By: Neill Woelk, CUBuffs.com Contributing Editor
BOULDER — Colorado head coach Mel Tucker believes it is imperative to win the fourth quarter.
Hired on Dec. 5, 2018, Tucker in essence arrived at Colorado in the fourth quarter of the recruiting period. But despite his late arrival, Tucker believes his first fourth quarter with the Buffs produced a winning effort.
Tucker and his staff will sign the remainder of their first recruiting class at Colorado on Wednesday. Tucker added 17 players to CU's roster in the December early signing period — barely two weeks after he took the job as Colorado's 26th football coach — and Wednesday he is expected to add between eight and 10 more players to the 2019 recruiting class.
By all indications, it will be a solid group. Tucker believes he and his staff addressed some immediate needs, built for the future and improved the overall competitiveness of the roster with their first recruiting class.
"I believe we had a good fourth quarter," Tucker said. "I really have to give credit to (Director of Player Personnel) Geoff Martzen. He's been very organized, very diligent and done a tremendous job of being efficient with the evaluations and getting out the offers and organizing the travel for the visits and all those things."
Once the Buffs identified potential recruits, Tucker's staff hit the ground running, jumping into the fray as soon as they were hired.
"Our coaches have really rolled up their sleeves and been relentless on the recruiting trail and making sure we were thorough and addressing our needs," Tucker said. "It's been a very, very strong effort right up until the end right here."
Throughout the recruiting process, Tucker has made it clear — the best players will play when he begins evaluating his team in spring ball. He also believes he and his staff did a solid job in identifying immediate areas of need and recruiting to bolster those areas.
"I feel good about those needs" Tucker said. "Obviously some of our positions are deeper than others. But the positions where we weren't as deep we were able to get players in December and we have some more coming (Wednesday). We have players who can come in and help us right away. I feel like we've done a really, really solid job, and we've been efficient and smart about it."
Tucker's history shows he isn't afraid to play younger players if they earn the time. When he was Alabama's assistant head coach and defensive backs coach in 2015, he started as many as three freshmen in the Crimson Tide's secondary that year en route to a national title.
As he and his staff put the finishing touches on their recruiting class Tuesday afternoon, Tucker took some time to make an appearance on ESPN's "College Football Live." Tucker answered a variety of questions about his time so far in Boulder, and noted that he has had great support across the board from CU's administration.
"We have brand new facilities and the athletic director, Rick George, has done a great job in putting things in place in giving us a chance to win," Tucker said. "The administration is hungry, the fans are hungry, we have everything in place that we need and recruiting is going well so far."
And, he added, he made the decision early to not impose any "limitations" on who and where Colorado would recruit.
"Understand, we have a great university to sell, a great football program to sell and we're going to go after the best players very aggressively," he said. "The other thing is we understand here that we have to recruit every day. There's not a day that goes by that we're not reaching out, building relationships with high school coaches, with parents and with prospects."
Tucker also said he has started the process of redefining the culture around CU football and what he will expect from his staff and players. That, he said, includes two key elements.
"I think you want to make sure you're very clear about how you want to do things, how you want to go about things," he said. "Give them the 'why' and make sure that you let them know it's all about love and discipline. When you keep it simple that way, I think the players can understand it, I think the parents can understand it, and I think everyone in the administration can understand it. Love and passion for the game, love for our players, making sure we care about them first as young men off the field, love for our university. We have a great university here with tremendous tradition, great education."
As for the discipline portion, Tucker said the formula is simple.
"We're going to do what we're supposed to do, how we're supposed to do it, the way it's supposed to get done, on and off the field," he said. "We reinforce those things every day. That's how you build culture. Everyone's on the same page — our administration, our players, our staff, our fans. It's a work in progress but we will work very, very hard each and every day to develop our culture."
BOULDER — Colorado head coach Mel Tucker believes it is imperative to win the fourth quarter.
Hired on Dec. 5, 2018, Tucker in essence arrived at Colorado in the fourth quarter of the recruiting period. But despite his late arrival, Tucker believes his first fourth quarter with the Buffs produced a winning effort.
Tucker and his staff will sign the remainder of their first recruiting class at Colorado on Wednesday. Tucker added 17 players to CU's roster in the December early signing period — barely two weeks after he took the job as Colorado's 26th football coach — and Wednesday he is expected to add between eight and 10 more players to the 2019 recruiting class.
By all indications, it will be a solid group. Tucker believes he and his staff addressed some immediate needs, built for the future and improved the overall competitiveness of the roster with their first recruiting class.
"I believe we had a good fourth quarter," Tucker said. "I really have to give credit to (Director of Player Personnel) Geoff Martzen. He's been very organized, very diligent and done a tremendous job of being efficient with the evaluations and getting out the offers and organizing the travel for the visits and all those things."
Once the Buffs identified potential recruits, Tucker's staff hit the ground running, jumping into the fray as soon as they were hired.
"Our coaches have really rolled up their sleeves and been relentless on the recruiting trail and making sure we were thorough and addressing our needs," Tucker said. "It's been a very, very strong effort right up until the end right here."
Throughout the recruiting process, Tucker has made it clear — the best players will play when he begins evaluating his team in spring ball. He also believes he and his staff did a solid job in identifying immediate areas of need and recruiting to bolster those areas.
"I feel good about those needs" Tucker said. "Obviously some of our positions are deeper than others. But the positions where we weren't as deep we were able to get players in December and we have some more coming (Wednesday). We have players who can come in and help us right away. I feel like we've done a really, really solid job, and we've been efficient and smart about it."
Tucker's history shows he isn't afraid to play younger players if they earn the time. When he was Alabama's assistant head coach and defensive backs coach in 2015, he started as many as three freshmen in the Crimson Tide's secondary that year en route to a national title.
As he and his staff put the finishing touches on their recruiting class Tuesday afternoon, Tucker took some time to make an appearance on ESPN's "College Football Live." Tucker answered a variety of questions about his time so far in Boulder, and noted that he has had great support across the board from CU's administration.
"We have brand new facilities and the athletic director, Rick George, has done a great job in putting things in place in giving us a chance to win," Tucker said. "The administration is hungry, the fans are hungry, we have everything in place that we need and recruiting is going well so far."
And, he added, he made the decision early to not impose any "limitations" on who and where Colorado would recruit.
"Understand, we have a great university to sell, a great football program to sell and we're going to go after the best players very aggressively," he said. "The other thing is we understand here that we have to recruit every day. There's not a day that goes by that we're not reaching out, building relationships with high school coaches, with parents and with prospects."
Tucker also said he has started the process of redefining the culture around CU football and what he will expect from his staff and players. That, he said, includes two key elements.
"I think you want to make sure you're very clear about how you want to do things, how you want to go about things," he said. "Give them the 'why' and make sure that you let them know it's all about love and discipline. When you keep it simple that way, I think the players can understand it, I think the parents can understand it, and I think everyone in the administration can understand it. Love and passion for the game, love for our players, making sure we care about them first as young men off the field, love for our university. We have a great university here with tremendous tradition, great education."
As for the discipline portion, Tucker said the formula is simple.
"We're going to do what we're supposed to do, how we're supposed to do it, the way it's supposed to get done, on and off the field," he said. "We reinforce those things every day. That's how you build culture. Everyone's on the same page — our administration, our players, our staff, our fans. It's a work in progress but we will work very, very hard each and every day to develop our culture."
