Woelk: Sherman, Other Buffs Leaders Already Establishing Culture

BOULDER — Leaders on every football team in any situation are important.

That's no secret.

But given the circumstances surrounding the Colorado Buffaloes this season, the role of team leaders may be more vital than ever as CU prepares to return for the fall season.

Consider:

— The Buffs lost their last head coach in mid-February, when Mel Tucker shocked the college football world and took the midnight train to Michigan State after expressly stating he would not be leaving.

— CU then hired Karl Dorrell less than two weeks later, only to have the Covid-19 pandemic set in soon after his hiring and completely shut down the sports world.

— That not only meant Buffs players had barely had a chance to meet their new head coach and his new assistants, it also meant the cancelation of spring ball and students being sent home for the remainder of the semester.

— Thus, while the Buffs had a new head coach, new assistants and new schemes, they had no time to practice those schemes and develop an on-field relationship with their coaches. Instead, it meant roughly three months of Zoom meetings with players learning the new systems via computer screen and doing their best to get to know their new coaches without face-to-face encounters.

Enter the team leaders.

"Once Coach Tucker (left), a bunch of guys — Nate Landman, Mustafa (Johnson), K.D (Nixon)., me — we just had a talk with ourselves and the team," junior tackle William Sherman told the media Wednesday afternoon. "We told each other that there's not going to be a coach that comes in here and saves this program and takes it to a Pac-12 championship, takes it to a national championship. We have to do that. We have to set a culture."

Thus, when the Buffs went home, they stayed in contact. Along with meeting with Dorrell and their position coaches on a regular basis, they also kept close tabs on each other.

"When we all went home, we tried to hold each other accountable, make sure everybody was working out, trying to stay in shape," Sherman said. "Now that everybody's (back in Boulder), everybody looks good. I'm pretty excited to see how we look when we get on the field and lead the linemen this year."

The entire process certainly presented its share of adversity. While every program in the nation faced a shutdown of team-related activities, only a few were also dealt the hand of a new coaching staff — and Dorrell was the latest to be hired.

"Month after month, something new was coming up," Sherman said. "A bunch of adversity that I think we handled greatly. I'm proud of the team for handling it the way we did. We put our heads down and just worked. We let each other know that we have to hold each other accountable from now on. This is going to be a team-led team — it's going to be led by the players."

Not that Sherman and the rest of the Buffs are discounting Dorrell's presence in any way. But instead of waiting for CU coaches to set the tone, the players have taken it upon themselves to begin establishing the culture immediately. They are setting a standard among themselves and holding each other accountable.

When practices finally do begin, they won't be starting from scratch.

CU athletes are currently being allowed to participate in voluntary strength and conditioning workouts. The NCAA is considering legislation that would allow coaches to begin working with players as soon as July 6, and required meetings and walkthroughs could begin in mid-July.

Finally, fall camps and full practices would be allowed to begin in early August.

"Time is of the essence right now," Sherman said. "We're still trying to learn a new playbook, get familiar with our coaches and their techniques and how they like things done. We still haven't been on the field with Coach Dorrell. There's a lot of catching up to do."

Sherman will no doubt be an anchor for the offensive line this year. The 6-foot-4, 305-pounder will be back at left tackle, a position he played as a freshman and redshirt freshman in 2017-18 before switching to the right side last year when Arlington Hambright transferred in from Oklahoma State. He was willing to make the move last year in order to help the team, but there's no doubt he's happy to be back on the left side.

"I'm excited to do that, show some versatility being able to play right and left," he said. "I'm starting to get back in the groove of playing left tackle. It feels really good. My goal right now is for there to be no difference at all. Be smooth at right, be smooth at left, maybe even be able to play guard if I need to. Be as versatile as possible."

With 21 career starts under his belt, Sherman played 836 offensive snaps out of a possible 848 last season. He had a team-leading 699 plus plays, with an overall 83.6 grade for the season, also tops on the team.

He will clearly be a mainstay on an offensive line that will see fellow starters Colby Pursell (center) and Kary Kutsch (left guard) also return. The "pencil" depth chart has sophomore Kanan Ray at right guard and fellow soph Frank Fillip at right tackle, both of whom have bulked up to nearly 300 pounds.

Still, there will no doubt be some competition up front come fall camp.

"Since I've been here since 2017, this is probably the most talent and most depth we've had on the O-line," Sherman said. "I'm excited for guys to compete. There's going to be a lot of competition. It's going to make us a lot better. I'm excited to see who's going to take the right tackle spot, who's going to take the right guard spot, who the best five are going to be. I know it's going to be a great five when we come out there."

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu