Spring Practices

A sold-out Spring Game with a huge ESPN audience was quickly overshadowed by the dozens of Buffs who thereafter entered the Transfer Portal … How big a boon was the Spring Game to CU’s image? … Has it since been tarnished by the roster overhaul? … Will CU fans be amazed by the replacements? … Let’s find out …

A crowd of 47,277 braved the snow and cold to bear witness to the start of the Coach Prime era at Folsom Field … Notes and quotes from the Spring game, with a primer on the busy Transfer Portal news to come in the next few days …

A sell-out crowd of 45,000 and a national television audience on ESPN will watch the debut of Coach Prime in Folsom Field … Some historic notes from CU’s Spring game history: the Spring game played in Denver; the emotional Sal Aunese Spring game; Coach Mac calling on the Buff Nation to “Fill Folsom” in 2008 …

LB coach Andre Hart: “We’re never satisfied because we’re putting so much in because we’re trying to put competition on the mental state, as well as the physical” … Clemson transfer LB LaVonta Bentley: “I’m just blessed just to be here and get this bigger role because I know I’ve got it in me and I know I can show the world what I can do” …

The most anticipated (and best attended) Spring Game in CU history will be played before a sold out Folsom Field and a national television audience … Will Coach Prime’s premier be a showcase for Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter? … Will the Buff defense make fans forget the debacle which was the 2022 season? … Let’s find out …

After years of living in an information desert, Buff fans have been inundated with press conferences, videos, and unprecedented media access to spring practices … Here is a unit-by-unit look at quotable quotes from the first half of spring practices …

The time frame between the hiring of Coach Prime and the Buffs’ first game of the Prime era is almost exactly nine months … How is the “gestation” period for the Buffs going? … What are the three “ultrasound” tests the Buffs must still undergo before their “birthday” on September 2nd? …

Three months into the Coach Prime Era at CU, Buff fans are still trying to believe it is all real … Quotable quotes about Spring Ball from Coach Prime; OC Sean Lewis; and DC Charles Kelly … What have we learned, and what can we expect, as CU approaches its sold out Spring Game? … Let’s find out …

CU, a 1-11 team, had a front page story on both ESPN and The Athletic this week … Coach Prime has never backed off on his expectations to win in 2023, but is it realistic? Will the national media coverage turn against him if CU’s brutal 2023 schedule proves too daunting? Will recruits? … Let’s find out …

Will CU be a Top 25 team in 2023? Or does CU continue have the worst roster in the Pac-12? … The first practice of Spring ball is Sunday, and questions about the Buffs – and Coach Prime’s ability to coach at the Power Five level – will begin to be answered …

Are you ready for some football? This podcast gives you a unit-by-unit preview of CU spring practices … Who are the names CU fans should be listening for when the coaches talk with the press? Which questions about the roster and depth chart should the Buff Nation expect to be answered this spring? … Let’s find out …

CU has two Thorpe Award winners in school history, and potentially has two more on the roster, with five-star cornerbacks Travis Hunter and Cormani McLain joining the team … That said, there are 21 scholarship defensive backs on the roster, a quarter of the 85 total allotment, so there will be some fierce battles in the secondary this spring …

We are still a week away from CU players donning pads for the first time in the Coach Prime era, but the program is already subject to heightened scrutiny … Two players have already run afoul with the law, and how Coach Prime deals with these players will be national news …

Two of CU’s top three tacklers last season were senior linebackers Josh Chandler-Semedo and Quinn Perry … Replacing them are ten scholarship players with six career starts among them … Will the transfers prove their worth, or will returning scholarship players fill the void? … Let’s find out …

The CU defensive line was arguably the worst unit on the team, but two starters – Jalen Sami and Na’im Rodman – do return … Defensive tackles coach Patrick Hill was the last assistant to be hired, and the first to leave (to the Minnesota Vikings) … Is the D-Line the most worrisome unit on the team? … Let’s find out …

Offensive line coach Bill O’Boyle on CU offense: “You have to be able to play in space, change direction. It’s exciting” … Three starters from last season’s offensive line return, including both tackles … But … Coach Prime has brought in seven new linemen, including six transfers who will compete for playing time right away …

Pac-12 watchers are anxiously awaiting word on the new media deal, as well as news on conference expansion … Realignment rumors are back. Will CU be a part of a “Four Corners” move to the Big 12? … Does a move to the “Big 16” make long-term sense for CU? … Let’s find out …

Tim Shannon is a sports law attorney with the Boulder firm of Hutchinson, Black and Cook … We discuss the short but wild history of NIL and NIL deals, Coach Prime’s “We’re not about the NIL, we’re about the NFL”, and CU’s options to stay competitive in the current NIL landscape …

When looking to replace under-performing members of the roster, all too often coaches reach for “Just Another Guy”, a player who hasn’t established his bona fides as a Power Five regular … Breaking down CU’s Transfer Class, though, “hope” – for a change – is not a four-letter word …

Interested in participating in the next “CU at … ” photo contest? …. Would you like to see a Forum page to make it easier to post comments? … Should CU at the Game add a Patreon page, with subscriptions for “insider” content? … Let’s find out …

A record number of new WR (9) have joined the roster. Most, if not all, should make the ’23 roster … So, how many of the returning WR’s will make the cut? … There are five returning scholarship TE’s (who had a total of nine receptions last fall). Transfer Seydou Traore may be a breakout star at TE – will any of the returning sophomores join him? … Let’s find out …

Mailbag Questions … What to make of Coach Prime’s comments at the Super Bowl? … Is the Pac-12 Media Rights Deal a Debacle in Waiting? … Should the Pac-12 bring in San Diego State and SMU? … Are the Transfer Portal Rankings promising too much, or a sign of good things to come? … Let’s find out …

The dust is settling on college football rosters for the 2023 seasons, and coaching staffs are in place … So where did the 2022 CU coaching staff wind up? How many assistant coaches have found new employment? … How many former players have found new homes at Power Five Conference schools? … Let’s find out …

At quarterback, CU has transfer Shedeur Sanders – and three scholarship quarterbacks with one collegiate pass between them … Meanwhile, at running back, there is plenty of experience, but perhaps not enough quality experience, considering the two new backs Coach Prime & Co. have brought in this off-season …