Colorado University Athletics
Dan Hawkins Signing Day Press Conference Quotes
BOULDER - The University of Colorado held its annual signing day press conference Wednesday, the first day prospective student-athletes from around the country can sign national letters of intent.
OPENING
STATEMENT:
"Well it is kind of interesting how this
thing has gone on through the years. I was joking with our
staff probably 10 years ago there were many more secrets or
surprises, but this year was much more informative. Probably
in this day in age, every coach should get up there and say "what
do you think," because everyone pretty much knows who you have and
have watched them on film and have seen them on YouTube and all
those kind of things so there are not many exciting things out
there.
"We always put together the highlight reel for the luncheon and that's always great but you also think that the vast majority of people there have probably seen that many times and it is a little bit of a yawner. Everyone around America is fired up on signing date with optimism I think with this class, there is just a tremendous amount of quality there and I am very impresses by the kind of people they are. Every visit we had and when they were here around faculty, they were very impressed with the kind of kids they were here. They look you in the eye, have great twinkle and great smiles, great handshakes-all of that is really, really awesome.
"Athletically, top to bottom they might be the most athletic class we have had. Most of the guys play other positions, play both ways, have the ability to play different things, play multiple sports which is getting harder in this day of age because they want you to specify on one sport. A lot of multiple sport guys, track guys, basketball guys, baseball guys, I think that is very good. So there is a tremendous amount of athleticism and flexibility. Again, a lot of them come from some really tremendous programs, are used to wining, know how to win, want to win. And we got a lot of really good students. One of the awesome things about recruiting in Colorado is we are really viewed as a great nationally institution. We have an alumni base all over the country and of course a significant amount of our population here is from out of state. You have sort of another element working there where I think we had 11 different states represented in this class and that's part of the whole student-athlete experience.
"I am sure many of you have seen the movie the Blindside and have been very touched by it -it is a great movie, but, this is going on everywhere in America. That is going on in a lot of college programs, and a lot of high school programs across the country. To take a bunch of young men, in this case we have one from New Jersey and Florida and they are going to be in the same locker room with a kid from Hawaii; that is exciting. And I know the tremendous amount of out of state presence that we have here in our student body. I know we have a tremendous amount of international influence here as well. I think we have well over 1,000 international students. We have kids that have a Haitian background, a Jamaican background, a Nigerian background so you have a whole other sort of cultural element going on there. Then, when you take your team on the road and you are playing in Hawai'i, in California, in Minnesota, in Georgia, in Florida and of course all the Big 12 schools, I think that is a hidden element that people don't always think about.
"That excites me about the total collegiate experience that you have kids from a lot of different diverse backgrounds coming together sharing experiences. Having kids travel to different parts of the country that they have never been to before. All of that makes for an extremely nice mix. So from that standpoint I really, really like these guys and again, I think when they came on campus, our players that were around them and our faculty were really impressed.
"This process is extremely arduous. It takes a lot of time, effort, and money. There are a lot of people financially helping us and we really appreciate that because we couldn't do it, it's not a cheap venture by any means. Then there is a bunch of faculty who give up their Saturdays to come here and meet with the kids and their parents. Our (football operations') guys are the greatest guys in the country in terms of putting our trips together, organizing things, and making sure everything runs smoothly. Mike Bohn and (Chancellor Phil DiStefano) have been awesome in recruiting. It takes a tremendous amount of people, Dr. David Clough our faculty athletic rep who goes above and beyond the call of duty. We do have some engineering students in this class and he does a phenomenal job. Kris Livingston, our academic staff does a great job. It is amazing when we sit down and look at the list of thank you card's we need to send out after this thing is over, it is long and there is a tremendous amount of people. It is an interesting process that way."
"Another thing we are fired up about is that we have a couple of those guys already here. Nick (Hirschman) is here and is able to throw the ball and learn and get going in spring ball. Having Eric Richter here is great. We have Josh Moten back here and I think obviously having all three of these is proving each of their worth. Obviously we don't know them in a football sense, but seeing them running around and the conditioning part is really great.
"Getting Kendrick
(Celestine), I think B.G. (Brooks) wrote the article today. I
think it is just a tremendous great story both on our part and on
his part about what this whole thing is about - taking a young man
and teaching him some values and getting to understand this quality
balance of life and seeing what he went through and seeing him get
back on stage here and us giving him the opportunity to graduate
and do that great things I think is awesome.
"A little bit of recruiting on the inside, we probably have three
juniors on our team that could have come out early. I think
Jimmy Smith is a guy that is going to be one of the better players
in the country next year. Defensive back and his running mate
Jalil Brown is going to be right there, too. Also, Nate
Solder. Having those guys back and in our program is
tremendous. In the conditioning program the other day I was
having coach Pit add them up and I think there are over 80 guys
that we are going to have in spring ball, which is just tremendous
for us. That is going to be the most guys we have had and as
you look at each position.
"I remember a few years ago we had the five offensive linemen in spring ball and to see this whole herd of Buffaloes running around that is very big and very agile, with kids that have been around is exciting. We are looking forward to that. Spring ball starts March 6 so we are excited about that. I think our guys are running great and are very poised. We have changed a few things up in the weight room, which I am excited about. We are going to go back to spring ball kind of splitting it (around spring break). Last year, we went after spring break because we had so many guys injured and we wanted to get everybody healed up. This year I think when we go early it allows us; one, if we do have somebody get hurt we can get them healed up and they have a better chance to get going back in school, and then it gives us a better chance to get going on the road and get back at it that way.
"Staffing, we have been working on that a little bit. Obviously, we lost (Greg Brown) to Arizona. He was a great coach, a great guy and Buff. He did a great job here with Ashley (Ambrose) and Ashley has been Brownie's running mate here before he even came to CU. Ashley did a great job with recruiting and the kids really respect him, so I feel that's going to go really well. Ryan Walters is going to kind of move into the spot where he was and we are still working on the other offensive spot and we will have that solved here in the near future.
"Again, you guys are probably seeing all these names and all of these videos so I don't know if we need to go top-to-bottom there. It is very hard to find a good tight end; I think we found four of them. All those kids again are very athletic and can run. You look at the great tradition of tight ends that Colorado has had. Obviously, we just had Riar Geer, (Joe Kloppfenstein) and Quinn (Sypniewski), right before, Daniel Graham and all the guys in that area, as well. Every one of the kids are in that 6-4, 6-5 range, they are very athletic and kind of lean looking right now about 220-230. I think all those guys can be about 240-245 guys that can run and catch and certainly some of those guys could even play wide receiver. We have a bunch of running backs and again those guys have a bunch of flexibility in what they can do. I am really excited about those guys.
"This will be the first year I think that we have been really close to having 85 guys on scholarship. The top number before was 77 so that is always a good thing. It is also good that we have a little bit of room at the top and I like that again just because: A; if you have a walk-on guy that really tears it up in spring ball, or maybe you find another kid in the spring so having a little bit of room in there is great but we are getting really close to topping out at 85. Like I said as we look at the numbers across the board, I think which every coach aspires to get to, you try to get X amount of tight ends and X amount of quarterbacks and those numbers are starting to play out how we want them to so all of that is good."
On Recruiting
Colorado Kids
"Every situation is always different
and we are really excited about the guys we got. I think
(Kyle Slavin's) family is obviously longtime Buff fans and alums
and you know Kyle is a guy I think a lot of people came in on late
but he was very committed to us and he is a very athletic
kid. Again, he played defense and offense, he is a basketball
player, and I think he is going to be a great player so we like him
a lot. Justin Castor is a kid who I got the chance to watch
play. He was in our camp, he is a wide receiver, defensive
back, and he kicks and punts and he is a basketball player as
well. He is a big, tall lean guy who has a good leg and can
also kick and punt so we really like both of those
guys."
On Guys That Got
Away
"I don't really want to get into that.
There are a ton of guys you miss on. There are always guys
that you don't get and that's the nature every year. We
aren't a group that really throws out 300, 400 or 500 scholarship
offers when you get back into this thing. So we don't just throw
them out there. There are always a whole bunch of guys that
you don't get and I think it is important that you get the right
guys for your program and do a good job with that and get the right
fit."
On How Recruiting
Has Changed
"I think with technology the way it is,
just like in your job, every year there seems to be a new wrinkle
that adds to the complexity of it. I am one of those guys,
and it doesn't matter what the situation is, you are always going
to plan it, do it, evaluate it and you are always on the, I think
there is a certain set of protocol that we try to follow. One
of the things that I always feel good about is that I think the
high school coaches that we deal with are very, very fired up with
how we deal with them. They appreciate the things we say and
how we conduct business. This is a very liquid environment
and it is probably as competitive as any industry out there so you
have to be able to adapt and role."
On The Importance
Of Recruiting Rankings
"It is interesting, does it
mean something? Yeah. Does it mean everything? No. Part
of the thing that makes college football great, I was listening to
the radio this morning and they were talking about what a cultural
phenomenon the Super Bowl is and how it is such an industry in and
of itself, apart from the NFL, I think the recruiting industry is
very huge and you have a lot of fingers in the pie and part of that
is great and draws attention to it, but it is a very inexact
science and I have said this many time before, last year's Super
Bowl there were five Steelers and two Cardinals that were ranked in
the top 150 of their positions coming out of high school-only seven
players in the Super Bowl last year. You look at the Colts
and they have three walk-ons on their roster, Dallas Clark being
one of them. So for me I think that's the nature of it.
That is why I say it is important that you get the right guys and
the guys that fit your needs, university and program.
If you do that, that is what it's about -getting the right
guys."
On Getting The
Right Fit And Right Guys For Your Program
"There are
a lot of dynamics that go into it. You have the university
and the academic setting in and of itself. How it works, with
the social part of it and the cultural part. We are taking
that whole formula and figuring it out. I think the Big 12 is
a different conference now then it was 10 years ago. Looking
at that and seeing how it matches up and fits in is big, too.
Putting together that whole puzzle every year, allows you to get a
little better at adjusting and figuring out what the right mix
is."
On Recruits That
Have A Chance To Make An Immediate Impact
"The
interesting thing is due to high school kids and elementary school
kids even; their preparation is better even before I played. The
coaching, the nutrition, the strength training, the combines, I
think you see many more high school kids much more ready to play in
college than there used to be. We certainly tell everyone in
college to get yourself ready like you are going to play, I think
there is a mental and emotional and physical element that you need
to be able to play and then its funny you just never really know
and I am always amazed every year how guys crop up. You
look at Will Jefferson, he is a kid we get late in the summer last
year and looks like he has some things and you are thinking wow he
is really behind, he shows up he is a smart, tough, competitive kid
and you go, 'I think this guy can go' and he did some good things
for us."