We’re now in the blackhole period of recruiting. Angst and gnashing of teeth will be the existence of all of us fans. It would help those of us who are CU fans if we could feel confident about the recruiting messaging that is being put out there.
Every coach/team has a foundational set of messages they use to portray their program and the opportunity being presented. For Coach Prime, the message has been, in large part, about how he can help “brand” each player in a way that extends way beyond football. It’s a powerful message that has appeal, and he has credibility to bring to his ability to deliver on that.
However, once the excitement wears off, the recruit and his family are going to want to understand the substance about the other aspects of the program and the recruit’s experience for next several years:
- Who will my coaches be?
- What kind of scheme will be run, and where do I fit in?
- Will the team I’m a part of be successful, and how do I know it will be successful?
- What is the culture I’m stepping into?
- Will I be supported to maximize my potential?
Given those questions, Coach Prime needs to be able to definitively provide concrete answers - and soon. Every other coach out there is clearly going to sow seeds of doubt as to positive answers for each of those key questions. And right now, I don’t think anyone knows clear answers.
I understand that Coach Prime may be making hard decisions to change out some of the coaching staff (which has a ripple effect to everything else). However, at the very LEAST, he needs to communicate something along the lines of
“No one can guarantee anything in life, but I can tell you that I am committed to the University of Colorado for the long term, even after my sons leave, and I won’t be satisfied until we have a national championship and I see my players having success in the NFL and in their lives beyond their time at CU.” Until we have something like that, in public, we will continue to have decomitments from blue chip high school players and only sniffs from transfer portal players looking for a short term push to get to the League.