But I attended CU from 85-90 and have been a die-hard buff fan since. Coach Mac was a great recruiter and motivator (If you ever heard him speak in private, you would want to run through a brick wall for him). He was not however a great gameday coach. Sal's death really galvanized that team and got us over the hump IMHO. Prior to Mac, Fairbanks was terrible, he was Dorrell before Dorrell. Rick had all the flash, but was super young and inexperienced and liked to play loose with the rules. Would use his "I am a lawyer" to bend them hard, but the inner city kids did not respect him and he left on our biggest recruiting weekend. Gary then came in and IMHO was the best X and O coach we had. That 2001 team was special and one boneheaded Craig Ochs play in week 1 from playing for the Natty. The "Scandal" that wasn't ruined recruiting and led to Gary's demise at CU. I am so glad he is back in the fold on the radio. Dan Hawkins loses at home in 1st game to Montana St, total tool, from "Intramurals Brother" to "Lost focus on the bus". Daddy ball was not the answer...terrible hire. Next comes Embree and he was clearly not ready to be a college HC (Just like Dorrell). Did not have the outgoing personality and the program was brought to new lows. In comes Mike Mac, a good X's and O's guy but not really a great fit in Boulder. Had one great season and left the program much better than when he found it, but he was pouty after his AC got in trouble and I think really wanted to be back down south. Mel Tucker came in a did all the right things with hype, recruiting and getting the fans onboard (He was full of shit, but we were so excited to have excitement back, we didn't care). We were moving in the right direction but if he didn't take Mich St job, he still would have jumped at the next offer the following year. Karl Dorrell..worst hire in CU history. Complete head scratcher and train wreck. Nice guy but absolutely zero clue how to run a CF program in the 2020's.
So here we are looking for a coach that can come in and excite the fanbase. We want a young guy, someone that will want to stay here, someone the kids love, someone with West Coast recruiting ties. etc. Man, I never thought I would say it, but in all my years, this Sanford guy is just doing everything right. I still don't think we have the talent to compete this year and our schedule is brutal, sans ASU. But I think this guy with some major institutional changes (getting in portal guys, increased Asst Coach salary pool, increased recruiting budget) might just be the guy. I love everything he is doing, the players love it, the media loves it, the fans love it and it seems perspective recruits love it too. Need to see more, but I am VERY impressed so far, in fact I cannot think of a coach at CU that has impressed me this much this early. Seems to be the exact personality needed here. I think he genuinely loves it here too. I saw that he even went to some fraternity houses to invite kids to the game. You know who was great at that and who he reminds me most of in that regard...Gordon Gee. He got it, he understood how the school works and put in the effort. I think Sanford might just have that same moxy and style.
Flame away.
So here we are looking for a coach that can come in and excite the fanbase. We want a young guy, someone that will want to stay here, someone the kids love, someone with West Coast recruiting ties. etc. Man, I never thought I would say it, but in all my years, this Sanford guy is just doing everything right. I still don't think we have the talent to compete this year and our schedule is brutal, sans ASU. But I think this guy with some major institutional changes (getting in portal guys, increased Asst Coach salary pool, increased recruiting budget) might just be the guy. I love everything he is doing, the players love it, the media loves it, the fans love it and it seems perspective recruits love it too. Need to see more, but I am VERY impressed so far, in fact I cannot think of a coach at CU that has impressed me this much this early. Seems to be the exact personality needed here. I think he genuinely loves it here too. I saw that he even went to some fraternity houses to invite kids to the game. You know who was great at that and who he reminds me most of in that regard...Gordon Gee. He got it, he understood how the school works and put in the effort. I think Sanford might just have that same moxy and style.
Flame away.
