Colorado University Athletics
Spring Drills To Start Saturday
Head coach Dan Hawkins and his staff are beginning their fifth season in Boulder with Saturday’s 10 a.m. session, which should last about two hours. Ninety-one players will dress for the first practice of the year, including 15 seniors, all but one of whom are in their fifth year (with one a sixth-year player).
Schools are allowed 15 practices over 34 days per NCAA rules (not including spring break); sessions break down as follows: three in shorts (no contact), four in pads (no tackling), four in pads (tackling allowed 50 percent or less of the time), four in pads (tackling allowed throughout). The primary location for most of CU’s drills will be the practice fields north of Boulder Creek; the spring game will be at Folsom Field (as will the two scrimmages, weather permitting). As has always been the case during Hawkins’ tenure, the initial spring depth chart, which is really more of a positional listing, all players basically start out equal and last year’s starters must earn their positions. Only one occasion has this not occurred, and that was in his first year, when All-American placekicker Mason Crosby obviously did not have anything to prove. All practices are open to the media and public; the coaching staff only asks that few simple rules be followed. No cell phones, pets or video cameras permitted, and anyone taking notes or photos must be credentialed media. Other restrictions may take effect for safety concerns if the team is forced inside the practice bubble due to weather. The Buffs are coming off a 3-9 record in 2009, four of the losses being eight points or less. Colorado returns 55 lettermen and 16 starters from that squad, which started the fewest upperclassmen in school history (just under 56 percent of the starts were by juniors and seniors). That bodes well for Hawkins’ troops, as experience will play a vital role with the Buffaloes facing one of the nation’s top schedules that includes road trips to California, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska, in-state rival Colorado State in Denver and six games at Folsom Field that include Hawai’i, Georgia, Baylor, Texas Tech, Iowa State and Kansas State. The Buffs will have seven practices prior to CU’s spring break (March 20-28), with eight after the players return, culminating in the annual spring game which is set for 1:30 p.m., Saturday, April 10, at Folsom Field.