Story from Neill Woelk, cubuffs.com
BOULDER — Colorado football coach Mel Tucker, a man of preparation and detail, is leaving no stone unturned this spring.
It's understandable. It would be difficult to overstate the importance of Tucker's first spring in Colorado.
Not only must Tucker and his CU football staff install new offensive and defensive schemes, they must also evaluate talent, teach players a new practice routine, begin the process of developing a depth chart and continue the process of instilling their "culture" into the program — all while also becoming familiar with each other as they develop their on-field coaching regimens.
What separates the coaching change at Colorado from many others around the nation is that this is Tucker's first college head coaching job. Thus, he did not bring with him a staff that has worked together on the field for several years. While five of Tucker's assistants did follow him to Boulder from Georgia and are thus well-acquainted with each other, they were not on-field, everyday coaches who worked closely together in daily practices.
Meanwhile, there are three holdovers from the last CU staff, along with one assistant from Maryland and one from North Carolina.
It means their learning curve will be steep, a process Tucker has tried to accelerate since the day he arrived — one of the myriad duties on his plate as he prepares for the Buffs to open spring ball March 18.
"You have to coach the coaches," Tucker said. "You have to lay out a framework on paper, exactly how you want the practices to go. How long you want to be on the field, how many segments you want to have during the practice, how long those segments will be, how many reps you want players to take in practice — all those things. You lay it out to them in a staff meeting format and you make sure everyone knows what to expect."
That attention to detail, Tucker said, is crucial.
"If I have examples I need to show about a particular drill I like, I will show them a video of that from Georgia or Alabama or the Chicago Bears — a team that runs that drill," Tucker said. "You tell them that's how you want that drill to look."
It's not that Tucker's staff is green in terms of experience. The vast majority have been assistants at the FBS level previously, with several having coordinator (or head coaching) experience. They know the business of coaching.
But the key will be how quickly they can herd the Buffaloes all in the same direction as the players learn a new practice routine, while making sure every minute on — and off — the field is being utilized to its fullest extent.
In that vein, Tucker and his assistants are taking every opportunity possible under NCAA rules to meet with players, begin installation of the new offensive and defensive schemes, and make sure players know what will be expected of them.
That includes using strength and conditioning sessions for position-specific training.
"We're having meetings with players and positions groups and installing the nuts and bolts of our scheme on both sides of the ball in those meetings," Tucker said. "We also have a series of walkthroughs on both sides of the ball and some individual position teaching on the field in conjunction with our conditioning program. We try to take advantage of all the time we are allowed to meet with our players. When they lift and when they run, part of their conditioning is football specific."
The Buffs' spring strength and conditioning session is a nine-week program. Roughly the first half of the program was used for building a "base," the second half has been tailored to meet position needs.
"The first five weeks of the program was the process of laying the basic foundation of endurance and fitness, things like that," Tucker said. "Then we start to incorporate some change direction things, and then some more football specific drills by position as a supplement to our conditioning program. That's helped. We wrap it up a little bit every week so that we'll have a smoother transition to football practice on March 18."
Tucker and his coaches have also had individual meetings with players, outlining their vision of Colorado football and what their expectations will be as the new era moves forward. With the first practice now just more than two weeks away, Tucker is doing everything he can to make sure his team will hit the field running on March 18.
"We're almost ready," he said. "Not quite — but we're almost there."
SPRING SCHEDULE: Tucker's first CU spring session is set to start Monday, March 18, with the spring game set for Saturday, April 27 (Noon, to be televised live by the Pac-12 Networks). The dates are as follows: March 18-20-22—(spring break)—April 1-3-5-8-10-12-15-17-19-22-24-27. The team is allowed 15 practices; how the practice sessions will break down, per NCAA rules: three in shorts (no contact), four in pads (no tackling), four in pads (tackling allowed 50 percent or less of the time), four in pads (tackling allowed throughout). Spring break (March 25-29) does not count against the 29 days should the schedule be dramatically revised for some reason. CU's annual Pro-Timing Day has been set for Wednesday, March 6 (1-4 p.m.).
BOULDER — Colorado football coach Mel Tucker, a man of preparation and detail, is leaving no stone unturned this spring.
It's understandable. It would be difficult to overstate the importance of Tucker's first spring in Colorado.
Not only must Tucker and his CU football staff install new offensive and defensive schemes, they must also evaluate talent, teach players a new practice routine, begin the process of developing a depth chart and continue the process of instilling their "culture" into the program — all while also becoming familiar with each other as they develop their on-field coaching regimens.
What separates the coaching change at Colorado from many others around the nation is that this is Tucker's first college head coaching job. Thus, he did not bring with him a staff that has worked together on the field for several years. While five of Tucker's assistants did follow him to Boulder from Georgia and are thus well-acquainted with each other, they were not on-field, everyday coaches who worked closely together in daily practices.
Meanwhile, there are three holdovers from the last CU staff, along with one assistant from Maryland and one from North Carolina.
It means their learning curve will be steep, a process Tucker has tried to accelerate since the day he arrived — one of the myriad duties on his plate as he prepares for the Buffs to open spring ball March 18.
"You have to coach the coaches," Tucker said. "You have to lay out a framework on paper, exactly how you want the practices to go. How long you want to be on the field, how many segments you want to have during the practice, how long those segments will be, how many reps you want players to take in practice — all those things. You lay it out to them in a staff meeting format and you make sure everyone knows what to expect."
That attention to detail, Tucker said, is crucial.
"If I have examples I need to show about a particular drill I like, I will show them a video of that from Georgia or Alabama or the Chicago Bears — a team that runs that drill," Tucker said. "You tell them that's how you want that drill to look."
It's not that Tucker's staff is green in terms of experience. The vast majority have been assistants at the FBS level previously, with several having coordinator (or head coaching) experience. They know the business of coaching.
But the key will be how quickly they can herd the Buffaloes all in the same direction as the players learn a new practice routine, while making sure every minute on — and off — the field is being utilized to its fullest extent.
In that vein, Tucker and his assistants are taking every opportunity possible under NCAA rules to meet with players, begin installation of the new offensive and defensive schemes, and make sure players know what will be expected of them.
That includes using strength and conditioning sessions for position-specific training.
"We're having meetings with players and positions groups and installing the nuts and bolts of our scheme on both sides of the ball in those meetings," Tucker said. "We also have a series of walkthroughs on both sides of the ball and some individual position teaching on the field in conjunction with our conditioning program. We try to take advantage of all the time we are allowed to meet with our players. When they lift and when they run, part of their conditioning is football specific."
The Buffs' spring strength and conditioning session is a nine-week program. Roughly the first half of the program was used for building a "base," the second half has been tailored to meet position needs.
"The first five weeks of the program was the process of laying the basic foundation of endurance and fitness, things like that," Tucker said. "Then we start to incorporate some change direction things, and then some more football specific drills by position as a supplement to our conditioning program. That's helped. We wrap it up a little bit every week so that we'll have a smoother transition to football practice on March 18."
Tucker and his coaches have also had individual meetings with players, outlining their vision of Colorado football and what their expectations will be as the new era moves forward. With the first practice now just more than two weeks away, Tucker is doing everything he can to make sure his team will hit the field running on March 18.
"We're almost ready," he said. "Not quite — but we're almost there."
SPRING SCHEDULE: Tucker's first CU spring session is set to start Monday, March 18, with the spring game set for Saturday, April 27 (Noon, to be televised live by the Pac-12 Networks). The dates are as follows: March 18-20-22—(spring break)—April 1-3-5-8-10-12-15-17-19-22-24-27. The team is allowed 15 practices; how the practice sessions will break down, per NCAA rules: three in shorts (no contact), four in pads (no tackling), four in pads (tackling allowed 50 percent or less of the time), four in pads (tackling allowed throughout). Spring break (March 25-29) does not count against the 29 days should the schedule be dramatically revised for some reason. CU's annual Pro-Timing Day has been set for Wednesday, March 6 (1-4 p.m.).
