Mark Knudson’s Three Strikes Blog: Strike One:
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CSU “Spring” football experiment falls flat
STRIKE ONE: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it “as they say. And the way big time college football programs do Spring Football ain’t broke.
Colorado State Head Coach Mike Bobo and his staff decided to try to fix it anyway.
The result was a lackluster, uninspiring and otherwise unnoticed spring football session that didn’t have a single snap or play happen in the actual springtime. During a time when most programs try to showcase their program and their facilities to potential recruits – while wrapping things up with a football game that feels like the real thing for fans AND players – CSU instead got none of the above.
Call it a missed opportunity.
Bobo elected to have spring football practice in the dead of winter this year – and it happened to be a really crappy winter if you want to practice and play football outdoors. Instead of starting practice this week, the way new CU coach Mel Tucker and his team are doing, the Rams started a month or so early. The idea was to allow for more time for the players to get into the weight room between March and August, and to allow potential “spring” injuries more time to heal. Bobo also reportedly wanted to have a set of practices that was not interrupted by the student’s spring break.
It’s an idea that’s been tried – and ultimately rejected – by other programs in the past, including former CU coach Mike McIntyre. Spring, er, “winter” football in February simply doesn’t have the same impact.
The Rams got all their practices in while basketball season was still going on, and even had it planned out so that workouts would culminate the same week as the Mountain West Men’s basketball tournament. It’s almost like they were trying hard NOT to get any attention for the football program. Seemed appropriate when the annual “spring” football game – which they mysteriously decided to play on a weeknight during the MW hoops tourney – was snowed out.
Not that many would have noticed.
Instead, the Rams went indoors and held a closed scrimmage to end “spring” football. A fitting end to an invisible set of workouts
The winter football session wasn’t useless of course. Any time you can have your team practice football you should be making progress. Time on the field with coaches is valuable in every circumstance. A lot of teaching and learning can and undoubtedly was done. There’s also been a lot of talk around the CSU program about fixing the internal culture – creating a more accountable atmosphere inside the plush Canvas Stadium locker room. A lot of time this spring was reportedly spent on fixing all the things that have been deemed to be broken.
Yet they could have done all that without messing with what wasn’t.
An annual Spring Football game is a cool event. A lot of big programs around the country pack their stadiums to see the dressed up inter-squad game. It can be a huge recruiting tool, giving new recruits a chance to be on the sidelines and feel the big game atmosphere. Programs can showcase their facilities – which are a big big plus for Colorado State these days. It gives fans reason to turn out to support their team and get pumped up for next season. It’s a chance to renew passions and hope.
Hope doesn’t “winter eternal.” It “springs” eternal.
Tucker – less than a year removed from his time as an assistant coach at Georgia – obviously hopes to capture a lot of enthusiasm in Boulder with CU’s spring game next month. Bobo – five years removed from Athens – seems to have given up on the idea, at least for now. Hopefully the fact that this “spring” was a bust from a program building standpoint will prompt the coach to return to the tried and true method of actual spring football that’s proven to work well for the types of successful programs he and Rams fans want CSU to become.
Wanna argue? Hit me up on Twitter @MarkKnudson41. Coming Wednesday: The guy who can make Nolan Arenado better…
