So to disappear for a few hours here everybody — as my favorite NFL head coach, Mike Tomlin likes to day — 'excuses are tools of the incompetent.' However, I had the most bizarre WiFi shutdown today at my apartment in Denver so I definitely was scrambling for a few hours in finding connection, dialing in for a few Zoom media conferences and then transcribing them.
OK, now that that is over, I present to you, everything Rick George, Karl Dorrell, Tad Boyle and JR Payne had to say during their press conference this evening. (Length warning, there's a lot!)
George's opening statement:
“As we all know, the last several months have been challenging but our student-athletes have shown incredible resilience and commitment to each other as well as to our university. We’re continuing to support our athletes, keeping them engaged and focused on individual growth. These are challenging times for them inside and outside of athletics and they’ve done an outstanding job handling all that’s been put in front of them. Our current focus is to work with the city and county of Boulder, as well as with campus, to a safe return to athletic activities.
Our medical staff has continued to be at the forefront nationally in regards to COVID-19. Guidelines for protecting out student-athletes, health and safety remains out No. 1 priority. We have guidelines and capacity in place to continue to focus on the safety of our student-athletes as they practice and compete. Our testing protocols will progress next week as we begin daily antigen tests for our student-athletes. Our official practice start dates are pending due to a new Boulder county health order that went into effect at 4 p.m. this afternoon.
We will work with our public health officials to comply with public health orders and be part of the community’s solution to control the spike in cases so we can resume team activities as soon as possible. I’d like to thank everyone for understanding that our student-athletes have seen far too many hardships this year, as have a number of young people in our community. These are challenging times and they have done an amazing job. We all look forward to cheering them on and giving them the love and support they support.
We’ve got incredible student-athletes here, w’ve got incredible staff, teams and coaches and we’ve put in great protocols to ensure their health and safety. I’m really excited about the conference’s announcement today that we will begin play this fall. We’re excited about that and we look forward to cheering our student-athletes on as we move forward.”
Dorrell's opening statement:
"We’re excited to get back. We’re excited to play this fall and we're very hopeful that this might occur. With the decision that was made earlier in August, we always had hope that things could change with the climate getting better, so we’re very hopeful for this opportunity to be reconsidered and to be made public at this point in time.
I know as a team and as a football program, we’re ready to go. We’re ready to get out there and we have a lot more focus and attention now that there will be a schedule in front of us. I think our players have always wondered if and when this day would happen. We’re excited that it has happened sow e’re ready to go. I understand that with all the situations that you guys have seen in college football climate, this pandemic is challenging in a lot of ways. You see teams that are playing and having some great success. You see teams that are trying to play but have had some issues along the way and we know that it won’t be a smooth road for all of us at times.
I think our players and student-athletes overall have done a pretty decent job with trying to maintain their heath. We feel that we can get preparation going. We’ve been working on preparation the last several weeks, so we’re just excited that now there’s something in place and something to shoot for, we’re ready to roll.”
Boyle's opening statement:
“I want to reiterate what Karl and JR and Rick mentioned — thankful for a lot of things today, but No. 1, I’m thankful that I work at the University of Colorado for a chancellor like Phil DiStefano and an athletic director like Rick George because they have worked tirelessly — and their staffs have behind the scenes — to bring us to this point.
I’m also thankful that the other presidents in the Pac-12 who helped make this decision happen. At the end of the day, this is not about presidents, it’s not about administrators and it’s not about coaches: today’s a great day for our student-athletes. I can tell you that there’s nobody happier right now than our players. My heart goes out to coach Dorrell, his staff and players. I can’t imagine going through my first year on the job as he is and having your players home on Saturdays watching their peers play football or even tonight with Thursday night college football on, so I’m happy for them.
But this is a great day for the student-athletes of the entire Pac-12 and I’m just really excited for our players.”
Payne's opening statement:
“The announcement that we received today, we were definitely hoping that was the direction that we would go when the NCAA made their decision. I definitely can feel an emotional lift on our team. We were disappointed when we heard January (as the original start date for basketball) and we were hopeful that this day would come.
We’re very excited. We’ve been training — given the parameters and in small groups — but we’ve been training really hard and I’m very excited about our ball club. They’re equally excited to know that there is an official date that we will get to compete against not only ourselves but against other people. We’re very excited, we’re still awaiting how many preseason games we’ll get to play and things like that. We hope to have that news soon, as well, but our team is definitely ready to go.”
George on whether he's been working on any contingency plans, namely to potentially have the Buffs practice or be able to operate in general outside of Boulder County:
"I’ve said from day one, but when we get the green light, when the go button is pressed, we’re going to be ready to go. Certainly. We understand and respect Boulder County Health’s decision with the recent spikes in cases in our community — it’s real. We’ll continue to work with our public health officials to comply with the new public health orders and be a part of the community’s solution.
One thing I’ve learned in this pandemic is don’t get too high and don’t get too low. There’s challenges that come at you, I would say daily but they’re hourly at some points. Our student-athletes are resilient and I’ll go back to what Tad said. It’s about our student-athletes and it’s about these young people that deserve the opportunity to compete and play and do something that they love. We’re very supportive of that — all of us are. It’s a great day for them because we’ve gone through some ups and downs.
It’s been a long six or seven months for them and for all of you but I applaud the decision of our presidents and chancellors made for our conference. I’m excited about the fact that our testing protocols are going to get even better with this daily antigen testing that we will be able to do. We’ve done a great job in our facilities and our student-athletes have done a great job of keeping the infection rate down. I’m excited for our student-athletes — it's all about them. That’s the most important thing.
Look — all young people, not just the student-athletes — are facing a lot of mental health issues right now because there’s so many unknowns. The fact that our conference voted to move forward to be able to compete sooner than they expected — I think it’s really positive and that’s what we’re going to focus on.”
Dorrell's reaction to the Boulder County mandate:
“Since I’ve been here and since we’ve been dealing with this, and all of us now, football, basketball, everyday life — all of that stuff — we’ve been dealing with this pandemic and it’s been challenging. As coaches, we’re used to moving and adjusting and shifting and it’s almost like in-game elements that we deal with. You have to put your players in position to be successful. So it’s the same thing as your preparation.
Yes, Boulder County came down with their new ordnance and like Rick said, we’re on board with what’s needed for our campus community and the outside community, getting those things corrected and being part of the solution. As for me, I’m used to moving and adjusting. That’s part of it and I think that the biggest thing about it — sometimes you’ve got to just ride the wave. You’ve got to be calm about it, you can’t get too high when things are exciting and you can’t get too low when things aren’t too great. Our players and student-athletes in general in all of our sports that have been around our facilities, they’ve all had great attitudes about their approach and how to handle things moving forward.
They were ready to make the adjustments moving forward with all the different curves and twists and different angles that have occurred over the last several months. I really applaud them because they were patient with it and they understood that this is a process we’re all dealing with. No one really understood the complete scope of it and they kept a great attitude. The reward is that we're going to play. It’s time to prepare and play and do things with a real purpose. That’s all we can do right now.”
Dorrell on the challenges he and his team have faced since he was hired:
“We’ve been adjusting, moving and making these things for the last several months so this current thing we’re dealing with, in my opinion, is just like the whole process of what I’ve been dealing with the whole time since I’ve been here. I just try to roll with the punches. We know that we’re going to eventually play. We know that there’s going to be circumstances that are uncontrollable from our standpoint.
What I preach to our team is that we can only control what’s in front of us. We’re going to maximize our time whenever we have time for preparation and to get things ready as a football program. We’ve been riding that model throughout the summer, because even in the summer, you had limited time. These guys I’m coaching — I’m so excited for them because they’re so hungry and thirsty about measuring themselves up with other people and competing in games.
Now that they know that’s actually here and it’s stated that it’s going to actually happen, I’m just excited for them because it’s something they’ve worked really hard for. They’ve maximized every opportunity that they’ve had. That’s all you cam really ask for as a coach — let’s not waste any time out there when we’re in preparation and doing football-related activities. Let’s make the most of it and these guys have done that to a tee, so I’m very proud of this group.”
George on the status of naming an amount of conference basketball games to be played this season:
“We’re having those discussions with the A.D.s but obviously with input from our head coaches in men’s and women’s basketball. We don’t have anything in detail to give you right now but we’re working on that and hopefully we’ll finalize the schedules in the coming days very shortly.”
Boyle weighs in on the same item:
“Like Rick said, the decision has not been made. This last week has been really interesting because we’ve had to come up with multiple scenarios — number one, are we going to play Nov. 25 of Jan. 1. OK, we know that now. Are we going to have 18 games or 20 games? If we play 18 games here’s what we’re going to try to do, if we play 20 games, here’s what we’re going to try to do, so one we get directed with those decisions made by our athletic directors and our conference office, we’ll react accordingly.
We’re working daily on what-ifs.”
Payne adds in on the same front:
“For us, we’re exactly the same. We don’t know yet, but hopefully we’ll know in the next day or two. We’re working on all the what-ifs.”
George on his communications with Gov. Polis on starting the season on Nov. 6/7:
“We’ve had great conversations with the governor’s office early. We haven’t had any communication for the last few days but we’ll continue to have those discussions with his office. We’ve put some protocols in place and I know they’ve adopted some return to play protocols now that we know we’re going to have a season starting Nov. 6 or 7, we’ll have further communications and conversations.”
Dorrell on getting started formally here in November as opposed to normally in March or August:
“It’s definitely felt different. I probably in my low moments of the season, when everyone’s in training camp in August and those types of things, I felt something was missing, because we were, as you can imagine; 33 years of coaching, you’re used to coaching in the fall and playing games in the fall and all of the sudden that was missing. That was eye-opening in a way because that’s something that I haven’t felt before. Just like our young players, our student-athletes are used to playing in the fall and they’ve probably been playing in the fall for the last 12-13 years of their lives.
Something was missing, but now that that has been reinstated and back, we feel great about the decision today. In a lot of ways, as we reflected on this time off, it does show that sports are vitally important and are the fabric of our society. We need football, we need basketball — we enjoy that and it’s part of what we like to do as our pastimes. Those are things that you kind of reflect on and just say ‘wow, it’s unbelievable what we’re going through because those things are missing.’ If anything, personally, that was how I probably reflected on it — was just the things that were missing that you need to take appreciation of: enjoy being a coach, being a mentor and developing players.
I think that really puts things into focus that this is really a privilege to be able to do those things. We don’t take anything for granted. I didn’t take anything for granted as soon as I got this job. I knew that I wanted a process in place to get us to be successful. My staff and these players like I’ve mentioned before earlier in this discussion — they didn’t bat an eye. They just kind of rolled with the punches and took advantage that was laid in front of us for us to do something. They made it int a positive.
There’s no question that I feel comfortable and confident in this team. We’ll be ready to go when it’s time to play. Their attitude has been great and there’s nothing that’s been in place since I’ve been here that would get that otherwise.”
Dorrell on how proud he is of his seniors and the team in general for weathering the storm throughout this pandemic:
“It’s being consistent with our messaging. Like Rick said earlier, our student-athletes really have done a tremendous job with keeping our numbers low and down in dealing with this pandemic. I’m extremely proud of that and I know that they’re under difficult circumstances that they deal with outside of their sports when they’re training and things like that. I think that they’ve done a tremendous job. I feel great for them in a number of ways and I’ve expressed those ways because this is a challenging moment.
There’s things missing in their lives — they’re in the prime of their lives right now. This is what college is for, right? You’re getting the college experience, you’re playing the sport you love to play at the highest level against great opponents and programs. Some of that stuff has been missing. Our teams, I would say in general, have done a great job of just keeping a great focus on the hope part of it. It’s the hope that’s in front of you — I think now this is a great answer to all the hope we’ve been working for over the course of the summer. There’s always challenging moments, as we all know.
But I think that this is the first big moment for all of our student-athletes to get through the situation they’ve been through. Now, getting a chance to play, I think that’s a great reward for their perseverance."
Boyle on if he can relate to this late season given that when he played college basketball, the season normally started around Thanksgiving:
(George interrupts and laughs, saying) “I don’t think Tad can remember that far back…”
“Hey, I was just going to say — JR can remember because she’s a lot younger than me but we didn’t start practice until Oct. 15. There were college basketball seasons where we literally had 14 or 15 days of practice and when things change, you tend to forget how it used to be.
The fact of the matter is that we’re going to have plenty of time to get ramped up and ready to go. One thing I really appreciate about Rick and Karl and JR and our entire department is that we are not going to make excuses — no matter what happens this year with our team or any team at Colorado, we’re not going to make excuses. We’re going to perform on the field, on the court. So we’ve got plenty of time to get ready.
I don’t worry about that at all. Rick mentioned that kids are resilient — that’s the one thing that, the longer I coach, they are resilient and they’re going to be ready to bounce back. I am so proud — and I see our players around our facility; I don’t get a chance to see Karl’s players — but I’m so proud of our guys and the way they’ve handled this whole situation.
I think about Boulder County’s decision and to me, it’s all about respect. It’s imperative that our players respect the community and the people that are around them. It’s just as important for our community to respect our players and what they’re going through. Our kids are going through a lot right now, mentally, emotionally, socially and I’m just glad I’m not a student right now on campus because this isn’t fun for anybody.
As adults, we understand it and hopefully we work through it. But again, it’s a great day for our players."
Payne weighs in:
“I remember the excitement of the first practices because it was always conditioning forever and then finally, October 15 you got to practice. I know that, like Tad said, we’ve got plenty of time and our players have been working hard. When we’ve been able to train, it’s been awesome. We’ll be excited to go and we have plenty of time. I would echo the same sentiments — it’s unbelievable. I remember our first team meeting on Zoom, when they found out they’d have to train in masks. Their eyes were like ‘wait — seriously?’
And now every single day they’re doing it. So these kids are very resilient and they will be able to do whatever’s put in front of them to make sure we can have a great season. It definitely has been difficult. I asked a couple of our very bright students the other day about how online school is. They both looked at me and said ‘it’s hard.’ So, there are some things that are definitely challenging for them but they’re rising to the challenges as young students tend to do. Like everyone’s been saying, we’re just really thrilled that we're going to get a chance to play.”
OK, now that that is over, I present to you, everything Rick George, Karl Dorrell, Tad Boyle and JR Payne had to say during their press conference this evening. (Length warning, there's a lot!)
George's opening statement:
“As we all know, the last several months have been challenging but our student-athletes have shown incredible resilience and commitment to each other as well as to our university. We’re continuing to support our athletes, keeping them engaged and focused on individual growth. These are challenging times for them inside and outside of athletics and they’ve done an outstanding job handling all that’s been put in front of them. Our current focus is to work with the city and county of Boulder, as well as with campus, to a safe return to athletic activities.
Our medical staff has continued to be at the forefront nationally in regards to COVID-19. Guidelines for protecting out student-athletes, health and safety remains out No. 1 priority. We have guidelines and capacity in place to continue to focus on the safety of our student-athletes as they practice and compete. Our testing protocols will progress next week as we begin daily antigen tests for our student-athletes. Our official practice start dates are pending due to a new Boulder county health order that went into effect at 4 p.m. this afternoon.
We will work with our public health officials to comply with public health orders and be part of the community’s solution to control the spike in cases so we can resume team activities as soon as possible. I’d like to thank everyone for understanding that our student-athletes have seen far too many hardships this year, as have a number of young people in our community. These are challenging times and they have done an amazing job. We all look forward to cheering them on and giving them the love and support they support.
We’ve got incredible student-athletes here, w’ve got incredible staff, teams and coaches and we’ve put in great protocols to ensure their health and safety. I’m really excited about the conference’s announcement today that we will begin play this fall. We’re excited about that and we look forward to cheering our student-athletes on as we move forward.”
Dorrell's opening statement:
"We’re excited to get back. We’re excited to play this fall and we're very hopeful that this might occur. With the decision that was made earlier in August, we always had hope that things could change with the climate getting better, so we’re very hopeful for this opportunity to be reconsidered and to be made public at this point in time.
I know as a team and as a football program, we’re ready to go. We’re ready to get out there and we have a lot more focus and attention now that there will be a schedule in front of us. I think our players have always wondered if and when this day would happen. We’re excited that it has happened sow e’re ready to go. I understand that with all the situations that you guys have seen in college football climate, this pandemic is challenging in a lot of ways. You see teams that are playing and having some great success. You see teams that are trying to play but have had some issues along the way and we know that it won’t be a smooth road for all of us at times.
I think our players and student-athletes overall have done a pretty decent job with trying to maintain their heath. We feel that we can get preparation going. We’ve been working on preparation the last several weeks, so we’re just excited that now there’s something in place and something to shoot for, we’re ready to roll.”
Boyle's opening statement:
“I want to reiterate what Karl and JR and Rick mentioned — thankful for a lot of things today, but No. 1, I’m thankful that I work at the University of Colorado for a chancellor like Phil DiStefano and an athletic director like Rick George because they have worked tirelessly — and their staffs have behind the scenes — to bring us to this point.
I’m also thankful that the other presidents in the Pac-12 who helped make this decision happen. At the end of the day, this is not about presidents, it’s not about administrators and it’s not about coaches: today’s a great day for our student-athletes. I can tell you that there’s nobody happier right now than our players. My heart goes out to coach Dorrell, his staff and players. I can’t imagine going through my first year on the job as he is and having your players home on Saturdays watching their peers play football or even tonight with Thursday night college football on, so I’m happy for them.
But this is a great day for the student-athletes of the entire Pac-12 and I’m just really excited for our players.”
Payne's opening statement:
“The announcement that we received today, we were definitely hoping that was the direction that we would go when the NCAA made their decision. I definitely can feel an emotional lift on our team. We were disappointed when we heard January (as the original start date for basketball) and we were hopeful that this day would come.
We’re very excited. We’ve been training — given the parameters and in small groups — but we’ve been training really hard and I’m very excited about our ball club. They’re equally excited to know that there is an official date that we will get to compete against not only ourselves but against other people. We’re very excited, we’re still awaiting how many preseason games we’ll get to play and things like that. We hope to have that news soon, as well, but our team is definitely ready to go.”
George on whether he's been working on any contingency plans, namely to potentially have the Buffs practice or be able to operate in general outside of Boulder County:
"I’ve said from day one, but when we get the green light, when the go button is pressed, we’re going to be ready to go. Certainly. We understand and respect Boulder County Health’s decision with the recent spikes in cases in our community — it’s real. We’ll continue to work with our public health officials to comply with the new public health orders and be a part of the community’s solution.
One thing I’ve learned in this pandemic is don’t get too high and don’t get too low. There’s challenges that come at you, I would say daily but they’re hourly at some points. Our student-athletes are resilient and I’ll go back to what Tad said. It’s about our student-athletes and it’s about these young people that deserve the opportunity to compete and play and do something that they love. We’re very supportive of that — all of us are. It’s a great day for them because we’ve gone through some ups and downs.
It’s been a long six or seven months for them and for all of you but I applaud the decision of our presidents and chancellors made for our conference. I’m excited about the fact that our testing protocols are going to get even better with this daily antigen testing that we will be able to do. We’ve done a great job in our facilities and our student-athletes have done a great job of keeping the infection rate down. I’m excited for our student-athletes — it's all about them. That’s the most important thing.
Look — all young people, not just the student-athletes — are facing a lot of mental health issues right now because there’s so many unknowns. The fact that our conference voted to move forward to be able to compete sooner than they expected — I think it’s really positive and that’s what we’re going to focus on.”
Dorrell's reaction to the Boulder County mandate:
“Since I’ve been here and since we’ve been dealing with this, and all of us now, football, basketball, everyday life — all of that stuff — we’ve been dealing with this pandemic and it’s been challenging. As coaches, we’re used to moving and adjusting and shifting and it’s almost like in-game elements that we deal with. You have to put your players in position to be successful. So it’s the same thing as your preparation.
Yes, Boulder County came down with their new ordnance and like Rick said, we’re on board with what’s needed for our campus community and the outside community, getting those things corrected and being part of the solution. As for me, I’m used to moving and adjusting. That’s part of it and I think that the biggest thing about it — sometimes you’ve got to just ride the wave. You’ve got to be calm about it, you can’t get too high when things are exciting and you can’t get too low when things aren’t too great. Our players and student-athletes in general in all of our sports that have been around our facilities, they’ve all had great attitudes about their approach and how to handle things moving forward.
They were ready to make the adjustments moving forward with all the different curves and twists and different angles that have occurred over the last several months. I really applaud them because they were patient with it and they understood that this is a process we’re all dealing with. No one really understood the complete scope of it and they kept a great attitude. The reward is that we're going to play. It’s time to prepare and play and do things with a real purpose. That’s all we can do right now.”
Dorrell on the challenges he and his team have faced since he was hired:
“We’ve been adjusting, moving and making these things for the last several months so this current thing we’re dealing with, in my opinion, is just like the whole process of what I’ve been dealing with the whole time since I’ve been here. I just try to roll with the punches. We know that we’re going to eventually play. We know that there’s going to be circumstances that are uncontrollable from our standpoint.
What I preach to our team is that we can only control what’s in front of us. We’re going to maximize our time whenever we have time for preparation and to get things ready as a football program. We’ve been riding that model throughout the summer, because even in the summer, you had limited time. These guys I’m coaching — I’m so excited for them because they’re so hungry and thirsty about measuring themselves up with other people and competing in games.
Now that they know that’s actually here and it’s stated that it’s going to actually happen, I’m just excited for them because it’s something they’ve worked really hard for. They’ve maximized every opportunity that they’ve had. That’s all you cam really ask for as a coach — let’s not waste any time out there when we’re in preparation and doing football-related activities. Let’s make the most of it and these guys have done that to a tee, so I’m very proud of this group.”
George on the status of naming an amount of conference basketball games to be played this season:
“We’re having those discussions with the A.D.s but obviously with input from our head coaches in men’s and women’s basketball. We don’t have anything in detail to give you right now but we’re working on that and hopefully we’ll finalize the schedules in the coming days very shortly.”
Boyle weighs in on the same item:
“Like Rick said, the decision has not been made. This last week has been really interesting because we’ve had to come up with multiple scenarios — number one, are we going to play Nov. 25 of Jan. 1. OK, we know that now. Are we going to have 18 games or 20 games? If we play 18 games here’s what we’re going to try to do, if we play 20 games, here’s what we’re going to try to do, so one we get directed with those decisions made by our athletic directors and our conference office, we’ll react accordingly.
We’re working daily on what-ifs.”
Payne adds in on the same front:
“For us, we’re exactly the same. We don’t know yet, but hopefully we’ll know in the next day or two. We’re working on all the what-ifs.”
George on his communications with Gov. Polis on starting the season on Nov. 6/7:
“We’ve had great conversations with the governor’s office early. We haven’t had any communication for the last few days but we’ll continue to have those discussions with his office. We’ve put some protocols in place and I know they’ve adopted some return to play protocols now that we know we’re going to have a season starting Nov. 6 or 7, we’ll have further communications and conversations.”
Dorrell on getting started formally here in November as opposed to normally in March or August:
“It’s definitely felt different. I probably in my low moments of the season, when everyone’s in training camp in August and those types of things, I felt something was missing, because we were, as you can imagine; 33 years of coaching, you’re used to coaching in the fall and playing games in the fall and all of the sudden that was missing. That was eye-opening in a way because that’s something that I haven’t felt before. Just like our young players, our student-athletes are used to playing in the fall and they’ve probably been playing in the fall for the last 12-13 years of their lives.
Something was missing, but now that that has been reinstated and back, we feel great about the decision today. In a lot of ways, as we reflected on this time off, it does show that sports are vitally important and are the fabric of our society. We need football, we need basketball — we enjoy that and it’s part of what we like to do as our pastimes. Those are things that you kind of reflect on and just say ‘wow, it’s unbelievable what we’re going through because those things are missing.’ If anything, personally, that was how I probably reflected on it — was just the things that were missing that you need to take appreciation of: enjoy being a coach, being a mentor and developing players.
I think that really puts things into focus that this is really a privilege to be able to do those things. We don’t take anything for granted. I didn’t take anything for granted as soon as I got this job. I knew that I wanted a process in place to get us to be successful. My staff and these players like I’ve mentioned before earlier in this discussion — they didn’t bat an eye. They just kind of rolled with the punches and took advantage that was laid in front of us for us to do something. They made it int a positive.
There’s no question that I feel comfortable and confident in this team. We’ll be ready to go when it’s time to play. Their attitude has been great and there’s nothing that’s been in place since I’ve been here that would get that otherwise.”
Dorrell on how proud he is of his seniors and the team in general for weathering the storm throughout this pandemic:
“It’s being consistent with our messaging. Like Rick said earlier, our student-athletes really have done a tremendous job with keeping our numbers low and down in dealing with this pandemic. I’m extremely proud of that and I know that they’re under difficult circumstances that they deal with outside of their sports when they’re training and things like that. I think that they’ve done a tremendous job. I feel great for them in a number of ways and I’ve expressed those ways because this is a challenging moment.
There’s things missing in their lives — they’re in the prime of their lives right now. This is what college is for, right? You’re getting the college experience, you’re playing the sport you love to play at the highest level against great opponents and programs. Some of that stuff has been missing. Our teams, I would say in general, have done a great job of just keeping a great focus on the hope part of it. It’s the hope that’s in front of you — I think now this is a great answer to all the hope we’ve been working for over the course of the summer. There’s always challenging moments, as we all know.
But I think that this is the first big moment for all of our student-athletes to get through the situation they’ve been through. Now, getting a chance to play, I think that’s a great reward for their perseverance."
Boyle on if he can relate to this late season given that when he played college basketball, the season normally started around Thanksgiving:
(George interrupts and laughs, saying) “I don’t think Tad can remember that far back…”
“Hey, I was just going to say — JR can remember because she’s a lot younger than me but we didn’t start practice until Oct. 15. There were college basketball seasons where we literally had 14 or 15 days of practice and when things change, you tend to forget how it used to be.
The fact of the matter is that we’re going to have plenty of time to get ramped up and ready to go. One thing I really appreciate about Rick and Karl and JR and our entire department is that we are not going to make excuses — no matter what happens this year with our team or any team at Colorado, we’re not going to make excuses. We’re going to perform on the field, on the court. So we’ve got plenty of time to get ready.
I don’t worry about that at all. Rick mentioned that kids are resilient — that’s the one thing that, the longer I coach, they are resilient and they’re going to be ready to bounce back. I am so proud — and I see our players around our facility; I don’t get a chance to see Karl’s players — but I’m so proud of our guys and the way they’ve handled this whole situation.
I think about Boulder County’s decision and to me, it’s all about respect. It’s imperative that our players respect the community and the people that are around them. It’s just as important for our community to respect our players and what they’re going through. Our kids are going through a lot right now, mentally, emotionally, socially and I’m just glad I’m not a student right now on campus because this isn’t fun for anybody.
As adults, we understand it and hopefully we work through it. But again, it’s a great day for our players."
Payne weighs in:
“I remember the excitement of the first practices because it was always conditioning forever and then finally, October 15 you got to practice. I know that, like Tad said, we’ve got plenty of time and our players have been working hard. When we’ve been able to train, it’s been awesome. We’ll be excited to go and we have plenty of time. I would echo the same sentiments — it’s unbelievable. I remember our first team meeting on Zoom, when they found out they’d have to train in masks. Their eyes were like ‘wait — seriously?’
And now every single day they’re doing it. So these kids are very resilient and they will be able to do whatever’s put in front of them to make sure we can have a great season. It definitely has been difficult. I asked a couple of our very bright students the other day about how online school is. They both looked at me and said ‘it’s hard.’ So, there are some things that are definitely challenging for them but they’re rising to the challenges as young students tend to do. Like everyone’s been saying, we’re just really thrilled that we're going to get a chance to play.”
