Tucker Delivers Message At Monday's Buffs Practice
August 19, 2019 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Colorado head coach Mel Tucker conducted a "teaching moment" for the Buffaloes on Monday morning.
Guaranteed, the Buffs got the message.
Early in practice, Tucker was clearly not happy with the Buffs' attention and effort, particularly after a day off. Tucker stopped practice, gathered the team together — then started practice from the beginning.
"I told them, we're not going to be able to start games over," Tucker told the media after practice. "(We can't) go back to the locker room, come back out. We have to be ready to go every time. Ready to go to work and execute."
Given his years of experience, Tucker knew such a day would likely occur sooner or later in camp. In fact, he said he expected it to happen a little earlier.
But when it did, he made sure that he and his coaching staff practiced one of his fundamental tenets: confront and demand.
"That was the type of experience that we have to have," he said. "That's part of camp. It happens. You have to confront them, demand they do it right and make sure they understand what's really going on. What's our purpose, why are we here? Get them back focusing, get them going."
Tucker explained to his players that the ability to handle adversity when it happens is an integral part of success.Â
"I told them it's going to be just like that in a game," he said. "We may give up a big run, may throw an interception or give up a sack or get the ball thrown over your head. But so what? Now what? You have to go back and refocus, move on to the next play. You can't just let it continue to slide. You have to fix it. That's where leaders have to step up."
A key part of that reaction, Tucker said, is an ability not dwell on what just happened. Rather, he stressed, the focus has to be on what has to happen next.
"I brought some leaders out in front of the squad and I said, 'Here's your guys,'" Tucker said. "I'm counting on the leaders along with the coaching staff to make sure that if we do have some adversity, we're able to bounce back right away and create our own momentum.Â
A big part of that is neutral thinking. It's not that you have to be positive if you're just non-negative. Now what do we have to do? What's next? How do we get the job done? Just staying neutral and not judging the situation, just saying it is what it is, now what's next? That allows you to move on to the next play and create your momentum."
Since he arrived, Tucker has stressed that he needs players to step up and assume leadership roles. That has slowly developed during fall camp, but Monday morning's practice was a signal that he needs that process to be expedited — especially with the Aug. 30 season opener against Colorado State now squarely on the horizon.
"Everybody knows who the leaders are on the team," Tucker said. "We've had enough practices together, we've had enough time together. We went through winter conditioning, we went through spring ball, we had a great summer. We know who the guys are. It's up to those guys, along with the coaching staff, to lead. If you're not a leader, you need to follow and get in line."
DEPTH CHART STILL DEVELOPING: Tucker and his coaches are no doubt settling on a starting unit and backups, but Tucker also emphasized that it is a fluid situation — and experience doesn't matter.
"We've got a pretty good idea who our ones are, who our backups are," he said. " But this was another work day and nothing's set in stone. We'll go into the season and it's going to be based on performance who gets the playing time and who doesn't. It's going to be based on production and it's going to be fluid. We'll have our starters who will go into the game, our backups — but it's going to be a compete-every-day situation and earn your playing time. They'll get what they deserve. You'll get the playing time you deserve to get by the way you work and the way you prepare and the way you compete every day and get better."
POSITION MOVE: Junior Sam Noyer made the move from quarterback to safety Monday. Noyer has played sparingly at CU, appearing in four games in his redshirt freshman year (2017) and four again last season. He has attempted 41 passes with 21 completions for 179 yards, two interceptions and no touchdowns.
The 6-4, 220-pound Noyer is a good athlete who could immediately add depth at a position that has been one of the most competitive in camp.
It leaves CU with three scholarship quarterbacks on the roster — senior starter Steven Montez, sophomore Tyler Lytle and redshirt freshman Blake Stenstrom. Lytle had maybe his best scrimmage as a Buff last Saturday, and likely moved ahead of Noyer in the battle for the backup spot. Stenstrom, meanwhile, has also made excellent strides in camp, especially after missing spring ball with an injury.
The Buffs also have two walkon quarterbacks on the roster in senior Josh Goldin and freshman Ciccarone.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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