First Day of Pads!

Good news. I will be checking out the first practice in pads tonight. Hopefully they let me take some pictures and don't kick me out in due to taking an extreme interest in the practice!

-It would be hard to argue that, other than Darrell Scott, no other players are getting more attention than incoming freshmen Doug Rippy and Rodney "Speedy" Stewart. The Rocky Mountain News recaps a unique story that basically started with Nebraska firing Callahan and from there, the Buffs were able to sign these two impact players. How unbelievable would it be to have a "Darren Sproles like" player back returning kicks and on the outside to stretch the field. By the way, the Buffs need to make sure they lock up Darian Hagan right away. We had a post a couple months ago that showed Hagan was the lowest paid assistant coach on the Buffs staff. With all of the inroads he is making on the recruiting trail, especially out of state in places like Texas, California and Ohio, losing him would be a major loss to the future of this program.

-Also from the Rocky Mountain News article, they confirmed that two high profile recruits, WR Randall Carroll and DL Nosa Eguae, were in Boulder this week on a visit to the campus. Randall Carroll is an interesting recruit. The 5'11" 175lb 5 star receiver had already verbally committed to USC but in a strange twist, has not been in a lot of communication with the Trojans over the past couple of months. Instead, he is taking his official visits now after his verbal. Word has it that he is friends with Darrell Scott as well. Carroll must have been the 5 star WR that Scott was talking about in his interview with his Uncle Josh Smith. Eguae, a 6'3" 243lb explosive four star DE, currently has CU listed as his #1 choice. The Arlington, Texas player sounds like this will be his first of two visits to Boulder. He isn't trying to make a decision until after the conclusion of his high school season but it wouldn't surprise me if he committed after either one of his two visits. From rivals.com, he notes that CU got his picture off of rivals and put it on a Wheaties box with his new Buffs jersey on! It would be a surprise of Darrell Scott and the Buffs staff was able to lure Carroll away from USC but expect Eguae to be in a Buffs uniform this time next year.

-Daily Camera article on Lynn Katoa and his quest to prove he is not a "thug", Hawkins sentiments on the first day of pads (don't get people injured) and how freshmen LB Jon Major is holding his own at linebacker.

-Shaun Mohler is a "man on a mission." A pretty remarkable and inspirational story about the desire to play under Coach Brian Cabral and dawn the gold and black. You have to respect a guy who took 8 credits in the spring and summer just to come to Colorado.

-It looks like the Buffs are changing up the uniforms with Ray Polk wearing the new digs. Just keep the gold pants and I will be happy.

-Bloggin with the Buffs resumes on cubuffs.com this time with freshmen OL Max Tuito-Mariner. Check out what Max has to say since he has been in Boulder.

-Freshman RB Darrell Scott looks like a former RB who wore #19.

-Once TE Riar Geer was reinstated from his offseason issues, the Buffs coaching staff breathed a sigh of relief and now have the ability to experiment with the one of the three TE recruits. Will Pericak, the 6'4" 265lb TE from Boulder, has drawn the honor of going to the defensive side of the ball to play on the DL. It seems like Pericak is open to the position change which is the key to the whole transition being effective.

-Another article on WR Patrick Williams and how he is a new player this year. I applaud him for the hard work that he has put in this offseason...hopefully this will be the year that we see his true talent shine on the field as he has been a disappointment thus far in his career. A past post shows his lack of productivity compared to other active WR's in the Big 12. The good thing about four years of college is the ability to atone for the previous ones. A 75 - 80 catch year with 10 TD's while leading the Buffs to a winning season would go a long way in rewriting Williams legacy as a Buff.

Get Pumped!

Its video day at the Ralphie Report. Just some Buffalo fireworks for your fourth of July celebration. Below are the Buffs opening and walkout videos. The music needs some help but still, we are getting closer! I know Woodrow is going to hate this first opening video because it sounds like "Coming to Your City" the video ESPN continues to play at 10 am every Saturday morning. Also, we have a posted a highlight tape of recent Buff signee Clark Evans. The title on YouTube says "The Next Tim Tebow?" I would'nt go that far but a few observations. The Blue team he is playing is not very good. Evans looks like the biggest player on the field. He definitely has the tools to be a starting QB at the collegiate level. Happy 4th of July!!!

OPENING VIDEO



WALKOUT VIDEO



CLARK EVANS HIGHLIGHT TAPE

Buffs Sign Big QB

Cody Hawkins has to be in Peru right now saying, "Dad, what are you doing?" The Buffs signed their third recruit in the 2009 season and the second QB. The first signee was Jordan Wynn, an athletic 185lb QB from California, similar in size to Cody Hawkins who will be entering his sophomore season and second year as Buffs starting QB. Although most Buffs fans would like to see Cody be a little more consistent and throw less interceptions, for a red-shirt freshman, most thought he did a great job leading the Buffs from a 2 win season to playing Alabama in the Independence Bowl last year. Today, the Buffs went away from the smaller QB mold and signed Clark Evans, a three star 6'5", 225 lb QB from Los Alamitos, CA. From all accounts, Evans' seems like a pretty solid player with rivals.com ranking him in the top 25 of dual threat QB's and garnering over 3,000 all purpose yards last year in his junior year. Evans might be more athletic than Wynn with even more size. More to come from this signing but I hope the Buffs find some players on the defensive side of ball especially at DL and in the secondary. Evans was also considering Kansas State, Boise State, UCLA, Arizona State and San Diego State.

Buffs Sign 6'7" Center...Women's Lady Buffs That Is

To say that their is something in the water in Omaha would be an understatement. Its was just announced today that Melissa MacFarlane, a 6-foot-7 center at Millard North High School will be joining the Lady Buffs next year. No, the 6'7" measurement is not a typo. I think the Men's team should go and sign her. I am truly disappointed that I could not find a picture or a bio of the Melissa as that was the entire reason for this post. But a 6'7" number should be enough to gain a visual. As soon as a find a picture, you will have it. Last year, she averaged 11.1 pts/game and was third team All-State in Nebraska. I don't know how she doesn't average 20 and 20 a game but I guess we will find out soon. She picked CU over Illinois State and Louisville.

The Art of Recruiting

One of the great things about college football these days is the ability to follow your team 12 months of the year from spring ball to conference play to bowl games to recruiting. At the same time, the non-stop football season causes information overload from blogs like us to recruiting sites like rivals.com and scout.com, over analyzing everything and everyone, comparing this coach and that player and this team. One of the comparisons going on right now is surrounding the current recruiting standings of the Big 12 football teams. More than ever, there is greater pressure on high school kids to commit early for whatever reason, probably for all the programs so they can form a roster and get the players in early or so they can focus more on the upcoming year.

If you were to take the time and go through every single Big 12 teams commit list, you would see the following breakdown of commits about 8 1/2 months before the supposed "National Signing Day": Texas 19, Oklahoma 13, Texas A&M 10, Missouri 9, Texas Tech 9, Kansas 6, Nebraska 5, Baylor 2, Colorado 2, Oklahoma State 2, Iowa State 1, and Kansas (JUCO) State 0. Until last Friday, Colorado had the distinction with KState as being the only 2 schools in the Big 12 that hadn't signed a recruit. To give you some perspective surrounding these numbers, last year Texas signed 20 players the entire recruiting season. They already have 19. Looks like Mack Brown wants to take a long vacation this summer. Oklahoma signed 21 recruits last year...they currently have 62% of that total as we sit here on June 11th. To any common man, there might be some cause for concern for all teams not named Texas, OU, A&M, Mizzou and Tech.

Well, there have been a few references to the supposed late start that Colorado got this year. They have been paired with the strange recruiting program in Kansas State and made to sound like they are taking a step back off of a strong recruiting season in 2007. Looking back at how things shook out last year, Texas signed all 20 of there recruits before June of 2007...the same as this year. Oklahoma signed 12 of their recruits before June 11, 2007...almost dead on to last year. Colorado didn't sign a recruit until....June 24th, 2007. Yes, the Buffs have a better start to this year as they did last year. That is hard to believe since most of the press around the Buffs recruiting has negative this year. Buffs fans had to scratch there head when Hawkins said something to the effect of, "I tell the recruits to take their time and not rush into a decision, I only want players who want to be a part of this program and it is an important decision for your life."

But maybe Hawkins has something here. OU and Texas are in a different class of recruiting in the year 2008. They can sell the program now. Hawkins has to sell the future. He has to be similar to be that guy on the other side of the table convincing you to put your money away for the future instead of having fun now and spend it all. He might be giving himself more time to convince a Darrell Scott or a Lynn Katoa to commit to Colorado over the biggies by making them believe in the sweetness of the deal as a senior taking a program in Boulder to new heights. Maybe its not planned at all. Who knows. But it worked last year as they had a top 15 class, ahead of Missouri, Tech, Kansas and Texas A&M. Hawkins job now, if the plan is to sell the kid on the future, is to get them to slow down. You read most articles on rivals.com and it says, "I am narrowing my list and want to make a decision before my high school football season starts." Thats Texas talking, that's Stoops whispering in the kids ear saying, "Don't you want to enjoy your senior high season without Coach Hawkins calling you every other night ?...Don't you want every newspaper in your town to say your name followed by the words, "Oklahoma-bound?" Hawkins job is to tell the kid to visit, look at the weather, see the campus, do you like the dorms, do we have your major, what about life after football, do you want to be a trend setter? That's why what Hawkins did last year was amazing, its easy to go to Texas, OU, LSU and USC if your Darrell Scott, Jon Major, Ray Polk, Lynn Katoa, Ryan Deehan, Max Mariner or Shaun Mohler. He had to convince them to put there money in a trust fund and wait for the benefits. So before we start getting antsy and worry about being tied with Baylor for 8th place in the Big 12 in recruiting, have a little faith in investment banker Hawkins and the rest of the coaches.

Buffs Land Big WR, QB

CU is finally on the board, landing there first two recruits of the 2009 class. Rivals.com is reporting that both WR Jarrod Darden and QB Jordan Wynn have verbally committed to joining the team in 2009. Wynn is a 6'2" pro-style QB from California led his team to the Division II State Championship last year. He threw for over 2,500 yards and 21 touchdowns during his second team all-state season last year. Wynn, from Oceanside, has a teammate OL named Brian Schwenke that the Buffs are recruiting as well.

Jarrod Darden was one of the athletes that the Ralphie Report mentioned as a must have in 2009. The big WR measures 6'4" 211 lbs something the Buffaloes have not had since Michael Westbrook. Darden took his second visit to Boulder last week and committed while he was there. During his first unofficial visit at the spring game, Darrell Scott and Darden spent most of their time together with Scott making a strong pitch for Darden, even calling him "The Tower of Power." Score one for Scott as he is already making an impact at Colorado. Scott will continue to be an ambassador for the program especially in the state of Texas where Darden is from. Its good Scott understands that it will take more than just him for the Buffs to be competitive in the Big 12 and on a national level. Darden understands the need for a star WR in Boulder which was one of the main appeals to joining the Buffs. While Wynn will probably be a red shirt his first year in Boulder, we expect Darden play instantly across from Josh Smith and Scotty McKnight as the Buffs are starting to develop a nice receiving corp. Scout.com ranks both Darden and Wynn as 3 star recruits but before it is all said and done, I expect Darden to probably be in the 4 star range after his senior year due to his size and strength.

Here is how ESPN.com evaluates Darden. Although they mention his inconsistency as a route runner and ability to reach top flight speed, Darden has all the measurables. You can learn to run crisper routes which will lead to more explosiveness. You can't learn 6'4" 211 lbs. Every highlight video I have seen has shown good speed and the ability to go up and get any ball over any cornerback. Definitely a physical specimen that will only get better.

ESPN.com seems to love Wynn stating that he is one of the best passers and wasn't getting enough attention from the big boys as he should have. His bulk is a little concerning but he has enough mobility to buy himself time. As ESPN.com says, Wynn is a "very good prospect."

"Hawk the Blogger"?

Coach Hawkins, once again, shows his dynamic ability to relate to masses. For the past year or so between games and recruiting trips, Hawk has inundated fellow CU fans with words of wisdom through the art of blogs that are not usually about football. Somehow I get the opinion that if you sat down all the Big 12 coaches at a table and you had anyone to sit next to, you would probably choose Hawkins. He seems to have more to talk about other than just CU sports or whether his son is the key to the hurry up offense this year. He would probably sit you down and talk about anything other than football which is why I think he relates so well to recruits even in CU's rebuilding efforts. As a person once recruited by smaller college football schools, you make the best bonds with those that didn't drill you with X's & O's all day, everyday. You made the bonds with the people who ask about your little brother, about your family, about your interests. Hawks most recent blog is about 25 years of parenting. Something that most 20 something bloggers don't have too much appreciation for but still works into Hawkins whole realm of being able to connect with families of recruits and people, in general, on a different level other than football.

Another example of Hawkins ability to connect with recruits is shown in his one day camp called "Friday Night Lights" which was a staple at Boise State. While most recruits probably worry about attending camps and having a good showing in front of the coaches, 40 of CU's most coveted recruits really don't have to worry about 40 times or cone drills at "Friday Night Lights." The only thing that is of concern is whether they are locked in on there XBox skills. Yes, that is not a typo. With all of the pressure that high school kids feel from the recruiting process, Hawkins has recruits playing XBox on Folsom Field's Jumbotron, competing in punt catching out of a jug machine and obstacle courses. How awesome would it be to play NCAA '09 on the field of Folsom? Its just one of those ways Hawkins connects. You rarely hear a recruit say that they went to CU because they are a powerhouse now, you hear them say that I made a connection with Coach Hawkins and they will be a powerhouse soon and I want to be there for it.

Kasa Down to Florida and Colorado

It is safe to say that DE Nick Kasa is the recruiting star for the state of Colorado in 2009. He is big (6'7" 245lbs), he is fast (4.6 forty), almost scary fast for a kid that big and he is also one of the most prized recruits in the nation. Please Coach Hawkins, get this kid. Not only will he be an improvement to a defensive which needs more big body players to get pressure on the emerging QB stars in the Big 12 but also it is important in continuing with the statement to local Colorado players that you don't have to leave home to find success. Yes, the state of Colorado isn't Ohio, Texas, Florida or California but it has turned out a solid core of players year after year and many of them have left in the past. Hawkins has done an excellent job in his two years at CU keeping the #1 recruits in the state of Colorado in OT Ryan Miller and LB Jon Major. Signing Kasa would be an exclamation point on the in-state pipeline.

Kasa announced that he has pretty much narrowed his choices down to Florida and Colorado, siting many obvious reasons why to attend both schools. Kasa's list of attributes are eerily similar to the words from Darrell Scott about 4 months ago when courting Texas and CU. The list is probably similar to anyone of us trying to formulate reasons to either attend CU or Florida. For Florida, it comes down the being on a national title contender now and Urban Meyer has apparently given Kasa the indication that he will probably play from Day 1.But going to Florida would be away from home and the friends that would follow him to Boulder. For Colorado, Kasa loves the direction of the program and as all the recruits say, they love Hawkins and his passion for both the school and the sport. Undoubtedly, Kasa will play right away at CU especially with the skill set on the DL outside of a select few being less than adequate. Its hard to turn down Florida but hopefully Hawkins will sell him on more than just the program but the entire state of Colorado. Maybe Mr. Scott could get on the phone and help his coach out!

Buffs Ante Up

Just an interesting little read for your Friday and how CU's commitment to recruiting (and an increase in the budget!) has become a poster child for how programs gain momentum. This is from the Seattle Times in regards to the football team at the University of Washington.

Q: What is the recruiting budget for the football team? Has it gone up in recent years?

A: According to a spokesman, the recruiting budget this year was approximately $275,000 which essentially covers all travel by coaches and all visits by recruits. That is 5 percent more than two years ago. The questioner noted that Colorado's recruiting budget has essentially doubled since Dan Hawkins became coach two years ago (details here) and wondered if UW should do the same --- Colorado is said to spend more than $550,000 on recruiting. However, I would warn against making a direct comparison since you don't know if the two schools are including the exact same items in their budgets. Without going over it line-by-line, it's hard to know for sure if one school is spending a lot more than another, or simply categorizing expenses differently. Certainly, the reviews on UW's recruiting class this year would seem to indicate the Huskies are spending enough. Without a complete breakdown of the recruiting budget of Colorado, hard to know if they really are spending twice as much as UW, or just counting the expenses differently. It certainly looks, however, as if they are spending more. But without knowing all the details I'd be hesitant to really judge it.Also worth noting is that the NCAA and Pac-10 each enacted reforms aimed at curbing recruiting expenses in 2005 (I examined that in this story here).

Keepin' It in the Family

We try not to write too much on scholarship offers because who knows how interested a player is in a school but I couldn't resist writing about this recruit and his inherent tie to the program. Kendall Gregory-McGhee, best described as an athlete since he can play multiple positions, has received a scholarship offer from the University of Colorado. The 6'4" 220 lb Gregory-McGhee is a local kid from Cherokee Trail in Aurora. What makes this recruit appealing is that his father, Kanavis McGhee, was a former stud linebacker at the University of Colorado in the early 90's and was a major part of the successful Bill McCartney teams. Kanavis was a first-team All-Big Eight player and a runner up for both the Butkus Award & the Lombardi award which are given to the top linebackers in college football. Kanavis was also drafted in the second round by the New York Giants.

Kanavis' son, Kendall has the ability, due to his size and speed, to play DL, TE and WR hauling in 9 touchdowns during his junior season. He might not have the ideal speed for a WR at the next level but if you can get a guy who has a 6'4" frame on the defensive edge or at the TE position who can run a 4.6 forty, he would immediately become a threat. Kendall has received offers from Colorado, Colorado State and Wyoming and interest from Nebraska, LSU, Stanford, Texas and Boise State. Hopefully he will give the Buffs hometown and family preferential treatment next spring.

Priority #1: In-State Recruiting

The Dan Hawkins era began with a firm commitment to recruit the state of Colorado much more heavily than in the past. Gary Barnett consistently missed out on some of the top talent in that state (Calais Campbell, Jeff Byers, Zach Latimer, LenDale White). The arrival of Hawkins to Boulder was greeted with an immediate impact in in-state recruiting. Hawk was able to sign top Colorado recruit Ryan Miller in 2007. Miller was not only top in Colorado but was the second best offensive tackle in the country. In 2008, Hawkins even furthered his pipeline in Colorado by inking Bryce Givens, Jon Major, and Curtis Cunningham, three of the top four recruits in the state of Colorado.

2009 presents a new list of fresh talent that the Buffs need to get to keep their momentum going. On top of the list is Nick Kasa (right). The 6 foot 7 inch Defensive End from Legacy High School is a 5* recruit on Scout and boasts scholarships from nearly every high-major school except Southern Cal. He was an All-Colorado performer in his junior season and runs a 4.6 forty at 232 pounds. He had 22 tackles and 9 sacks his junior year. His stats fell from his sophomore year when he tallied 59 tackles and 10 sacks. The decline is no cause for concern; Kasa was constantly facing double and triple teams last year. He currently favors Colorado and Florida above all but offers from Notre Dame and Miami have to be attractive as well.

The second biggest target on CU's radar from Colorado is Jeremiah Sirles. Sirles is a 270 pound offensive tackle from Bear Creek High School. He was recently promoted to 4* by Scout. Like Kasa, Sirles was an All-Colorado performer and at 6 fett 8 inches, he is a load but quick on his feet, running a five second forty his junior year of high school. One cause for concern with Sirles is a torn ACL suffered in week 9 of his junior year but he is expected to have a full recovery by the start of his senior campaign. Sirles currently lists CU, Texas Tech, and Michigan as his top 3. He hasn't been offered yet by Michigan but it seems that they are his dream school.

Other major recruits on CU's radar not from Colorado include Manti Te'o, Cliff Harris, and Shaquelle Evans who are all 5* prospects. Look for CU's first commitment to come from Jarrod Darden (left), a receiver out of Keller, TX. He visited CU during their Spring Game and spent plenty of time with Darrell Scott. Darden holds eight scholarship offers but it seems like it will be CU or Texas Tech for 6 foot 5 inch receiver.

May 1st Links

Witherspoon Chooses Memphis - Atlanta area wing Wesley Witherspoon, one of the top three unsigned seniors in the 2008 hoops class, has chosen to attend the University of Memphis. CU was listed as one of Witherspoon's top 5 but in the end the allure of Calipari was just too great. Bzdelik will start to get these types of players in due time, but his teams need to start showing some solid improvement on the floor to help make their decision a little easier.
Witherspoon Decision Coming Today

BCS to Stay the Same - The brilliant conference commissioners met in Hollywood, Fl for the past few days and have once again decided that they are perfectly content just sitting back and watching the money flow in rather than actually giving the fans what they want. Check out Schlabach's story.
No Plus One

Mandel's Post Spring Top 25 - Five Big 12 teams in his top 25. Pretty consistent with what I have seen with the exception of Tech in the top 10. Big 12 is going to be fantastic this year.
Post Spring Top 25

Harvard is for Morons - We've landed on the moon! Way to be timely idiot. This happened over 5 years ago. LET IT GO.
Give This Clown an F