Last night, I asked Darian Hagan about how his relationship with freshman Ashaad Clayton was perhaps enhanced due to Clayton not being particularly happy last fall in his first semester at Colorado.
After all, I think we'll all remember the candid interview Clayton gave a few weeks ago, his first-ever with the CU media, in which he opened up about missing home, his mom and grandma as well as the gloominess that came from being locked down in Boulder and not seeing much playing time.
For a refresher, that video (worth watching if you've not seen it) is here:
Clayton detailed that last fall, he and Hagan met privately a lot to talk. During those meetings, Hagan would council patience and also try to relate his own experience at Colorado three decades ago to Clayton's.
In terms of not seeing a lot of playing time as a freshman following highly successful preps careers and getting used to a new environment in Boulder, Hagan found that he could relate quite a bit to the tribulations Clayton found himself experiencing last fall.
“I lived through his eyes," Hagan said. "As a true freshman coming from Los Angeles, I was homesick. I wasn’t as far away from home as he is but I was homesick, I didn’t know what the hell I was doing with the playbook, I was lost at times, the food was different, the people were different — I just told him to hang in there and things would get better. That’s exactly what happened."
Colorado's 24-13 win over Arizona on Dec. 5 of last year proved to be a turning point in Clayton's freshman campaign.
Prior to that, he had seen the field in just one game, registering a lone carry for three yards against San Diego State in week two.
But in Tucson, Clayton was given his heaviest workload of the season — a modest four carries — but two of which came on the goal line, with Clayton finding the end zone on both tries. He also managed to find some space out of the backfield for a 17-yard gain in the game.
The overall experience provided a significant morale boost for Clayton.
“Last year we met a lot," Clayton said, "He was always telling me ‘Your time is coming. Don’t get discouraged. Your time is coming.’ And sooner or later, in the Arizona game, my time did come with two little touches — I don’t want to say little, but goal line touches. My time came and that kind of boosted my confidence.”
In terms of his own-self evaluation and those of Hagan and Karl Dorrell, Clayton appears to be looking night and day from where he was last fall.
Part of that undoubtedly has come from an increased comfortability of Colorado's playbook while on a secondary note, Clayton has been taking quite a lot of carries this spring, eating up reps that normally may have gone the way of Jarek Broussard, who has been limited this spring with a minor ankle ailment.
While Clayton has enhanced his on-field prowess this spring, he's also managed to do the same with respect to the relationship he has with his position coach.
“Hagan is a legend," Clayton said. "Every time he talks, I listen. He’s like a father figure that I never had growing up in New Orleans. He always says that we grew up a lot and I admire him a lot. With Hagan, we just developed a relationship where I could call him at 4 o’clock in the morning and say ‘coach, I need a ride,’ and he’d come get me. Every time he talks, I take in knowledge.”
Ultimately, this fall, the Buffs are going to need more helping hands in the offensive backfield than Broussard, whose heavy workload seen in last year's condensed season likely won't be sustainable for a full, 12-game slate in 2021.
While Clayton is far from the only tailback at CU's disposal he's managed to make a strong case for himself moving forward as he looks to take handoffs with more regularity this upcoming fall.
"He showed up this spring and he’s going to show up and show out, so I’m looking forward to it," Hagan said. "I’m happy where he is with his progress. He’s opened up to me a lot and we have a really, really good relationship. I’m pleased with that.”
.....
Thing appear to be looking up for Clayton. I am pretty confident he's going to be in the mix a lot more often this fall in terms of seeing at least a few handoffs per game. It's always nice to hear when a position coach is able to go above and beyond in terms of being a positive influence in a player's life and Hagan appears to be doing just that. Glad to see those two developing a tight-knit relationship.
I also can't help but laugh in recalling a comment I saw on a Hagan thread ages ago that he intentionally held back his RBs to protect his legacy at Colorado lol....or something to that effect. Good stuff.
After all, I think we'll all remember the candid interview Clayton gave a few weeks ago, his first-ever with the CU media, in which he opened up about missing home, his mom and grandma as well as the gloominess that came from being locked down in Boulder and not seeing much playing time.
For a refresher, that video (worth watching if you've not seen it) is here:
Clayton detailed that last fall, he and Hagan met privately a lot to talk. During those meetings, Hagan would council patience and also try to relate his own experience at Colorado three decades ago to Clayton's.
In terms of not seeing a lot of playing time as a freshman following highly successful preps careers and getting used to a new environment in Boulder, Hagan found that he could relate quite a bit to the tribulations Clayton found himself experiencing last fall.
“I lived through his eyes," Hagan said. "As a true freshman coming from Los Angeles, I was homesick. I wasn’t as far away from home as he is but I was homesick, I didn’t know what the hell I was doing with the playbook, I was lost at times, the food was different, the people were different — I just told him to hang in there and things would get better. That’s exactly what happened."
Colorado's 24-13 win over Arizona on Dec. 5 of last year proved to be a turning point in Clayton's freshman campaign.
Prior to that, he had seen the field in just one game, registering a lone carry for three yards against San Diego State in week two.
But in Tucson, Clayton was given his heaviest workload of the season — a modest four carries — but two of which came on the goal line, with Clayton finding the end zone on both tries. He also managed to find some space out of the backfield for a 17-yard gain in the game.
The overall experience provided a significant morale boost for Clayton.
“Last year we met a lot," Clayton said, "He was always telling me ‘Your time is coming. Don’t get discouraged. Your time is coming.’ And sooner or later, in the Arizona game, my time did come with two little touches — I don’t want to say little, but goal line touches. My time came and that kind of boosted my confidence.”
In terms of his own-self evaluation and those of Hagan and Karl Dorrell, Clayton appears to be looking night and day from where he was last fall.
Part of that undoubtedly has come from an increased comfortability of Colorado's playbook while on a secondary note, Clayton has been taking quite a lot of carries this spring, eating up reps that normally may have gone the way of Jarek Broussard, who has been limited this spring with a minor ankle ailment.
While Clayton has enhanced his on-field prowess this spring, he's also managed to do the same with respect to the relationship he has with his position coach.
“Hagan is a legend," Clayton said. "Every time he talks, I listen. He’s like a father figure that I never had growing up in New Orleans. He always says that we grew up a lot and I admire him a lot. With Hagan, we just developed a relationship where I could call him at 4 o’clock in the morning and say ‘coach, I need a ride,’ and he’d come get me. Every time he talks, I take in knowledge.”
Ultimately, this fall, the Buffs are going to need more helping hands in the offensive backfield than Broussard, whose heavy workload seen in last year's condensed season likely won't be sustainable for a full, 12-game slate in 2021.
While Clayton is far from the only tailback at CU's disposal he's managed to make a strong case for himself moving forward as he looks to take handoffs with more regularity this upcoming fall.
"He showed up this spring and he’s going to show up and show out, so I’m looking forward to it," Hagan said. "I’m happy where he is with his progress. He’s opened up to me a lot and we have a really, really good relationship. I’m pleased with that.”
.....
Thing appear to be looking up for Clayton. I am pretty confident he's going to be in the mix a lot more often this fall in terms of seeing at least a few handoffs per game. It's always nice to hear when a position coach is able to go above and beyond in terms of being a positive influence in a player's life and Hagan appears to be doing just that. Glad to see those two developing a tight-knit relationship.
I also can't help but laugh in recalling a comment I saw on a Hagan thread ages ago that he intentionally held back his RBs to protect his legacy at Colorado lol....or something to that effect. Good stuff.
