Buffs Report: Buffs Bounce Back With Solid Wednesday Workout

BOULDER — Consider it a case of message delivered, message received.

After a Monday practice that did not meet the standards of head coach Mel Tucker, the Colorado Buffaloes returned to the field Wednesday and put forth an effort more to Tucker's liking. The Buffs hit the field in full pads for practice, which included some full-speed, "to the ground" work in team drills in CU's Indoor Practice Facility.

"Much better focus today," Tucker said. "More intensity, harder hitting, better tempo. I just know we had an overall better practice. … They were able to sustain. It was very competitive all the way to the end of practice."

Since his arrival, Tucker has made it clear he will address issues immediately in practice. Players earn praise after good plays, but there is no such thing as waiting until film sessions to correct mistakes.

"You have to confront and demand," Tucker said. "You can't sit back and hope that it gets better. We had to make some changes. We changed the format of the practice. We got into some of the team periods — live team periods — earlier in the practice, like right away. On days like this we'd normally thud and stay off the ground. About half of our periods today were live to the ground. I felt like we needed to make some changes to get back on track so we did that."

Tucker and his staff have been intent upon changing the culture of the program since their arrival. That reaches far beyond the installation of new offensive and defensive schemes. It also means making sure players understand what is expected of them, whether it be in practice or in the meeting rooms.

"We're learning how to practice," Tucker said. "We're learning the value of a practice, how important it is. How important every rep is, how important every meeting is. We're learning that. That's a culture change, quite frankly. Everything we ask (players) to do is important. If it wasn't important, we wouldn't ask. That's practice, meetings. We want our practices to be game-like. You can't do that unless you play fast, you play hard, you play physical, like the games are going to be. When we don't practice like that, then we're basically wasting time."

Wednesday's practice was the 11th of the spring, meaning the Buffs have just four more workouts to go, including the April 27 spring game (noon, Folsom Field). CU coaches continue to install the base offense, defense and special teams schemes, while also working on techniques at each position required to execute the new schemes.

"Coaching is teaching," Tucker said. "We spend a lot of time on our teaching progressions. We spend a lot of time in our meetings making sure we lay out the information. We deliver the information in a way the players can understand. It's also critical that players have done what they have needed to do to learn the information and spend the extra time. You can't play fast if you don't know what to do. I think it's a credit to the coaches and also to the players."

PRACTICE REPORT: CU's wide receivers continue to make plays on a regular basis and quarterback Steven Montez continues to look steady in the passing game. Jaylon Jackson had another long touchdown catch in Wednesday's workout, Tony Brown had a couple of nice receptions and K.D. Nixon hauled in a long ball down the sidelines. Daniel Arias is also finding the ball. … The Buffs continued to get in plenty of situational work, including some red zone and two-minute drills. ...

Alex Fontenot turned the corner and reeled off a long touchdown run, showing some nice moves to get outside before displaying some breakaway speed. … Melekiola Finau and Jeremiah Doss got some snaps up front with the No. 1 defense when the Buffs dropped into a four-man front. … Beau Bisharat, who recently moved from running back to tight end, is showing some good hands at the flex spot. … "Star" back Davion Taylor is showing some flashes in pass coverage, and had a couple knockdowns Wednesday. … Chase Newman has been steady with the No. 2 defense at inside linebacker. … Frank Fillip again took snaps at right tackle with the No. 1 offense, lining up alongside guard Jack Shutack.

SCHEDULE: The Buffs are scheduled to conduct their second scrimmage of the spring Friday in Folsom Field. They will then practice again next Monday and Wednesday before the spring game finale.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu