View full size photo uploaded June 25, 2009

Dan Hawkins and the CU football program have had a pretty good run the last eight days. In somewhat of a rarity for the Hawkins era during the dog days of summer, he has received verbal commitments from three players (Kyle Slavin, Mister Jones and Nick Hirschman) bringing the total to four this cycle, five if you include Michigan Wolverines transfer, Toney Clemons.

For a week, we now had a taste of what some other fan bases experience during the summer. Combine the fact that all of the newcomers are offensive players, with two being potential quarterbacks and a big time transfer in Toney Clemons, this class has been fun to analyze so far. 

The most recent and second quarterback in the 2010 class is Nick Hirschman, who verbally commited to coach Eric Kiesau yesterday after receiving his first division one scholarship (also granted acceptance to Harvard to play football). Most Buff fans might read that and be skeptical of the offer considering national names like Austin Hinder and Brett Nottingham were being thrown around the internet as potential quarterbacks for Colorado. Fear not, I think the Buffs got a good player with strong upside.

Why do I say that? A couple reasons, all which lead me to believe that Hirschman is serious about playing at the next level and doing whatever it takes to be successful.

1) The kid is smart. He had the opportunity to play/go to school at Harvard and his sister attends Yale. At the most cerebral position on the football field, anyone who can attend Harvard gets an A+ in this category.

2) Hirschman is 6'3" 220 pounds similar in size to Clark Evans, a 2009 Buffs commit and Danny Spond, another 2010 quarterback commit. Yes, you can be a successful quarterback at 6'0" or 5'10" but size doesn't hurt. No one will mistake Hirschman for a running quarterback but he has games with success running the ball. He also plays in a pro-style offense, not a shotgun spread-based offense, which is the new fad across high school sports. He is used to taking normal 3 - 5 step drops, reading defenses in a progression and playing in a timing-based offense. That is a big plus right away as the Buffs are transitioning back to that style of offense in 2009:

The new pro-style offense that Kiesau has announced he will implement this year also made Hirschman's decision easier.

"I do like how I fit in their offense. They run my style, and I enjoy that," Hirschman said. "I'm just ready to get a playbook and go down there and compete for a spot. Their offense seems very similar to what we do in high school, we run a very sophisticated offense and it will prepare me for the next level."

ESPN.com also had a nice recap that should be music to our ears in CU's offensive transformation:

Hirschman is a pocket passer with prototypical size, bulk and arm strength. In an era of the spread offense and very quarterbacks having to work from under center, it is refreshing to see a guy work entirely from under center and possess sound footwork and excellent ball handling skills. He has a thick, sturdy build and is capable of standing in the face of the rush and delivering strikes.

More on why I am impressed with Hirschman after the jump...

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bumped and slightly modified from fanposts - irish1611

2009 commit, OL Shaun Simon has been deemed ineligible by the University of Colorado Admissions' office according to his Facebook status and other sources. Here is what Simon said on his page:

So just found out that CU admissions didn't qualify me! They tryna make a brotha greyshirt!! Naw I'm not doin that we gone restart this and hop up in one of these prep schools and do this recruitin sh*t again! If CU is the place then it's the place but Ima free agent now! im gone pray about it tho! I hope in the end it works out that ima be a buff!!

Once again, we see more cases of attrition in the offseason. Best of luck to Shaun and we hope to get a shot on the flip side of his prep school stint if that is the route he goes. You have to hope that the coaches can make him see the benefit of potentially greyshirting. A greyshirt process will allow him to train and focus entirely on getting his academics in order (like a redshirt but without the team participation in the fall), something that is priority number one. Let's hope this is the only player from the 2009 class that has these issues, a few of these guys will probably be asked to play early on - irish1611

The Longmont Times-Call - Football Forecasts Mixed for '09 Buffs

Patrick Ridgell does a nice job compiling some information from the preseason magazines: Sporting News, Athlon, Lindy's and Phil Steele. Here is where they have the Buffs ranked in the Big 12 North:

Lindy’s, Athlon and Sporting News each pick the Buffs to finish fourth in the Big 12 North, which is where they finished last season. Sporting News uses with its pick an ominous downward-pointing arrow, meaning things aren’t looking up for the Buffs. Phil Steele’s College Football Preview picks the Buffs second in their division behind Nebraska, writing the Buffs "are led by a powerful rushing attack" and they make its list of most improved teams.

Most of the verbiage is not on the positive side:

In Athlon’s, there’s this: "They just really seem to be light years behind everyone else in the Big 12 in terms of offense. You really expected (coach) Dan Hawkins to be further along at this point."

Definitely a good read if you want to see what the "experts" are saying.

Hawkins Alone in Predicting 10 wins - Nebraska Football
Continuing on the look at all the preseason magazines, the Husker blog Big Red Network looks around and doesn't see anyone else jumping on the 10 win bandwagon that Dan Hawkins laid out earlier this year.

Usually there’s some variability in the picks being made. But one thing seems to be consistent across all of the predictions – Colorado does not look like a ten-win team to anyone.

College Football Predictions & Preview – Big 12 | ATS Sports Blog

The sports betting sites are cranking out preseason predictions. The ATS Sports Blog takes their shot at it. Surprisingly, they pick the Nebraska Cornhuskers to finish third in the Big 12 North behind the Kansas Jayhawks and Missouri Tigers. The Colorado Buffaloes were picked fourth, something that seems to be the consensus among the preseason releases. 

2009 Colorado Football Predictions | NCAA Football Lines

This is now year four for the coaching staff, and it’s time for the offense to start producing better numbers after ranking in the bottom third of the league in each of the past three seasons. The defense could struggle early with a brand new line, so it’s even more important for the offense to be prolific. This team has to win its home games and steal a couple on the road to reach a bowl game in 2009. The NCAA football odds show the Buffaloes listed at +1500 to win the Big 12 Title this season.

The Ralphie Report Live: Interview With Chad Koepke, Head Coach of Colorado Buffaloes' Commit, RB Mister Jones
In case you missed it yesterday, we sat down with Chad Koepke, the head coach of 2010 commit, Mister Jones.

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Welcome back to another edition of "The Ralphie Report Live" where we sit down with a few prominent people that have an impact on Colorado athletics. Today, we had the privilege to talk with Chad Koepke, the head coach of the Littleton Lions and Buffs' 2010 verbal commit, running back Mister Jones. Jones committed last week to the University of Colorado, becoming the second member of this cycle's class. Like most fans, we get excited when the Buffs bring in a new runningback so we thought we would get on the horn and learn a little more about Mister. We spent about 10 minutes with Coach Koepke discussing a range of topics including Jones' talents, areas for improvement and his personal growth over his high school career. Thanks again to Chad for the interview:

The Ralphie Report (TRR): Being a Colorado kid, we are that much more excited about Mister Jones playing for the Buffs. What makes Mister a special player and what kind of player should we expect to see on Saturdays for years to come?

Coach Koepke (CK): Well, he is a very exciting player and I guess the biggest thing at the next level is he has to continue to run the football hard which he has done throughout his high school career. He has really learned to run the ball inside (the tackles). Before, as a sophomore, he was great on the edge using his speed but now he has gained a little size, weighing 205 pounds. So now when he runs downhill, it is exciting because there aren't too many guys at the high school level that want to step in there and take that on.

He is just a very dynamic kid who is fun to watch run the ball

TRR: We often hear the phrase "a track star playing football" does that best describe Jones?

CK: Honestly, I think he is a better football player than he is a track athlete. Pure speed-wise he is pretty good but he has been an all league and second team all state player in football. At the track level he has done some things on the relay team but I think he is kind of getting a bad rap about a track kid playing football. He is 205 pounds and runs "football" well with very few teams that are able to stop him.

TRR: In your discussions with Jones, how was the recruiting process for him and was ever thinking about going anywhere else than CU?

CK: He had a few schools that were interested in him. Wyoming had offered him, KU had offered him. I think the attraction with CU was they were the first to offer him and the first ones to show interest so I think he has a little bit of loyalty there. All that being said, it isn't a surprise in my mind. It helps that (CU) is a regional school and he has always talked about staying within this region. I am excited that I get to see him play.

TRR: Whenever you read about Mister, there is that mention of an ankle injury or hamstring injury. Is he back to 100% and how important is it for his psyche to get through this year unscathed? Do you think his injuries have affected his recruitment of schools nationwide?

CK: I think that the injuries probably had something to do with it (not being recruited on a bigger level). He only started five games a year ago and still rushed for 900 yards. As far as his ankle injuries go, his first one happened as a freshman in Arizona and it never really got taken care of. I don't even know how it happened but it always bothered him early on until he got that fixed. This last one was just a fluke deal as he was trying to get out of a tackle and someone rolled up on him so has had a little bit of bad luck.

If he doesn't sit for five games last year, (also injured in one of the games with a hamstring injury) he is a 2,000 yard rusher and in the five games he played in against a few of those teams, he had less than 10 carries. A couple of them may not have been the greatest of opponents but we are definitely a different team when Mister is in the game.

click after the jump to read the rest of the interview...

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Josh Smith makes a touchdown grab against West Virginia last season.

View full size photo uploaded June 22, 2009

The Josh Smith saga took a little more of an interesting turn today as the academic appeals board assembled by the University denied Smith's desire to have an open transfer to 8 - 10 schools. Instead, fulfilling Smith's request to further his music career, the former Buff will only be allowed to further his education at the University of Southern California. USC is supposedly the only school who has the music major Smith listed as his reason for transfer.  According to the Daily Camera, the Buffs leading special teams player from a year ago will have only a couple of options:

"Smith’s options are now limited to transferring to USC, paying his way to another school for one year before being allowed to receive financial aid or returning to CU."

No one knows if USC would actually offer Josh Smith a scholarship to play football there and considering their talented wide receiver depth chart, finding room for Smith might be difficult.

Basically this signals that their is a lot more to the story than we know about. For the transfer appeal committee to agree with the decision of athletic director Mike Bohn and head coach Dan Hawkins decision to limit Smith's escape route certainly points in the direction of unknown events behind closed doors. You have to believe that the appeal committee is there to separate possible athletic implications and formulate a decision in the best interest of the student-athlete both on the field and off the field.

Whether you agree or disagree with Mike Bohn's description of student-athletes as investments or Josh Smith's desire to transfer to his list of schools on his terms, I think we are all in question mode about what makes this situation different from the rest of the transfers that go on with players like one of the newest Buffs in wide receiver Toney Clemons (transfer from Michigan Wolverines) or former Buff running back Marcus Houston who of all places went to Colorado State, a team who Colorado plays once a year. Even Dan Hawkins admits times have changed and it isn't just limited to his program, that kids are going for instant gratification or as he puts it "the grass is always greener on the other side."

What if Cody Hawkins wanted to transfer? Scotty McKnight? Ryan Miller? Darrell Scott? Is this now the standard for the University of Colorado? Is it the standard we want to present for future and current Buffs? I don't know.

Another question would be if Josh Smith went to Mike Bohn & Dan Hawkins and said, "Mr. Bohn, coach Hawkins, our offensive coordinator just left and we don't have a full-time wide receivers coach right now. Based on that, I would like to go to a more stable situation. I would like to go to school XYZ and try it there," would we be in the same predicament? Is it all about the music career that has Bohn, Hawkins and the administration flirting with that dangerous public relations line? Is the music career the reason we are even discussing the ramifications of this decision on the future of running back Darrell Scott, arguably the most important player for the Buffs future?

Again, all questions, no answers. It is a head scratcher with the public is certainly being the public on this one and the people behind the scenes are truly keeping it in house. It has to be right? A music career cannot be the reason for all of this posturing.

I do not think this will end positively, either way, unless we hear shortly that Josh Smith has come back on board and realized that he didn't make the right choice, blaming it on his youth and how he is ready to suit it back up for the Buffs. Other than that, I don't see how the University comes out positive in this unless we hear the rest of the story.