Category: College Football

Communications, Leadership, Responsibility and Discipline

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It can be challenging and rewarding to teach communications skills, leadership, responsibility, and discipline to young athletes. This blog post illustrates what happens when young athletes don’t learn those skills.

Coach K

The following quotes from Coach K (http://coachk.com/quotes/) address the importance of the above-mentioned skills.

  • “No matter how successful you believe you yourself to be, you can never feel as if you’ve reached the absolute pinnacle. There are always new and wonderful challenges out there, and part of maintaining success is knowing when you need to accept them.”
  • “Effective teamwork begins and ends with communication.”
  • “Communication does not always occur naturally, even among a tight-knit group of individuals. Communication must be taught and practiced in order to bring everyone together as one.”
  • “Making shots counts, but not as much as the people who make them.”
  • “A common mistake among those who work in sport is spending a disproportional amount of time on “x’s and o’s” as compared to time spent learning about people.”

On November 24, 2015 the Boulder Daily Camera ran an article, “CU football: Apsay apologizes to teammates for ‘harsh comments’ – QB criticized receivers, linemen after loss”

The article stated:
During the frustrating moments after Colorado’s 27-3 loss to Washington State on Saturday night, redshirt freshman quarterback Cade Apsay threw some criticism at his receivers and linemen.
On Tuesday, Apsay said he apologized to his teammates and doesn’t feel there will be lingering issues from those comments.
“I’ve actually apologized to the receivers and the linemen, especially,” said Apsay, who made his first career start last week. “I know I made some pretty harsh comments. I didn’t realize I was at the time. The postgame emotions got the best of me. When I did apologize to them, they didn’t really care much, especially the linemen. We’re all pretty close anyway.”
Head coach Mike MacIntyre said he didn’t know about Apsay’s postgame comments but was glad that his young quarterback took the initiative to apologize to his teammates. Junior quarterback Sefo Liufau, who is injured and didn’t make the trip to Washington, said it’ll be a good learning experience for Apsay.

The freshman quarterback was presented a great opportunity and he made a mistake. He was given a chance to learn from his error.

The story has an unfortunate ending. On March 1, 2015 the Boulder Daily Camera ran an article. “Cade Apsay, Evan White dismissed from Colorado football team -Both were dismissed “for violating team policies”

The article stated:
One day before spring football is set to begin, Colorado announced that quarterback Cade Apsay and safety Evan White have been dismissed from the team.
Head coach Mike MacIntyre said Tuesday that both were dismissed “for violating team policies.”
Apsay, who would have been a redshirt sophomore, was the Buffs’ second-team quarterback last season and started the final two games after Sefo Liufau went down with a season-ending foot injury.
Apsay completed 64.1 percent of his passes (59 of 92) for 582 yards, three touchdowns and five interceptions this past season. He was expected to compete with redshirt freshman Steven Montez and senior Jordan Gehrke at quarterback this spring.

Hopefully the freshman quarterback will learn from these two mistakes.

The Bottom Line
College athletic programs provide students with a  great venue for learning the lessons of life. The only caveat is the athletes have to be willing participants in the learning process.

One of two things has happened. Either communications, leadership, responsibility, and discipline are not being taught in the CU football program or not all athletes are taking advantage of a wonderful opportunity to learn and grow as individuals.

CU Buffs Football Attendance Up in 2015

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The hard cold facts about college football are that every Saturday half the teams are losers. And the CU Buffs are doing their best to make their opponents feel good about themselves on the weekends.

Over the past decade the abysmal win-loss record of the CU Buffs football team has given fans a reason to find other things to do on Saturday afternoons than support the black and gold.

The problems began over a decade ago. The Buffs finished the 2004 and 2005 seasons with 7-5 records. In 2004 they were 4-4 in the Big 12 and in 2005 they were 5-3. Oklahoma beat them 42-3 in the 2004 Big 12 Championships and Texas thumped them 70-3 the following year.

Many viewed these drubbings in the championships as a sign that CU was not capable of participating in the D1 football race to see which program could spend the most money. The CU administration viewed the losses differently. They used them as justification for hiring a new coach.

In retrospect, those days of getting slaughtered in the Big 12 championships were the good old days. The Buffs football team has not had a winning season since 2005.

In 2011, dollar signs flashed in front of the CU administrators and CU jumped from the Big 12 to the PAC-12 conference. Unfortunately the Buffs found out the PAC-12 also had teams that knew how to play football.

Since 2011, the Buffs have had five conference wins – three on the road and two at home. Details follow:

Year Conference Record Comments
2011 2-7 conference record Home win over Arizona and a road win against Utah.
2012 1-8 conference record Road win over Washington State.
2013 1-8 conference record Home win over California.
2014 0-9 conference record Ugh!
2015 1-8 conference record 17-13 squeaker in Corvallis

Unfortunately, the Buffs conference home attendance has paralleled the number of wins on the field.

2011
The Buffs were 1-4 at home in conference play.
• 9/10 49,532 California
• 10/1 51,928 Washington State
• 10/22 52,123 Oregon
• 11/4 50,083 Southern California
• 11/22 48,111 Arizona.
Average conference home attendance 50,355.

2012
The Buffs were 0-5 at home in conference play.
• 9/29 46,893 UCLA
• 10/11 45,161 Arizona State
• 10/27 44,138 Stanford
• 11/17 43,148 Washington
• 11/23 46,052 Utah.
Average conference home attendance 45,078.

2013
The Buffs were 1-3 at home in conference play.
• 10/5 45,944 Oregon
• 10/26 38,679 Arizona
• 11/16 38,252 California
• 11/23 36,005 Southern California.
Average conference home attendance 39,720.

2014
The Buffs were 0-5 at home in conference play.
• 9/13 38,547 Arizona State
• 10/04 36,415 Oregon State
• 10/24 37,442 UCLA
• 11/1 35,633 Washington
• 11/29 39,155 Utah
Fewer than 40,000 people attended every home game and average conference home attendance was 37,438.

2015
The Buffs were 0-5 at home in conference play.
10/3 46,222 Oregon
10/17 39,666 Arizona
10/31 51,508 UCLA
11/13 37,905 USC
11/28 45,823 Utah
The downward trend in attendance has been reversed. Average home attendance for the 2015 home conference games was 42,225 and Buffs fans were usually treated to a good show. Even though they were 0-5, they lost the five home games by a total of only 37 points.

Buff fans have to be the most loyal in the country. Despite going 2-22 at home since joining the PAC-12, they still keep showing up. Here’s to a better 2016! The CU Athletic Department needs fans in the seats to provide better funding for the Olympic sports.

Buffs Waiting for a Bowl Berth?

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On November 16th the Daily Camera sports department ran an article titled, “Buffs Clinging to Dim Hope for a Bowl Berth.” Excerpts from the article follow.

A whopping 80 bowl game spots are available this year. Of the 128 teams in the FBS, 62 teams have already earned bowl eligibility, while 34 have no chance of getting to the magic number of six wins.

Among the other 32 teams, 18 are just a win away from the six-win mark.

That leaves 14 other long shots that haven’t had good seasons to this point, yet still cling to hope.

Colorado is among the 14.

CU’s hope, however, stems from the fact that there might actually be a shortage of bowl eligible teams this season. If that’s the case, a 6-7 CU team could slip in through the back door and go bowling.

With all due respect to the players, coaches, and program – the Buffs don’t deserve a bid to a bowl. The team made progress this season, but they are a losing program that finds new and exciting ways to continuing being a losing program. It is actually sad.

At this point in the season the Buffs are 4-7. They started off the season 3-1, with wins over Massachusetts (2-8), CSU (5-5), Nicholls State (2-8), and Oregon State (2-8). Combined these four teams have won only 11 games while losing 29. Ouch!

The story gets worse.
• Massachusetts had wins over Eastern Michigan (1-9) and FIU (5-6) – total 6-15.
• CSU beat Savannah State (1-8), University of Texas San Antonio (2-8), Air Force (7-3), Wyoming (1-9), and UNLV (3-7) – total 14-39.
• Nicholls State beat Lamar (5-5) and Houston Baptist (2-8) – total 7-13.
• Oregon State beat Weber State (5-5) and San Jose State (4-6) – total 9-11.
These four schools won 11 games. Only one of their opponents had a winning season (CSU beat Air Force). The combined record of these programs was 36-78.

In other words, CU was only able to beat teams that were capable of defeating only really weak programs.

This season will cap off a decade of losing seasons, although things were only slightly better in 2005 when they were 7-6. In the past nine seasons the Buffs were 31-79.

Here’s to a better season in 2016. The athletic program need a winning football team to generate more revenue to provide greater support for the minor sports.

CU Football – Charting a Path to Effective Leadership

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Since CU football began in 1890, the Buffs have had an impressive run, 673–452–36. During these 125+ years, Buff fans have been treated to the athleticism and leadership of athletes such as Dick and Bobby Anderson, Cliff Branch, Tom Brookshier, Darian Hagan, and Whizzer White.

Unfortunately, the Buffs have fallen on lean times for the past nine years, including two years under Coach MacIntyre. During this period the team was 31-79 overall and 16-60 in conference play. In the two seasons under Coach MacIntyre the team was only 6-18; however, those close to the program are quick to point out they have high expectations for the team because they believe his record does not reflect the team’s improvement.

Since taking over MacIntryre has addressed a myriad of issues ranging from recruiting to academics to facilities. Recent team updates in the local media have highlighted MacIntyre’s experiment to strengthen leadership within the program.

He has announced that each game he will rotate four captains from a 12-person leadership council. The council members are primarily upperclassmen and a mix of offensive and defensive players. MacIntyre emphasized that council members were “carefully” elected by the players. Council members have the responsibility/privilege of attending leadership meetings conducted by the Athletic Department in addition to the regularly scheduled council meetings.

In addition, MacIntyre has made a concerted effort to inform the entire team about the importance of effective leadership and the qualities of strong leaders. The coach is to be commended for his efforts to change the culture of leadership within the program.

But, will it have an impact on the team in the short run?leadership from any chair

MacIntyre’s experiment parallels current trends in the business world to implement flat leadership or “leading from any chair.” Organizational theory experts have identified the following benefits of this style of leadership in the business world:
• The concept has increased creativity and innovation in some companies.
• A greater number of workers have a chance for their ideas to be heard.
• In turn, workers may take on greater responsibility and be more willing to be held accountable for their actions.
• Workers may show more initiative because they have a greater sense of importance.
• Cooperation, cohesiveness, and teamwork may improve when a project is successful.
These are great reasons for adopting this style of leadership.

As with any leadership style, “leadership from any chair” has its flaws. Experts have criticized the style for the following reasons:
• The concept is great for creating new products, but not so great at creating new leaders.
• The workplace becomes inefficient because there are no designated leaders to resolve disagreements or curb jealousy and backstabbing.
• At times companies have difficulty making quick or important decisions because there are no designated leaders.
• Although everyone has a voice, groupthink is often an unintended consequence.
• Communications may not always be efficient because too many people may be involved in the decision-making process.
• Mentorship does not occur in the “me first ” environment.
• Not all workers are comfortable with this style of leadership, which renders it ineffective.
These are great reasons for MacIntyre to adopt a more traditional approach for strengthening team leadership.

Will MacIntyre’s leadership experiment seal the deal for the Buffs or will it be a bust?

In a couple of weeks the team will demonstrate whether Coach Mac was able to chart a new path to effective leadership for the Buffs. Go Buffs!

CU Football Ranked Again – Number One

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Santa Claus delivered an early Christmas present to the University of Colorado football team and its fans – a number one ranking. Go Buffs!

The December 22nd issue of Forbes Magazine featured its annual ranking in “College Football’s Best And Worst Teams For The Buck 2014”. The Buffs were ranked #1 – the worst investment in college football.CU Football Ranked

Author Chris Smith stated, “Across the last three seasons, no team has spent more per football victory than Colorado, our pick for the sport’s worst team for the money. The Buffaloes have won just seven games in that time, tied with Kansas for the least of any team in our pool, while spending over $50 million. To put that into perspective, Mississippi State has built a competitive SEC program while spending $44 million across the same time period,”

To be exact, the Buff footballers spent $51.4 million over three years. Basic math shows that each of the seven wins cost $7.34 million.

Just think how it must feel to be one of the seven teams that lost to the Buffs! Thank goodness those seven teams were inept; otherwise the cost for CU to win a game would be much higher.

This notoriety is of the same ilk as the university’s #1 ranking (multiple years) as the top party school in the country. In addition, the Leeds School of Business is continually ranked as one of the country’s weakest business schools in the country and the worst in Colorado.  Bummer!

The article proves that if you are good at math, it is possible to calculate virtually anything – meaningful or meaningless. While a case can be made that the Forbes calculations fall into the latter category, they point to a larger challenge for CU.

CU clearly does not have the money to build the facilities, attract the top athletes and coaches, and be competitive with the elite football teams in the PAC-12 and the country.

Will they retain the number one ranking in 2015? Probably not!

More importantly, where will they be able to find the money to play with the big boys? Smoke and mirrors? An unsuspecting sugar daddy? The state will triple its funding for the university?

A more likely option would be for CU to lower its academic standards or look the other way to become a winner. The only cost involved in that type of decision would be their reputation.

In the mean time Buff fans can only hope that Forbes and Chris Smith have somewhere else to look when the article is penned for 2015.

 

CU Buffs Football Team – Attendance Slips Further

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The primary goal of Division I football teams is to win and make money; however, the hard cold facts are that half the teams that play every Saturday are losers.

Over the past decade the abysmal win-loss record of the CU Buffs football team has given fans a reason to find other things to do on Saturday afternoons than support the black and gold.

The problems began a decade ago.

The Buffs finished the 2004 and 2005 seasons with 7-5 records. That is outstanding by today’s standards.

In 2004 they were 4-4 in the Big 12 and in 2005 they were 5-3. Oklahoma beat them 42-3 in the 2004 Big 12 Championships and Texas thumped them 70-3 the following year.

Many viewed these drubbings in the championships as a sign that CU was not capable of participating in the D1 football race to see which program could spend the most money.

The CU administration viewed the losses differently. They used them as justification for hiring a new coach.

In retrospect, those days of getting slaughtered in the  Big 12 championships were the good old days. The Buffs football team has not had a winning season since 2005.

In 2011, dollar signs flashed in front of the CU administrators and CU jumped from the Big 12 to the PAC-12 conference. Unfortunately the Buffs found out the PAC-12 also had teams that knew how to play football.

Since 2011, the Buffs have had four conference wins – two on the road and two at home. Details follow:

Year Conference Record Comments
2011 2-7 conference record Home win over Arizona and a road win against Utah.
2012 1-8 conference record Road win over Washington State.
2013 1-8 conference record Home win over California.
2014 0-9 conference record Ugh!

Unfortunately, the Buffs conference home attendance has paralleled the number of wins on the field.

2011
The Buffs were 1-4 at home in conference play.
• 9/10 49,532 California
• 10/1 51,928 Washington State
• 10/22 52,123 Oregon
• 11/4 50,083 Southern California
• 11/22 48,111 Arizona.
Average conference home attendance 50,355.

2012
The Buffs were 0-5 at home in conference play.
• 9/29 46,893 UCLA
• 10/11 45,161 Arizona State
• 10/27 44,138 Stanford
• 11/17 43,148 Washington
• 11/23 46,052 Utah.
Average conference home attendance 45,078.

2013
The Buffs were 1-3 at home in conference play.
• 10/5 45,944 Oregon
• 10/26 38,679 Arizona
• 11/16 38,252 California
• 11/23 36,005 Southern California.
Average conference home attendance 39,720.

2014
The Buffs were 0-5 at home in conference play.
• 9/13 38,547 Arizona State
• 10/04 36,415 Oregon State
• 10/24 37,442 UCLA
• 11/1 35,633 Washington
• 11/29 39,155 Utah
Fewer than 40,000 people attended every home game and average conference home attendance was 37,438.

Given these numbers, it’s a tough time to be the football coach or athletic director at the University of Colorado. Buff fans can only hope for a turn-around in 2015.

Fort Lewis College Football – Fifty Years of Futility

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The 2014 football season marked the 50th year that Fort Lewis College has fielded a football team as a four-year college. Over that time they have been the worst college football team in Colorado. They have won only 32% of their games, with a win-loss record of 155-330-3.

The Aggies/Raiders/Skyhawks record can be summed up as follows:
• They have had 9 winning seasons in 50 years.
• They were never undefeated nor did they ever have a season with one loss.
• On two occasions they were 7-2.
• During their 9 winning seasons they were 55-27-2. They won 65% of their games.
• During their 41 non-winning seasons they were 100-303-1. They won almost 25% of their games.
• They had three seasons with no wins and another six seasons with only one win. Those nine seasons they had 6 wins and 80 losses.
In other words, about 20% of the time, the team was successful, about 20% of the time they were an embarrassment to college athletics, and the rest of the time they played like the Bad News Bears.

It doesn’t make sense for Fort Lewis College to continue a losing tradition, especially when sports such soccer, cross country, lacrosse, and cycling are a better fit for the campus, its lifestyle, and the image the school is trying to project.

Fort Lewis College Football - 50 Years of Futility
The view from Dennison Memorial Stadium is spectacular. Unfortunately, the quality of the football is often at the other end of the spectrum.

 

Talk of Bowl Game for CU Buffs

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Brian Howell, Sports Writer for the Daily Camera is a homer (and there is nothing wrong with that.)  On August 23 he wrote an editorial entitled, “Talk of bowl game for CU Buffs has merit this season.”

Howell began the article with the following comments:
“During fall camp this month, a handful of media members stood just outside of the practice fields and discussed the possibilities for the 2014 Colorado football team.
‘Am I crazy to think this team could get to a bowl game?’ one of them asked.
No, believe it or not, it’s not crazy.”
Later he added “Without question, this team is going to need some good fortune along the way to reach bowl eligibility, but no, it’s not crazy to think they can get there.”

Howell thought it was possible the Buffs could sweep the non-conference slate. He was correct until they played the CSU Rams in the season opener. Oops! Thank goodness the Buffs found a way to sneak past Hawaii and UMass. Both Buff opponents are 2-7 at this point in the season.

Later in his article Howell stated, “And, don’t think the Buffs are going to be happy with showing progress by turning blowout losses into narrow losses.”

Howell indicated possible conference wins might come against the following teams:
• California – Buffs lost 59-56 in OT
• Arizona State – Buffs lost 38-24.
• Oregon State – Buffs lost 36-31
• The Buffs will play Arizona on November 8th and Utah on November 29th.
With today’s loss to Washington, the Buffs bubble burst and they dropped to 2-7.With a little luck they will end the year 4-7. Most likely it will be 3-8 or 2-9.

The good news is the Buffs were stronger and they had greater entertainment value this season. From an academic perspective the Buffs will also have an opportunity to focus on their studies this December, while other teams have to focus on winning bowl games. And to top it off, they are blessed with a local sports writer is aDoormat - Bowl Game for CU Buffs homer (and there is nothing wrong with that).

On the downside, there are no moral victories when you play football in the big time. The Buffs are still the doormats of the PAC-12 and ticket sales have reportedly continued on a downward path. Thank goodness CU is playing in the PAC-12. Things would be even worse if they were in one of the top two conferences, the SEC, or the Big 12.

As is the case with the Chicago Cubs, there is always next season.

Fans Find Better Things to Do than Watch Buffs Football

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The primary goal of all Division I football teams is to put fannies in the seats and make donors want to contribute to the university.

The best way to accomplish this is to produce a winning team. The hard cold facts are that half the teams that play every Saturday are losers. Fans don’t support losing programs and Buffs football fans have found better things to do on Saturday afternoons than support the black and gold.

The Buffs finished the 2004 and 2005 seasons with 7-5 records. In 2004 they were 4-4 in the Big 12 and in 2005 they were 5-3. Oklahoma beat them 42-3 in the 2004 Big 12 Championships and Texas thumped them 70-3 the following year.

Many viewed these drubbings in the championships as a sign that CU was not capable of participating in the D1 football arms race without a sugar daddy. The CU administration viewed the losses differently. They used them as justification for hiring a new coach.

The Buffs football team has not had a winning season since 2005. Since then, they have had a 29-67 record, i.e. they have won only 30% of their games.

In 2011, the University of Colorado made a decision to move to the PAC 12 conference. Unfortunately the switch to a tougher conference did not positively impact the Buff’s performance on the field.

Their conference record for the past three seasons follows:

2011

  • 2-7 conference record
  • Home win over Arizona and a road win against Utah.

2012

  • 1-8 conference record
  • Road win over Washington State

2013

  • 1-8 conference record.
  • Home win over California.

The points for/against  Buffs football for the past three seasons follow:

2011

  • 5 home games                  127 points for                    183 points against
  • 4 away games                    51 points for                    193 points against
  • 9 total games                    178 points for                    376 points against
  • For every point scored by the Buffs, the opponents scored 2.11 points

2012

  • 5 home games                    69 points for                     221 points against
  • 4 away games                     86 points for                     210 points against
  • 9 total games                     155 points for                    431 points against
  • For every point scored by the Buffs, the opponents scored 2.78 points

2013

  • 4 home games                  106 points for                    172 points against
  • 5 away games                     77 points for                    226 points against
  • 9 total games                    183 points for                    398 points against
  • For every point scored by the Buffs, the opponents scored 2.11 points

Most Buffs football fans supported CU’s move to the PAC 12, they are less supportive of the product being rolled out at Folsom Field. In the past three years, the Buffs have won 2 of 14 home games and been outscored 2 to 1.

The Buffs conference home attendance for the past three seasons follows:

2011

The Buffs were 1-4 at home in conference play.

  • 9/10       49,532                   California
  • 10/1       51,928                   Washington State
  • 10/22     52,123                   Oregon
  • 11/4       50,083                   Southern California
  • 11/22     48,111                   Arizona.

Average conference home attendance 50,355.

2012
The Buffs were 0-5 at home in conference play.

  • 9/29       46,893                   UCLA
  • 10/11     45,161                   Arizona State
  • 10/27     44,138                   Stanford
  • 11/17     43,148                   Washington
  • 11/23     46,052                   Utah.

Average conference home attendance 45,078.

2013
The Buffs were 1-3 at home in conference play.

  • 10/5       45,944                   Oregon
  • 10/26     38,679                   Arizona
  • 11/16     38,252                   California
  • 11/23     36,005                   Southern California.

Average conference home attendance 39,720.

Hopefully, the most recent change in coaches bodes well for the Buffs football program!

 

 

 

Bowl Not Likely for CU Buffs!

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Spin makes a bowling ball travel into the pocket for a strike, it makes a tennis serve curve into the court for an ace, and it allows media writers and sports information directors to say nice things when the home town team is losing.

Such was the case in Boulder this past weekend after the 3-3 CU Buffs downed Charleston Southern. The media reported, “3 more wins and the Buffs go bowling.”

The optimism was refreshing but, such foolishness belonged on the comics page.

Last year there was a chasm between the Buffs and their PAC-12 opponents. A year later the Golden Buffs have shown signs of improvement, but they still aren’t ready for Prime Time in the PAC 12.

Realistically, a respectable showing in the last six games will be great and a win against a solid PAC-12 team would be a major step forward. A road win would be stellar! Three wins are out of the picture. The Punch Bowl is the only bowl Chip and his football Buffs will see this season.

More importantly, the improving CU Buffs have not increased the number of fannies in the seats. After all, the financial bottom line is the most important part of major collegiate football programs. Go Buffs!

CU Buffs