Welcome to Colorado Buffaloes football 2009! The start of one of the more important years in recent memory is a little over 8 hours away. I will be there so expect to see a couple of reviews tonight or tomorrow morning. I will also try and get some twitter updates going but it sounds like they are going to be super stringent on phone use and picture taking. We will try to reach out to Dave Plati to see if we can get some press credentials to take pictures.
As you can imagine, there are a few good reads out there today:
CUBUFFS.com has a great "home page" for spring football. It looks like their will be a daily article all the way up to the spring game. Today, they feature a new spring roster and an interesting article about a camera on the quarterback's helmet. Nothing to new on the roster front. LB Lynn Katoa is not participating in spring drills, we have known of that possibility for a little while now. CB Anthony Wright is also a surprise LIMITED participant as he hurt his knee jumping over a fence. Only speculation at this point but the injury was not on the football field (obviously).
As for this camera helmet device, at first glance, I thought it was a pretty cool idea but then started to read about it. First of all, it isn't wireless so the QB's will have to house some sort of recording equipment in a waist hand warmer. So I am envision wires off the head and extra weight on top of the head. This sounds like something that can throw off the throwing motion pretty easily. I wonder how long they will last.
According to the Daily Camera, WR coach Eric Kiesau has been promoted to assistant head coach to go along with his wide receivers coach tag. If you can remember, Kiesau was a pretty big attribute this recruiting cycle. Often, many of the prospects said he was the coach that they identified most with and was their favorite of all coaches regardless of school. Guys like Diante Jackson and Emory Blake, who didn't come to Colorado would probably still tell you Kiesau is their favorite coach. A few more wins and those players will turn into commits. This is a best case move for the program, especially with the departure of Grimes and the fact that Oregon offered Kiesau more money to come coach for them...something that would have made Diante Jackson very happy.
Speaking of Diante Jackson, Oregon has signed two more JUCO WR's since he committed on signing day. You can always transfer back Diante!
It also sounds like Arthur Jafee and Brian Lockridge will be testing out a few positions this spring. Jafee looks to be headed to safety and Lockridge will get time in the slot.
Natalie Meiser of the Denver Post talks a little spring ball. A few good notes worth mentioning:
Hawkins pointed to a relatively inexperienced group in Marquez Herrod, Eugene Goree, Conrad Obi and Will Pericak to fill the voids left by George Hypolite, Brandon Nicolas and Maurice Lucas on the defensive line. Yes, we are all concerned. He is eager to unveil the redshirts, his February 2008 recruiting class, particularly linebackers Doug Rippy and Jon Major, as well as offensive lineman Bryce Givens. Tailback Rodney Stewart and offensive tackle Ryan Miller are completely healed after their seasons ended with broken legs. Hawkins said sophomore Darrell Scott is in good shape, and he likes what Brian Lockridge has accomplished after a redshirt year.
Patrick Ridgell of the Longmont Times still thinks this team is young and inexperienced. I knew that the Buffs didn't have a ton of contributing seniors but I did not realize that only 13 of the 18 were on scholarship. Youth still won't be a valid excuse this year but the numbers do support the progression to a strong mix of class still occurring.Olin Buchanan of Rivals.com provides a preview of Colorado from an "outside the Colorado area" perspective. Nothing groundbreaking. He has pretty much highlighted the players we did throughout. The only thing I think people are making too much of a big deal about is our defensive backfield. I have no concerns about the cornerback spot and personally think that Mahnke and Perkins bring more to the safety position than Walters and Dykes. They played last year and they did well enough to make that conclusion.