Colorado University Athletics
Hawkins Announces Support Staff Changes
- Robert Tucker, CU's director of football operations for the past three seasons, has left to become the assistant head coach at the University of Sioux Falls (S.D.).
Tucker, 35, played for Hawkins at Willamette University, as well as coaching on Hawkins' staffs at Willamette and at Boise State.
"It's tough to lose 'Tuck,'" Hawkins said. "He's been with me for a long time; he's a great guy. He wanted to get back on the field. He's a good coach, so I'm happy for him that way. I'm excited for him."
Tucker's position will not be immediately filled, Hawkins said, while an outside search is conducted. He also said there are several "viable candidates" currently working in football operations.
"I think we just want to see what's out there; we obviously know some (other) guys," Hawkins said, adding he is "not in a major rush" to fill the position. "It's more important to get the right guy. We need to get somebody here because they're going to carry a heavy burden when it comes to (summer) football camps, so we probably don't want to wait too awful long. They'll need to get going in April on the camps."
- Anthony Tucker has been added to the staff as an offensive technical intern. Tucker comes to CU from Lakewood High School in Lakewood, Calif., where he has been an assistant coach since 2006 with responsibilities that included wide receivers and special teams.
He played receiver at Fresno State University (1994-98) and graduated with a degree in criminology before having brief NFL stints with the New York Giants and St. Louis Rams, and spending the 2001 spring with the Amsterdam Admirals in NFL Europe.
- Brad Bedell, CU's offensive technical intern for the past three seasons, has accepted a job as the offensive line coach at the University of Northern Colorado.
Hawkins said Tucker will assume a portion of Bedell's off-field duties.
"We hated to lose him . . . he's been great," Hawkins said of Bedell, a former CU guard who was a first-team All-America selection (1999) by the Football Writers Association and played with four NFL teams.
"He's got his degree finished, he's really worked his way from the ground up here and really proved himself to be a real valuable asset," Hawkins continued. "He's a former Buff and has had a great influence on the O-line.
"I'm happy for him; he's going to be a great coach. Good O-line coaches are hard to find, they really are. They're so integral to what you do."
- Ben Steele, a member of the operations staff since March 2008, moves onto the field as an offensive graduate assistant.
Steele, 31, played in the NFL for seven seasons after a college career at Mesa State, where he received a degree in communications and later coached (offensive assistant, 2008).
Steele's on-field duties will include working with offensive line coach Denver Johnson and special teams coach Kent Riddle.
- Skyler Fulton, CU's offensive graduate assistant since February 2009, has left after one season to enter private business on the East Coast.
Steele fills Fulton's former position, but basically assumes Bedell's coaching role.
Hawkins said Fulton, a former Arizona State receiver who had stints with three NFL teams and spent one season in NFL Europe, was offered "a pretty good opportunity for him financially. He pretty much couldn't turn it down."
Fulton, 27, primarily worked with CU's receivers last fall.
Steele and Tucker were on the field Tuesday in their new roles as the Buffaloes conducted the second of 15 spring practices.
Still to be hired is a defensive technical intern, a position filled in 2009 by Ashley Ambrose, who was promoted to a full-time assistant job (secondary) when Greg Brown left to become co-defensive coordinator/secondary coach at Arizona.
Hawkins said he is "getting close" to filling the defensive technical intern position.