Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Open Strength And Conditioning; Early Enrollees On Board
January 14, 2019 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — The Colorado Buffaloes went back to work Monday morning.
While Monday marked the first day of spring semester classes on the CU campus, it also marked the first day of offseason strength and conditioning in the Mel Tucker era, and there will be some noticeable differences in Tucker's first year at the CU helm.
While the goal is still the same — make the Buffs bigger, faster and stronger — the timeline will be much different than the one the Buffs have followed in past years.
Tucker has moved Colorado's spring practice session back to a more traditional date. The Buffs are scheduled to open spring ball on March 18, with three practices scheduled the week before spring break. They will then resume practices on April 1, with the annual spring game set for April 27.
What it means is that CU strength and conditioning coach Drew Wilson now has almost twice as long — nine weeks as opposed to five in previous years — to get the Buffs ready for their spring practices.
"It gives us more time to get guys bigger, faster and stronger and develop them overall from a physical standpoint," Wilson said. "It also helps with the new coaching staff to teach the offense and defense in player meetings and coaching meetings and be able to get on the field and take what they learned in the classroom and apply it every day in their player development time."
The nine-week session also means that players who have lingering injuries from last fall will have more time to heal and perhaps participate in spring ball, and some will have time to get at least some strength and conditioning work under their belts before practices begin.
Tucker has dubbed the strength and conditioning session the "Fourth Quarter" program.
"I think it rings a bell when everybody hears fourth quarter," Wilson said. "It gets players' attention and it hits home with these guys. Have the mentality of a team that wants to physically and mentally dominate that fourth quarter."
But, while the calendar and timeline may have changed, the overall goal is still the same.
"It's still about getting thick, getting strong and getting fast, which is what we want to do to win a lot of games next year," Wilson said.
EARLY ENROLLEES ON CAMPUS: At least a dozen additions to the roster — most from the 2019 recruiting class — have enrolled at CU for the spring semester and will be participating in strength and conditioning and spring ball.
The list includes five high school signees from the most recent class, two junior college transfers, four other transfers and one "grayshirt" from the 2018 recruiting class.
High school signees from the 2019 class enrolled as of Monday included running backs Joshia Davis and Jaren Mangham; offensive lineman Austin Johnson; linebacker Alec Pell and defensive back K.J. Trujillo.
Junior college transfers from the 2019 class who have enrolled are defensive lineman Jeremiah Doss and Va'atofu Sauvao.
Transfers from four-year schools include defensive lineman Jaunta'vius Johnson and tight end Jalen Harris, a pair of graduate transfers from Auburn; tight end Legend Brumbaugh (Maryland); and linebacker Dante Sparaco, a former CU player who transferred to Montana State last fall and is returning to CU this spring.
Also enrolled for the spring is linebacker Joshka Gustav, a greyshirt member of the 2018 CU recruiting class.
SIGNING DAY APPROACHES: Tucker and his staff continue to hit the recruiting trail. CU hosted a number of recruits over the weekend, and Colorado could add as many as eight to 10 more players to its recruiting class on the Feb. 6 signing date.Â
SPRING DATES: Colorado is tentatively scheduled to open spring practice March 18, with two more workouts that week (March 20 and 22) before spring break. The Buffs will then resume spring ball on Monday, April 1, with the rest of the workouts set for April 3, 5, 8, 10, 12, 15, 15, 19, 22 and 24, with the spring game April 27.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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