Latest Headlines Chat replay: CU Buffs beat writer Brian Howell (March 9, 2020) Share this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) Chat replay: CU Buffs beat writer Brian Howell (March 9, 2020) By Brian Howell | howellb@dailycamera.com | Boulder Daily CameraPUBLISHED: March 9, 2020 at 11:35 a.m. | UPDATED: March 9, 2020 at 1:26 p.m.Buffzone.com beat writer Brian Howell takes your questions and leads discussion about CU sports today at Noon MT. That will do it for this week everybody. Great comments and questions again. Let's hope the Buffs get on track this week in hoops!Sounds like it went well. Hopefully he'll have a full recovery and be ready to go by summerAny word on how Viska's core muscle surgery went?I don't, sorry. I have not looked into that. Send me an e-mail and I can try to get back to you on that. howellb@dailycamera.comDo you have any idea when single game tickets go on sale for away games?I think KD will be a big part of the offense. There is a lot of other talent, too, but KD's versatility could really be an asset this year.K.D. Nixon is back... Any chance he gets beat out by your players? May not be a popular opinion, but he hasn't really "wow"ed me in his 3 years here. Thanks for doin these Brian!!Agreed, and I think he will use RPO and get them moving as much as he can.With Chev now the OC, hopefully we’ll see a hurry-up offense with more RPO concepts in it? Seems like that would work really well at altitude.For the Buffs ... I'm an optimist and I think they right and win two games before losing to UCLA in the semifinals. I think Oregon wins the tourneyPrediction for the Pac12 tourney?It's a bit extreme, isn't it? It's crazy to see what the Pac-12 spends compared to others. Pac-12 ought to put its offices in Las VegasHow much more money does Scott have to piss away before the Pac12 gets rid of him? Expensive headquarters in San Francisco, $7,000 rooms in Vegas for BB tournamentIn January, Athlon had A&M at No.15 in their "way too early" top 25. Mond is back, so is their RB who nearly hit 1,000 yards, their top WR and TE and most of the OL. They also return most of their starters on defense.Any idea what Texas A@M look like this year? They still have that Mond kid at QB?So does Chev, but they also have some pretty good TEs and RBs and they'll use those guys.Dorrell likes to sling it around a lot.Beer tap at every seat? No. But, a women's restroom in the press box and more updated men's restroom that doesn't have to be shared by the coaches, would be a nice start."If I'm CU, I take the money and rebuild the west side of Folsom. They are in desperate need of getting that updated. It's incredibly outdated. Best press box food in the Pac-12, without question, but it's the worst press box in the Pac-12 - and it's not even close."So you ARE in favor of option B, which is a beer tap at every seat. I am so there. Nobody has to get up, beer is cold, you just swipe your card.Nice.You're a big thinker.I think a lot of that is to be determined. Terminology will go to what Chev was using in 2018, so it won't be a lot different for many of the players. I would expect it to have the Chev stamp on it, but with some Dorrell influence.Brian elbow bump to you this Monday morning. Will the offense be changing a lot of the terminology and be creating different formations etc. or is KD going to try and keep a lot of what was run last year in consulting with Chev? Also is the defense going to continue to look more like it did toward the end of the season as opposed to that losing streak during the middle of last season?Yes, he hired Tessa Akers, who was a recruiting assistant last year, but was recently promoted (before he left) to director of recruiting.Did Tucker hire any of the recruiting assistants that were fired?If I'm CU, I take the money and rebuild the west side of Folsom. They are in desperate need of getting that updated. It's incredibly outdated. Best press box food in the Pac-12, without question, but it's the worst press box in the Pac-12 - and it's not even close.Ok, it's five years from now and the Pac 12 just signed a huge deal with ESPN and we get $50 million a year instead of the current $5 and bag of Dorritos. What do you do with the extra money: A) add a new snow cone machine for the media room or B) refurbish the whole West stands complex and add beer taps at every seat, thereby driving even more revenue?Take your time to answer so you get it right.Maybe, but I honestly don't know if that's anything he's interested in. Good thought, though!Rick Gamboa was always referred to as a coach on the field, any chance he could come back as a GA?Actually none of them yet. We'll get that chance this week, I believe.Have you had a chance to talk to all of the new assistants yet and if so who impressed you the most and why?No question, it's an issue with Tad's teams at this point. One correction is that they didn't make the NCAA Tourney with White. He played one year and the chemistry was awful. They got into the NIT. But, overall, your point is well taken. He's done a great job here, but at some point there's got to be more. They were one bad call at the end of the Utah game away from being the No. 3 seed in Vegas this week, but this team never should have been in that spot. You look at their 8 Pac-12 losses and you could make a case they could have won 7 of those. Just win 3 of them and they are Pac-12 champs. This team blew a ton of chances and that's frustrating. I have often defended Tad and I think he's a great coach for CU, but it's hard to defend that. This team, through the regular season, has underachieved.Hi Brian. I wonder if we have found the ceiling with Tad. I like him, support him and want him to stay right here. That said, his teams have a pattern of failing late in big games (e.g. how do you lose that first round Dance game with Derrick White?) including inconsistent offense. The only team that rose to crunch time was the one he inherited in year 1. This years Buffs have great potential but have been wildly inconsistent across games and in games as well. Part of the problem is a lack of intensity and hustle by a certain player. Let's see if they can pull it together.Most of that is in place, at least for the analysts. We know of two of them already, anyway. Bryan Cook is staying on quality control for defense, and Chris Reinert is being hired as quality control for special teams.Do you know when Dorrell will have the GA and Analysts on staff?I don't know, to be honest. I didn't hear anything negative about Alfano until last week.Was Alfano in danger before the coaching change, or did all this start when Midnight Mel mad his wild dash to East Lansing?Dorrell told me last week that some will be open, but he didn't say how many and he didn't say whether that was for public or media.Any word on if a spring practice or two will be open to the public?They're deep when guys are playing well, but you're right in that that depth sure that looks bad when you have multiple guys not playing well.The men's BB team has sure played poorly lately. Schwartz has only showed up for one game in the last four. The team doesn't seem as deep as was thought.I understand the national narrative, because Dorrell was not on ANYONE'S radar. He was viewed as very mediocre at UCLA and has been in the NFL for 12 of the last 13 years. His only college job in that time, he was fired after one season. So, I get it. But, I think this is a better hire than people think.Brian- when I first heard of the Dorrell hire, I thought it was solid. The more I hear, the more I like. Why are we getting killed in the National media? Is everyone so lazy that they can only think a hire is good if it follows a certain formula? Or, maybe I'm just too much of an optimist?Yes, but now I'd say his biggest challenge is figuring out who will play QB and having a first-year QB running the show.Chev's greatest challenge on play calling was an underweight, wimpy line that has since gained about 25 pounds each.They couldn't move anyone forward and they couldn't stop anyone from rushing the QB backwards.Fix that and everything else gets easier.No, I don't think so. Chev is a veteran coach who has been a play-caller and Dorrell did hire a veteran play-caller (Langsdorf) to work with him.Do you think Dorrell caved in having Chev as OC? He said he wanted a veteran play caller and that is not Chev.Right now, I believe it's 84.How many players are on scholarship now? I imagine a few players might leave after spring ballFor now, I think we see those guys stay. Hagan told me that things have changed a bit when recruiting running backs and young backs like the idea of not being used so much in college so that they are fresher for the NFL. According to Hagan, that's a selling point for high school backs. So, if those guys believe that, they'll stick around and make the most of their shot. Broussard is one that I could see maybe moving on. With Fontenot, Mangham and Smith coming back and Clayton coming in, there may not be much game time for others.Running back room seems to be filled with talent. Anticipate any guys leaving via transfer/other routes? I was impressed by Fontenot, however think he lacks home run capability.So many times if he would have just broke one tackle, a 9 yard run could of been a 60 yarder. Mangham runs extremely hard, but not sure he always knows where hes running to. The reason I ask, is that I don't wanna see guys like Smith or Broussard leave. Everytime Smith ran the ball last year, I thought to myself... Now thats what a RB looks like.I think it's possible, yes, that Lytle could decide to move on somewhere. I think he graduates in May. He's waited his turn for a long time and if he gets passed over, he might decide to go somewhere else. Life is short and he's only got two years left to play in college. He will want to make the most of that. And, yes, that would leave CU in a tough spot, but they'd have to figure out something in terms of adding a transfer or two that can play right away.Brian - What happens if Lewis is handed the QB keys. Do you think Lytle decides to go transfer portal? Aren't we in a world of hurt if that happens?First off, no I don't think there was any talk of Chev being a "coach in waiting." This is Dorrell's job and he could be here a while - probably longer than Chev wants to wait for his shot to be a head coach. I do think there will be growth from Chev as a play-caller from the 2018 season. He's learned from that year and he has more experienced coaches around him, which will help.I am excited to see coach Chiv get another chance to lead the offense. I know he was one dimensional in using Viska, but he did has some creativity. For me, it will be interesting to watch what he does in crucial situations. Do you since there is growth since the 2017 season and that he has learned from his mistakes? Also, do you think there was any talk of Karl growing this program and then leaving the keys to Chiv in an effort to keep him here?I would expect them to add a transfer QB after spring at some point. I don't think Stenstrom has been picked up yetany portal or grad transfer QBs on the radar? Has Stenstrom been picked up? I assume we will need someone if for nothing else a back upPretty solid. I don't know much about the OL coach, but I do think he's a step back from Kapilovic - that's more praise for Kap than a knock on Rodrigue. Also, Els is a big loss for the inside linebackers. Summers might do a great job, but the backers loved Els and he did a great job. Other than that, I think the staff might actually be better than what Tucker had last season. I like Chev in the OC role more than Johnson. I like Langsdorf as QB coach more than Johnson. I think there's more experience coaching the secondary.How do you rate the new coaches?I don't blame Tucker for taking a deal that doubled his salary and offered him greater financial resources to compete. So, basically, no, I don't leaving in itself was sleazy. I think he handled it very poorly, however. I think it was sleazy to go on 3 Denver radio shows that Tuesday and express his commitment and then go to a donor event that night and express his commitment - literally hours before news broke that he was leaving. I also think he spent a lot of time making excuses privately while publicly stating "this is a no excuses" program, so in the end, I don't think Tucker was the man/coach we thought he was or that he led us all to believe he was. But ... good for him in getting that paycheck.You are a very professional man Brian, but I would like to hear your opinion on Tucker. Do you think it was a sleezy thing to do leaving the program the way he did?All I know is what I reported. Not sure what the rule is that he violated.Any further info on what Alfano did?I'd have to go through and look at the rosters, which I haven't done yet, but Utah did lose a lot. Arizona obviously lost its QB (but probably has a better one coming back) and RB. In the South, at least, I'd say that Utah may have lost the most.Which PAC 12 teams lost the most players this year, Utah maybe?Right now, there are a couple of walk-onsDo we have any other qb's backing up Lewis and Lytle?I don't believe, other than rumors, it ever wavered like that. He was here and we were told he was being retained, but then CU found out he accepted a position at MSU.What happened with Hankton? It seemed like he was here, then he was going, then he was staying, and now he's gone?CU has its good moments! So, yes, I think the upswing is coming at some pointWill #BuffShit ever turn around?I believe it's just like "Rodriguez" without the "ez"Does anyone know how to pronounce the Oline coach's name? I have only hear him refer to himself as Coach Rod.Certainly, Chev is a top-notch recruiter, and Martin is known as a very good recruiter. Michalowski is making his mark on the recruiting trail, as well. The others, I don't know much about how they recruit. You've got a mix of guys who haven't recruited in a few years, or they've recruited at lower levels. Langsdorf did a nice job recruiting QBs at Oregon State.How do you rate the new staff as recruiters?I don't think that's necessarily the case, but certainly this a program that has not been good in a long time. That doesn't mean they can't be going forwardAt what point do we just accept the fact that the program is never going to be good, and just give in to less than average?
