Sellout Crowd Hears Tucker At CU Kickoff Luncheon
August 23, 2019 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Latest sign that interest in Colorado football has hit a fever pitch?
Try Friday's Colorado Football Kickoff Luncheon, an annual event at Balch Fieldhouse that serves as a springboard to the season.
For the first time in at least a decade, the event was a sellout, as fans and boosters gathered to hear Colorado coach Mel Tucker talk about the Buffaloes — and Tucker didn't disappoint.
"We have what we need in place to build this thing," Tucker said. "It can be done."
"It," of course, is the construction of a championship contender, and Tucker knows a thing or two about that process. He has been part of two national championship programs — Alabama and Ohio State — as well as part of another program, Georgia, that played in the national championship game.
The event featured several other speakers, including CU Regent John Carson, CU Athletic Director Rick George and Boulder Chamber of Commerce president John Tayer.
But more than anyone else, it was Tucker fans came to hear, and Colorado's first-year head coach didn't mince words. He said his current coaching staff is one of the best he's ever been a part of, and said that since his arrival in Boulder on Dec. 5, "We haven't wasted a day."
Tucker noted that Colorado has in place many of the necessary ingredients to become a championship program, beginning with tradition and facilities. And, since taking the reins, he and his staff have steadily started the process of building a foundation that will ultimately make Colorado relevant in the ranks of elite college football programs.
It is, Tucker noted, an every-day process. It began with a culture change — "You change the way you live on a day-to-day basis."
It continued with the addition of new faces, with roughly 30 new players on the roster by the time the Buffs hit the field for fall camp.
And it has been maintained since the beginning with a simple approach — an unassailable work ethic and an attitude of "No excuses, no explanations. Period."
Now, after the completion of a 20-practice fall camp, the Buffs will begin preparations beginning Sunday for next Friday's season opener against Colorado State. The in-state rivals will square off in a nationally televised game in Denver at Broncos Stadium at Mile High beginning at 8 p.m. (ESPN).
FRESHMEN ON WATCH LIST: Two CU freshmen, Dimitri Stanley and Mark Perry, have earned a spot on the preseason watch list for the FWAA Freshman All-American team.
Stanley, a redshirt freshman wide receiver, is listed as a co-starter at one wide receiver spot. Perry, a true freshman, is No. 2 at the star defensive back spot.
A total of 74 players — 37 on offense, 37 on defense/special teams — are on the watch list that was released Monday.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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