Signing Day Press Conference Quotes

Mike MacIntyre Signing Day Press Conference

Colorado Head Coach

Mike MacIntyre

Opening Statement
GÇ£This is always an exciting day. WeGÇÖre excited about this class and the hard work that our staff put in. Actually, itGÇÖs all of the auxiliary staff. ItGÇÖs not just our coaches, itGÇÖs our recruiting department, all of the facilities and everything that goes into it. ItGÇÖs a big deal. ItGÇÖs a whole group effort by our whole community, our academic community, and the professors that come help us on recruiting weekendsGÇª.. ItGÇÖs a great effort by the University of Colorado and weGÇÖre excited about that. Also, (Athletic Director) Rick (George) getting the facility going and taking guys on a tour through that; that was a big deal. Going on a hard hat tour through our facility was a big deal in our recruiting weekend. These young men were very impressed by it.

GÇ£WeGÇÖre excited about the class. IGÇÖll back up and talk about the January group we had come in. I think thatGÇÖs significant. We had seven young men come in in January, four of them were junior college young men that we had signed just now. Of the seven guys, three of them are defensive linemen that weGÇÖre really excited about that can go through spring practice. They are going through winter workouts now. Nathaniel (Blake) Robbins, a big defensive end (who is) very athletic out of Georgia Military Academy; J.C. (Jordan) Carrell, a first team All-American junior college player out of American River, a very athletic defensive tackle; Leo Jackson, another young man out of Foothill Junior College, another big 290-pound defensive tackle. HeGÇÖs three-for-three.

GÇ£Afolabi Laguda, I know you all were going to ask me how to pronounce that name so thereGÇÖs how you do it. HeGÇÖs a corner(back)/safety. (HeGÇÖs a) big, athletic young man. HeGÇÖs also three-for-three. Then, we had Grant Watanabe, who we signed the year before. He broke his foot so he grayshirted. HeGÇÖs in here at linebacker. Isaac Miller, who had a torn labrum that got operated on, heGÇÖs in here. If he would have started in the fall, this is interesting, he would have weighed about 240 pounds. When he reported (last month) he weighed 270, heGÇÖs 6GÇÖ7GÇ¥. Then, Dillon Middlemiss is a young man who we signed here in-state also, like Isaac (Miller), who graduated early and heGÇÖs already in school (at CU) and doing really well and working out hard.

GÇ£Then, we also get back, I consider him a signee, Samson Kafovalu who would have been one of our best players last year. HeGÇÖs got two years left. He came back 6GÇÖ 5GÇ¥, 280 and in great spirits and with a great attitude. HeGÇÖs doing really well. So, I feel like those guys in January are a big part of our team and will be ready to go and be ready for spring practice and winter and summer workouts. The class that we just signed today, IGÇÖm very excited about it. I feel like we have a well-rounded class. We also have some big guys that can really help us and IGÇÖm also excited about the running backs we got. I think we got some excellent running backs and some guys that can make plays in this league for sure. Then, Steven Montez, the quarterback, I think is a phenomenal athlete. HeGÇÖs 6GÇÖ4 -+GÇ¥ and weighs over 200 pounds. He runs in the 4.5s. He scored over 59 touchdowns this year, 43 passing and 16 rushing, and was player of the year in El Paso (Texas). HeGÇÖs also a 3.9 student and he can dunk a basketball any way he wants. HeGÇÖs an excellent basketball player. So, heGÇÖs a well-rounded athlete that weGÇÖre excited about.GÇ¥

On Quarterback Steven Montez and Whether The Competition Level in El Paso Has Better Prepared Him For the Next Level
GÇ£Yes (I think it has). HeGÇÖs an excellent player. In their playoff games, as they were going deep in the playoffs, I saw a little commentary on one of the guys that was commentating during the games and he said GÇÿIf he would have been in Dallas, he probably would have won player of the year (in the state) because he was up for player of the year in Texas. HeGÇÖs an excellent player that (Offensive Coordinator) Brian Lindgren and (Defensive Line Coach) Jim Jeffcoat found. The other great thing about him: his dad grew up in Pueblo and they love being in Colorado. So, weGÇÖre excited about that. HeGÇÖs an excellent, excellent athlete and extremely bright.GÇ¥

On Whether the New Facilities Are Helping With the Recruiting Process
GÇ£Yes we have seen that. When itGÇÖs finished here and we have our junior days, and all the type of things that weGÇÖll have this summerGÇª. When they walk through it this summer, theyGÇÖll be blown away by it. It will make an even bigger impact. It also makes an impact on the players now. They walk around with a lot of pride and they see it. Matter of fact, weGÇÖre going to take them on a tour through it the next few Saturdays so they can see it themselves. TheyGÇÖre excited about it. So, I think that it brings a whole new level of commitment and they understand that.GÇ¥

On Whether He Feels The Team is in The Unique Position of Not Needing to Play True Freshman Immediately in Order to Succeed and if That is His Goal Moving Forward
GÇ£We didnGÇÖt play a lot of true freshmen last year. If you look at our team, which is exciting, we really only have 10 seniors, but our junior and sophomore class is big. So, weGÇÖre going to be older and more mature this year with our junior and sophomore class. The year after that, weGÇÖre going to have 47-48 players on scholarship in the junior and senior class that are mature and have played a lot of football and that are big and strong. WeGÇÖll be able to keep building those classes as they go and with redshirting guys. We were able to redshirt quite a few kids this last year. So, hopefully weGÇÖll be able to redshirt most of these freshmen. We wonGÇÖt be redshirting the junior college kids, theyGÇÖll be ready to go and play, especially since theyGÇÖll be able to go through the spring and do all they can there. So, weGÇÖll even have more maturity on our football team, which IGÇÖm excited about.GÇ¥

On Whether the Defensive Line Was His Main Area of Emphasis During Recruiting
GÇ£Yes. The defensive line areaGÇª. The only way you can actually be good on defense consistently is to have enough good defensive linemen. You can scheme and do all you want, but youGÇÖve got to be able to have guys up front that make plays on their own, come off blocks, knock the ball loose from running backs, tip balls, harass the quarterback. WeGÇÖve got more guys that can do that. WeGÇÖre bigger, weGÇÖre stronger. Also, you have to rotate them in some to keep them fresh, especially with the high-paced offenses that we play. If a kid has to stay out there seven or eight plays in a row and he canGÇÖt get a break, it makes it tough if (the quarterback) is just sitting back there patting the ball or guys make runs on you or you donGÇÖt have good pursuit angles. So, IGÇÖm excited about the look of our defensive line and the athleticism of it. There will be great competition this spring and in the fall and weGÇÖll be able to play a lot of good football players. WeGÇÖll look different when we walk onto the football field this fall, our whole team will. TheyGÇÖre doing an unbelievable job in the weight room right now and weGÇÖve got a more mature looking football team.GÇ¥

On Whether He and the Staff Made a Concerted Effort to GÇ£BeefGÇ¥ Up the Running Back Corps During the Recruiting Period
GÇ£Last year, we got beat up a little bit at running back even though we were trying to play a few different guys. So, going into it this year, we definitely wanted to sign two. Then, (Wide Receivers Coach) (Troy) Walters had done an unbelievable job of recruiting Pat Carr. So, that kind of came about at the end there and we wanted to take Pat, weGÇÖre excited about him. Aaron Baltazar is another find by (Running Backs Coach) Klayton Adams. He was a young man that was a highly, highly recruited young man out of high school. He went to Boise State and started as a freshman in front of a guy that is going out early now (entering the NFL draft). Then, he tore his knee up, didnGÇÖt like it there, left and he was going ton junior college in San Diego. We just found out and kept recruiting him and recruiting him and he really liked us. (Donald) Gordon, from the (Los Angeles) area, is a strong athlete that (Safeties Coach) Charles Clark did a good job with.

GÇ£We feel like weGÇÖve got good young men there that can play and will give us more depth at running back. So, hopefully we can redshirt one of those freshmen, thatGÇÖs what we hope to do. Aaron (Baltazar) is a physical, big back who is very powerful, hard runner and that type of thing. Gordon is a big one too. When you see him, heGÇÖs got big round shoulders. He is more of a big, powerful back. Pat Carr is 5GÇÖ8 1/2GÇ¥ but heGÇÖs 197. You saw him walk in without an ounce of fat on him. HeGÇÖll run a 10.4 in the 500-meters this year. He ran a 10.6 last year. So, he can fly. All of them have really good hands, so that helps us using them out of the backfield and when weGÇÖre splitting them out. So, weGÇÖre excited about those guys.GÇ¥

On Where the Team Needs the Most Improvement
GÇ£I donGÇÖt think we need immediate help right away except for the junior college kids and (defensive end) Samson Kafovalu who came in. I think theyGÇÖll fill the needs that we need. I think that we have good depth. We have good experience everywhere and then weGÇÖll see. Hopefully a couple of these guys will jump out on the field and the guys will go GÇÿwow, that guy needs to be on the fieldGÇÖ and thatGÇÖs what weGÇÖd expect to see.GÇ¥

On the State of the TeamGÇÖs Run Game
GÇ£We ran the ball well last year. I would like us to run it even better. ThereGÇÖs some situations in games when you can run out the clock so to speak. If the other team has a little bit of momentum and youGÇÖre able to run the ball on some different first downs and keep the clock in your favor a little bit and catch your breath some. If you can run the football well then it opens up the passing game even more. I still believe that if you can be more balanced then you have a better chance; when you get the momentum and are up about 14 points, you can run it and come up with some big plays in the passing game or just demoralize a team and score another touchdown. We didnGÇÖt have a chance to do that as much last year. But defensively, IGÇÖll go back to that, when your defense is stopping them and doing that it gives you more options to run the football. You donGÇÖt have to put as much pressure on your quarterback to keep scoring all the time. I think that will help us.GÇ¥

On Recruiting In Hawaii
GÇ£I think they're all going to flip a coin. The coaches all want to go to HawaiGÇÖi recruiting. But the thing about going to HawaiGÇÖi recruiting is that you fly out, you stay for a day and you fly the red eye back. ItGÇÖs not a vacation. YouGÇÖre worn out. Bit, Clayton [Adams] did a great job out there. WeGÇÖll review that but heGÇÖs made a lot of contacts with a lot of the schools. He recruited Lyle Tuiloma. WeGÇÖve already made in-roads. ThereGÇÖs some juniors out there that we know about and so itGÇÖs good.GÇ¥

On the Defensive Line
GÇ£With us being able to have more Defensive Linemen and those types of things, we should be able to be better and more stout up front. We will be. Our scheme, when we get our defensive coordinator in here, weGÇÖll definitely tweak our scheme or sure and make that more powerful. The defensive line is the key. ItGÇÖs where you start. I think we have a good secondary. A lot of guys played last year because of injury. Some of them really showed they could play and I feel good about our secondary. The D-Line is where we needed to make the biggest advancement in our team and I think we did that. I think itGÇÖs an immediate advancement too.GÇ¥

On Whether the New Uniforms Play a Hand in Winning a Potential Recruit Over
GÇ£IGÇÖd like to say that type of stuff doesnGÇÖt help recruiting, it shouldnGÇÖt help but it does. The kids like that different type of thing and I think that if you take a straw poll with the fans, some fans like it and some fans donGÇÖt. I think in todayGÇÖs world, the 18-22 year old kid does like those types of things. We have some different things that weGÇÖll unveil this year that is going to be exciting for everybody. I think itGÇÖll appease everybody too.GÇ¥

On Recruiting in Arizona
GÇ£It is [a new area of emphasis]. (Offensive Line coach) Gary Bernardi does an excellent job there. He recruited there. HeGÇÖs coached at Arizona. He coached at Northern Arizona. He knows everybody in that state and he does an excellent job. Us playing in the state of Arizona in the Pac-12, that has opened that up. That area is growing; theyGÇÖre adding schools every day. ItGÇÖs amazing how many different schools theyGÇÖve added. So weGÇÖre excited about recruiting there and thatGÇÖs an area that weGÇÖll keep continuing to recruit.GÇ¥

On the Offensive Line
GÇ£There is [a lot of talent there]. Timmy Lynott is one young man that, stature wise, could already have an opportunity to play. The other guys probably are going to need a year to soak so thatGÇÖs what weGÇÖll do. But we have (sophomores) Shane Callahan and Gerrad Kough. Those are just a couple names but youGÇÖve got other guys in there to that can play and are bit, strong young man. So, I feel good about that area. We redshirted Sully Wiefels, who was a junior college offensive lineman. He could play center and Alex Kinney could move or he could play guard. So, I think we have enough bodies in there to work with. Our freshmen that we redshirted last year can help us at tackle and do some different things like that. So those guys can help us a lot.GÇ¥

On the Search For a New Defensive Coordinator
GÇ£WeGÇÖre very close to hiring a defensive coordinator. I did not have that question asked one time in a house I went in to. I donGÇÖt think it affected our recruiting at all. Like I said earlier, most of these young men were committed and we ended up getting a running back late and a couple other guys. But we were pretty much solidified in our recruiting at that point.GÇ¥

On Whether ItGÇÖs Harder to Initially Recruit a Player Or to Keep Him Committed
GÇ£TheyGÇÖre high school kids. They date a girl for three months and the girl drops them because they have another guy. So, theyGÇÖre young kids. I think that the commitment level is, as you get to know them, get with them and they come on campus enough, youGÇÖre in good shape. Most of those kids came on unofficial visits and then of course we saw them off campus. The new rule is that if a kid is admitted to school and he pays his $200 admittance fee, then we can contact them so much more. The rules change. A lot of our kids who committed early had already gotten accepted to school. We could call them more, we could go visit more. We developed a relationship and they werenGÇÖt doing that with other schools because they didnGÇÖt get admitted to those. That helps you to stay with them and they keep a better relationship. You can only go to the high school once a week but you can go see that kid every night if you want to at his house. ThatGÇÖs a rule change that happened a year ago. We did that with quite a few kids. We weren't there every night but we were there more often. That helped us on that commitment side to keep those early commitments. WeGÇÖll offer a guy that nobody else has offered and a day later, heGÇÖs got five offers. We donGÇÖt operate that way. All of a sudden we commit a guy and theyGÇÖre trying to talk him out of the commitment already. So, itGÇÖs kind of interesting how that all works. GÇ£

On Early Commitments From Camps and Satellite Camps
GÇ£That is our lifeline to recruiting right now. For us to see them, work with them, coach them, be around them and be able to do that when they come to our camps or we go to a satellite camp. Our coaches work really hard in the summers. TheyGÇÖre not playing golf every day. TheyGÇÖre working at this. WeGÇÖre finding these young men that we think are excellent players and weGÇÖve got to work with them and see them and see them move. You get to see them and compare them to other guys and you say GÇÿwow he is a lot better than that guyGÇÖ even though the other guy might be ranked better. You get to work with them and see their intensity and their effort. WeGÇÖre excited about them because weGÇÖve gotten to know them, gotten our hands on them so to speak. I think thatGÇÖs extremely important.GÇ¥

On the Fact That CU Was the Only College That Defensive Lineman Leo Jackson III Visited During Recuriting Process
GÇ£I think itGÇÖs a great testament to Troy Walters and Clayton Adams and all of our guys doing that. Troy [Walters] stayed after. Pat stayed in touch with the coach and all that type of thing. That was extremely important for us. Clayton Adams finding Aaron Haigler and finding out what was going on and researching everything and making sure he was doing all the stuff he was supposed to do at junior college. He was making excellent grades. ThatGÇÖs really good. So, weGÇÖre excited for him. Three of the junior college kids we have have three years to play, which is excellent. TheyGÇÖre already 20-something years old and mature which gives you a talent that instantly helps you.GÇ¥

On Two-Way Star Recruit Chris Bounds and Which Side of the Ball He Might End Up On
GÇ£A lot of the young men that we recruit out of high school play both ways and thatGÇÖs usually a good sign because they're good enough athletes and theyGÇÖre usually the best players on the team. Chris Bounds can play tight end, half-back. He can also play defensive end or defensive tackle. ChrisGÇÖ whole situation is that weGÇÖre going to have to see where his body goes. When you meet Chris, his shoulders are extremely wide. It looks like he might be able to get really big but he might stay at that same time. I donGÇÖt know. But when you have wide shoulders and youGÇÖre working out and lifting every day, you have a chance to gain weight. He could definitely be a tight end for us and also could play on the defensive line. Right now we kind of have him slated at defensive end but when they come in, weGÇÖll work him on both sides of the ball and kind of get a feel for that. Hopefully we can redshirt him and see what happens from there.GÇ¥

On Recruiting in the State of Colorado
GÇ£The two linemen are big and athletic, so we are excited about those guys. Tim Lynott Jr. and Dillon Middlemiss are excellent linemen prospects. Tim was quote a guy that was offered by everybody in the Pac-12 and heGÇÖs at an excellent high school, Regis; we got Terran Hasselbach out of there too. Alex Kinney, in a lot of services, is ranked the number one punter in America. He won the contest a few weeks ago when he went to Las Vegas, where they bring all the great punters. He also has a very strong leg as a kicker, which makes me very excited about him as well. Frank Umu is big athletic young man, 6GÇÖ5GÇ¥ and 290 lbs., does a great job on the offensive line. He came to our camps as a junior and came back as a senior. I was able to go watch him place in person and he is so athletic for a big guy and I am excited about what he will bring to the table on the defensive front. He will end up be a little over 6GÇÖ5GÇ¥, heGÇÖs 290 lbs. right now and doesnGÇÖt have an ounce of fat on him. HeGÇÖll end up being 315-320 lbs. deep tackle that can run and move, so I am excited about Frank.GÇ¥

On His Enthusiasm Regarding This YearGÇÖs Recruiting Class
GÇ£I am excited about this class; I truly am. IGÇÖm excited about where they are and we have some guys, especially the Junior College men that are ready to walk in and play. We have a couple of freshman that will physically be able to help us a little bit but we would like to red shirt the rest of them and keep developing them. For you to build a program you better start having a lot of players that are mature in their junior and senior, 4^th and 5^th year, and thatGÇÖs where we are getting to and thatGÇÖs exciting. These young men have the ability to do that. I read an article that stated in the Super Bowl out of the 22 starters for each team, the average stars for the Seattle Seahawks was 2.4 and for the New England Patriots the average stars was 2.3. Fifty-five percent of the players in the Super Bowl were two stars or less; there wasnGÇÖt even a five star in the Super Bowl. So, I think itGÇÖs all about work ethic and itGÇÖs all about the ability to believe they are going to do well. We evaluated and saw these young men, every single one of them, at camps and thatGÇÖs how we try to recruit. We try to have a bunch of camps here and then do satellite travel camps with other schools, in California and Texas, so we can be able to work with these young men and see what they are all about.GÇ¥

On Getting Commitments From Players Early in the Recruiting Process
GÇ£Well, we saw a lot of them at camps and really liked them, so thatGÇÖs the way it worked out. The process has sped up so much, which personally I wouldnGÇÖt prefer, but thatGÇÖs just the way the process is today. ThereGÇÖs a big talk around the early signing day, which I think would be a very good idea. That way you donGÇÖt have so many de-commitments and all the other stuff that goes on in college football. It is tough on those young men when grown men are trying to talk them out of their commitments. So, if you push up the signing date you would have a little more character involved and a little more integrity in the recruiting process.GÇ¥

On How the Lack of Wins Over the Last Two Years Affected the Recruiting Process
GÇ£I definitely think that anyone who has watched us play, and those we are recruiting do, we are right in there in the Pac-12. The very first words said to me by everyone that I met when I got here, 'Just make us competitive.' Well I think we were competitive this past year in the Pac-12 week in and week out. Now we are at the point where I believe we can start winning those games more often, and we should have won more last year, which the recruit see. When you bring them on campus and they interact with our young men they hear them talking that way all the time. They hear them believing in how close we are to get over the hump and how we are going to be successful. ItGÇÖs a combination of them understanding and believing that and then when they see the commitment of everything they see a tidal waving forming, so thatGÇÖs how we talk to them about our vision for this program.GÇ¥

On The Joy of Giving Young Men the Opportunity to Play Division-I Football
GÇ£ItGÇÖs really exciting. There are a lot of situations I have been in every type of household; IGÇÖve talked to a lot of different members in a family. You have a lot of different emotions. Some kids have witnessed the process through their older siblingsGÇÖ opportunities, you have some young men who will be the first one to go to college in their family, so all of those attributes are exciting. ItGÇÖs a very emotional day and a very prideful day for those young men and their families.GÇ¥

On Getting a Kicker of Alex KinneyGÇÖs Caliber
GÇ£We lost our punter and our kicker last year, so we felt like we definitely had to have one and when the best one in the country, according to everybody, is right down the road that makes it really exciting. Alex is going to be a big part of this program and we plan on him having an opportunity to punt, and maybe even kick, in our very first game thereGÇÖs no doubt about it. So, we are expecting very big things from him in his very first game as a Buff.GÇ¥

On the Process of Recruiting a Highly-Touted Player Like Alex Kinney
GÇ£It was pretty tough to recruit him, he had a lot of programs going after him. He got on him early and (Special Teams Coach) Toby Neinas did an overall great job working with Alex, which lead to a great recruit. He came to our different kicking camps and junior day, so I think him being around made him excited about being here; I think this is where he wanted to be all along but he definitely started getting a lot of interest, thereGÇÖs no doubt about it.GÇ¥

On the Three Running Backs Commits and Their Chance to Make an Immediate Impact
GÇ£I definitely think they have a chance to factor in, thereGÇÖs no doubt. All three of them are built really well, so they have the stature to handle Division I level football. Sometimes you bring in a young guy and you can tell that you cannot throw him out there at 165 lbs. or a lineman needs to gain another thirty pounds, you just canGÇÖt do it. Patrick Carr is built really well along with all of the RB recruits are, so to me they would be physically ready to play.GÇ¥

On Which Recruits Might Have the Potential to Start in 2015
GÇ£One thing I do when I recruit young men is I never tell them that they are going to start; if you are doing that you are lying to them. I tell them that they have an opportunity to come in and compete, especially the young men that are physically already built. I would expect all of our Junior College young men are built and ready to play. We just talked about some of the RBGÇÖs and we have a Linebacker that is built well. Grant Watanabe came aboard in January, so those types of guys that have had the opportunity to do winter and spring workouts will be ready to go. I think also both of our secondary guys that we signed, Isaiah Oliver and Nick Fisher, are very athletic and come from great weight programs at their high school will probably have a chance to help us out in the secondary.GÇ¥

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