Football
Sep 12 (Fri)
5:30 PM
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
John Wristen, in his seventh year on the Colorado staff, returned to his native state with Gary Barnett when he was named running backs coach on January 22, 1999. In the summer of 2004, the job of recruiting coordinator to his duties, as he handles the inquiry and identification areas. He accompanied Barnett to Northwestern in 1992 after spending the previous two seasons as a graduate assistant for the Buffaloes, when Barnett was a CU assistant.
He switched assignments in January 2001, as he took over coaching the tight ends. He also assumed coaching the kickoff return unit on special teams in 2002.
In his first two seasons as a full-time coach in Boulder, he helped tutor Cortlen Johnson, who rushed for 1,657 yards in just 19 games. In his third season, he coached senior tight end Daniel Graham, who was selected a unanimous All-American and was named the recipient of the second annual John Mackey Award as the nation’s top tight end.
Wristen, 43, has lived all but seven years of his life in Colorado. He was a star quarterback at Southern Colorado, lettering four years between 1980-83 and earning first-team NAIA All-America honors as a senior.
Upon his graduation from "the other" USC in 1983, where he earned his bachelor's degree in physical education, he worked as a student teacher at his alma mater in 1984. He was a free agent in the Denver Broncos' training camp that summer. He got his start in coaching at Weslaco (Texas) High School in 1985, working as the offensive coordinator. He went back to school to earn his master's in special education, which he did from Adams State College (Alamosa, Colo.) in 1987. While attending school at Adams State, he was the head coach at nearby Rocky Ford High School for two years (1986-87).
He popped over to Colorado's western slope for two years, as he was the offensive coordinator at Fort Lewis College in Durango for two years (1988-89), before joining the CU coaching ranks for the first time in 1990 as a graduate assistant. He worked directly for Barnett at Colorado, helping with the quarterbacks and fullbacks in CU's national championship season in 1990, and then with the running backs in 1991. He then followed Barnett to Northwestern when he was named head coach in Dec., 1991.
He coached the running backs for seven seasons at Northwestern, including Darnell Autry, an All-American and Heisman Trophy finalist in 1995, and Dennis Lundy. Lundy set many school records under Wristen's tutelage, only to see Autry break most of them just one year later.
He was born April 15, 1962 in Denver, and graduated from Pueblo (Colo.) South High School, where he lettered in football, basketball and track. He is married to the former Sue Forward, and the couple has three children, daughters JoVanna (18) and Bailey (8) and son Clay (10). His hobbies include golf and fishing.
