout spots are wide open. While Ento, fellow senior Juwann Winfree and sophomores Laviska Shenault Jr. and K.D. Nixon emerged from spring ball atop the depth chart (MacIntyre was recovering from surgery), there are no guarantees the depth chart won't change — and no guarantees that the group can help CU's offense bounce back. There are plenty of other receivers who will be challenging in camp for playing time, such as Tony Brown, Maurice Bell and Curtis Chiaverini.
"You just keep working and do your best," Ento said. "We have a lot of really talented guys and whoever earns that chance to be out there is going to get the opportunity."
But those issues will be settled in fall camp, when playing time, starting spots and key reserves will be decided.
What will be equally important during truly emerges as the team leaders as CU gets closer to the Aug. 31 opener against Colorado State. Those will be the players who keep the Buffs pointed in the right direction down the stretch of summer conditioning, as well as fall camp, when the daily grind always takes a toll.
"Everybody has to be a leader," Ento said. "We've got guys like Rick (Gamboa), Josh Kaiser, Aaron Haigler. Those guys have experience and are doing their part. I try to do it, too.
"But we also have some young guys who are speaking up. The thing we talk about is that we want everybody to be accountable. You can't expect one person to do it all. One person can't be the guy who gives all the speeches, one guy can't tell everyone what to do. You need leaders on top of leaders. Everybody has to take the responsibility."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
