Head coach Jon Embree yells instructions at his team as sophomore Justin Castor (40) and senior Tyler Hansen (9) complete a drill during the Buffaloes' open scrimmage on Saturday at the practice fields. (CU Independent/Patrick Ghidossi)
On one sideline of a practice field, players shout across to their 22 teammates in scrimmage. Along the opposite side, a group of five hundred fans stare back at them.
Like a peaceful mob, they look on with patient excitement under the shadows of Folsom Field, which waits just up the hill.
A new-look offense, which is slowly learning a pro-style system, takes charge against its aching defense during the Saturday scrimmage. An eight-touchdown, 55 point outing supplied the crowd with a day’s worth of entertainment and satisfied expectations.
Therein lies the reeking absurdity beneath all spring practices: when your team’s offense has success, it means the defense must have problems. Or vice versa.
With injuries to numerous projected starters on defense, it would sound so familiar to onlookers if their coach blamed the defense’s breakdown on matters of health.
But CU football head coach Jon Embree does not roll with excuses. He charges at them with the hate of a bull seeing red.
“Oregon, USC, Arizona – they don’t care who’s out there (playing),” Embree said. “You’ve got the headgear on, you’ve got the jersey, and it’s your chance.”
Oh, how so much changes in a year.
Last spring, as CU prepared to roll out a three-wheeled wagon with the same tired pony trick, Boulder’s air was unseasonably foul. A passively coached team remained blind to its faults, never understanding how to improve.
Even the most loyal of fans clamored for the ringleader’s firing. The others stayed at home to boycott the circus, as Folsom Field’s attendance dipped to its lowest point in four seasons.
After the calendar turn, spring football returns to the People’s Republic of Boulder.
And how fitting, in a 2011 thus far marked with successful revolutions overseas, that CU begins life following a transformation of it’s own.
The program is not undergoing renovation, because it was already demolished. Embree and staff begin the project from ground level.
Four former Buff players join Embree in a delegation to restore their school’s football program The largely homegrown band of coaches begins their dig from out of a hole that took five somber years to create. No time is left for complacency.
Playbooks need installing and positions need filling. Departures of left tackle Nate Solder and cornerback Jimmy Smith, both of whom are projected to go first round in this month’s draft, give way to some of the spring’s more intriguing competitions.
Sophomore tackle Jack Harris is running with the first team offensive line in place of Solder, the graduating All-American. At 6 ft. 5.in and 300 lbs, this towering load from the nearby town of Parker continues to show he’s lean enough to protect his mobile quarterback, and strong enough to benefit the grinding run game.
Harris’ new offensive line coach, Steve Marshall, has caught his attention by echoing the no-nonsense attitude of Embree.
“He’s just really assertive and he’s extremely enthusiastic,” Harris said. “He loves what he’s doing, he loves coaching us and he doesn’t accept any errors. Every coach on the staff is like that.”
Unlike past seasons there is no quarterback controversy, even though Embree will tell you otherwise (repeating that every spot is open). Under the former regime, the fight for the starting quarterback job defined spring ball.
Tyler Hansen looked possessed in scrimmage, completing all but one of his 19 passes for over 200 yards and 3 touchdowns. To see a quarterback in tune with each of his targets this early in April is more than encouraging.
Of course, to see the secondary picked apart faster than a corpse in the desert is just the opposite. Deji Olatoye, a rising sophomore corner looking to replace Smith, saw shares of playing time with the first team defense.
“It was part [Tyler] Hansen playing well and part us playing bad,” Olatoye said. “We didn’t do our assignments and he exposed us – that’s good quarterback play and bad defensive play.”
On the second play of the days’ second drive, receiver Paul Richardson shakes corner Jered Bell for a 58-yard touchdown catch.
Embree, who throughout the scrimmage threw his arms in disgust and hunched over in disbelief, proceeded to lambast Bell loud enough for everyone in attendance to go quiet.
Showing his seriousness, he later reiterated a message he had for his players after the scrimmage.
“This is your opportunity to show that you want to be on that plane going to Hawaii,” he said of the season opener. “You want to be tired, you can rest and watch the game on TV.”
He expects everything, dirtying his hands to squeeze out every drop of sweat from these players. To Embree, this is only the beginning of the climbing out process. His long list of criticisms will not be satisfied until the Buffs make their way from out of the hole.
“As a team, we’re not very good when things aren’t going our way early,” he said. “We’ve got to get better about playing the next play.”
In the meantime heads turned west will keep eyes on Embree and his Buffs as they tread toward a new conference, making sure to see if the next play comes better than the last.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Michael Krumholtz at Michael.krumholtz@colorado.edu.
