On what usually is a get-up-at-4-in-the-morning kind of day, to be ready for any early bird signees or surprises sending in NLIs from the East Coast, this National Signing Day has far from necessitated doing anything akin to that.
After all, Colorado Sports Information sent out an email late last night indicating that the Buffs did not plan on signing a single player today and that there wouldn't be a normal press conference or signing day coverage due to the lack of players to introduce.
In the last 24 hours, the Buffaloes have lost two commitments — one in unexpected fashion from La Habra, Calif. OLB/S TJ Patu and the other on more predictable terms, with Garland, Texas DT Ike Iwunnah swapping his CU pledge in order to sign with Michigan early this morning.
On top of that, Snoqualmie, Wash. QB Clay Millen, who, for the second time in his recruitment seemed right on the verge of going with the Buffs, also opted to commit elsewhere, this time with Nevada.
In terms of the end result via the aforementioned defections and swings and misses, compared to the reinforcements it appeared Colorado was going to be receiving at multiple position groups, for CU fans, it's hard at face value not to be downright disappointed.
There's without doubt validity in feeling disappointed or frustrated today, but there's also more to consider big picture-wise with CU's slow signing day.
The Iwunnah result represents the glass half empty part of the equation. Below is a brief snippet of what he had to say in explaining his decision to flip from Colorado to Michigan.
"Michigan has resources beyond any school that I had offers from....My family and I compared it to Colorado and Michigan won over the top. It was the best school."
If during the Valero Alamo Bowl, Texas provided a lessen to Colorado on the gridiron about how much ground the Buffs have to cover before being able to compete with bigger dogs, Michigan provided a parallel lesson on the recruiting trail today.
A year ago, when Florida made a late push to steal away Ashaad Clayton from a verbal commitment, Mel Tucker hung on and won a down-to-the-wire recruiting battle. Karl Dorrell faced a similar challenge from a program with more esteem and recent success than his via Michigan and lost.
Iwunnah is one player. It's been a wacky recruiting cycle. There was never going to be a wave of a magic wand that led to the Buffs fighting off every challenge or competitor on the recruiting trail.
Iwunnah's words about why he went with the Wolverines are telling though, and clearly, when Michigan came knocking, he was ready to listen.
These are the kinds of battles Colorado needs to start winning consistently, sooner rather than later, if Dorrell's vision of elevating the program to a new level is to become realized.
That said, with Patu, Iwunnah and Millen — if in the end Colorado does indeed lose out on all three guys (Patu is the only one who remains available) — it's not a program-altering or cataclysmic end result.
It's more the optics of some repeated gut punches in such quick succession right next to NSD that likely is causing a plummeting of morale amongst the fan base. That as well as seeing the Buffs' 2021 class now ranked at No. 63 in the nation.
While an uninteresting and quiet signing day has CU fans likely down in the dumps, the Buffs have a chance to get better ahead of the 2021 seasons with more transfer portal additions. Getting JT Shrout from Tennessee and Robert Barnes from Oklahoma was significant acquisitions of guys who very well may find themselves seeing the field this September.
Mikial Onu committed to CU as a grad transfer inJune of 2019 and wound up having a big impact on defense for the Buffs.
If I'm a betting man, I'm putting money on Dorrell and his assistants taking a lengthy look at the transfer market in the coming months. The Buffs under Dorrell have already made some nice moves in Shrout and Barnes' additions and more of the same at inside linebacker and defensive line would be welcome.
It's a tough pill to swallow today for Buffs fans, but at least let the next few months have a chance to alleviate some disappointment. A slow signing day is not the end of the world.
After all, Colorado Sports Information sent out an email late last night indicating that the Buffs did not plan on signing a single player today and that there wouldn't be a normal press conference or signing day coverage due to the lack of players to introduce.
In the last 24 hours, the Buffaloes have lost two commitments — one in unexpected fashion from La Habra, Calif. OLB/S TJ Patu and the other on more predictable terms, with Garland, Texas DT Ike Iwunnah swapping his CU pledge in order to sign with Michigan early this morning.
On top of that, Snoqualmie, Wash. QB Clay Millen, who, for the second time in his recruitment seemed right on the verge of going with the Buffs, also opted to commit elsewhere, this time with Nevada.
In terms of the end result via the aforementioned defections and swings and misses, compared to the reinforcements it appeared Colorado was going to be receiving at multiple position groups, for CU fans, it's hard at face value not to be downright disappointed.
There's without doubt validity in feeling disappointed or frustrated today, but there's also more to consider big picture-wise with CU's slow signing day.
The Iwunnah result represents the glass half empty part of the equation. Below is a brief snippet of what he had to say in explaining his decision to flip from Colorado to Michigan.
"Michigan has resources beyond any school that I had offers from....My family and I compared it to Colorado and Michigan won over the top. It was the best school."
If during the Valero Alamo Bowl, Texas provided a lessen to Colorado on the gridiron about how much ground the Buffs have to cover before being able to compete with bigger dogs, Michigan provided a parallel lesson on the recruiting trail today.
A year ago, when Florida made a late push to steal away Ashaad Clayton from a verbal commitment, Mel Tucker hung on and won a down-to-the-wire recruiting battle. Karl Dorrell faced a similar challenge from a program with more esteem and recent success than his via Michigan and lost.
Iwunnah is one player. It's been a wacky recruiting cycle. There was never going to be a wave of a magic wand that led to the Buffs fighting off every challenge or competitor on the recruiting trail.
Iwunnah's words about why he went with the Wolverines are telling though, and clearly, when Michigan came knocking, he was ready to listen.
These are the kinds of battles Colorado needs to start winning consistently, sooner rather than later, if Dorrell's vision of elevating the program to a new level is to become realized.
That said, with Patu, Iwunnah and Millen — if in the end Colorado does indeed lose out on all three guys (Patu is the only one who remains available) — it's not a program-altering or cataclysmic end result.
It's more the optics of some repeated gut punches in such quick succession right next to NSD that likely is causing a plummeting of morale amongst the fan base. That as well as seeing the Buffs' 2021 class now ranked at No. 63 in the nation.
While an uninteresting and quiet signing day has CU fans likely down in the dumps, the Buffs have a chance to get better ahead of the 2021 seasons with more transfer portal additions. Getting JT Shrout from Tennessee and Robert Barnes from Oklahoma was significant acquisitions of guys who very well may find themselves seeing the field this September.
Mikial Onu committed to CU as a grad transfer inJune of 2019 and wound up having a big impact on defense for the Buffs.
If I'm a betting man, I'm putting money on Dorrell and his assistants taking a lengthy look at the transfer market in the coming months. The Buffs under Dorrell have already made some nice moves in Shrout and Barnes' additions and more of the same at inside linebacker and defensive line would be welcome.
It's a tough pill to swallow today for Buffs fans, but at least let the next few months have a chance to alleviate some disappointment. A slow signing day is not the end of the world.
