Coach Mike MacIntyre hosted the 12 seniors on the on the 2015 Colorado football roster at his home over the summer for dinner and a fashion show of sorts.
MacIntyre watched as the Buffs debated and ultimately selected which uniforms the team will wear in every game this season, including a home and away choice for a bowl game and a selection for the Pac-12 championship game. The fact that CU players have the confidence to already be planning for the postseason is another benchmark reached in the rebuilding process in the mind of the head coach.
“I was excited to hear them say that,” MacIntyre said after the first practice of fall camp Wednesday morning. “They definitely can achieve that, and I don’t think that would have been said last year, the way they said it, and the way they did it.”
CU hasn’t been to a bowl game since 2007 and hasn’t had a winning season since 2005, but the Buffs have shown significant improvement in each of the first two seasons under MacIntyre’s leadership. They went 2-10 last season but in seven of their 10 losses they were either leading, tied or trailing by a touchdown or less in the fourth quarter. Players and coaches feel like more of those games will go CU’s way this year with an older, wiser, stronger football team.
“We’re just talking bowl game,” wide receiver Nelson Spruce said. “We haven’t been to one since 2007, and all of us seniors, we really feel like this is the year that we can accomplish that.”
Colorado revealed new and updated uniforms in the spring, including the addition of gray pants, jerseys and helmets with black lettering and an all-white look, including the helmet. Those additions to the classic CU uniforms of the past give the team dozens of different combinations to choose from for each game.
Players were sworn to secrecy when it comes to what uniforms they will wear for each game this fall. In the spring, players said the two most popular looks among the team were the all-white “storm trooper” look and the all-gray. Those might be reserved for big games but it wouldn’t be a surprise if players opted to use one of them in the season opener at Hawaii on Sept. 3.
Senior safety Jered Bell was asked what it says about the change in the level of confidence inside the program that CU’s seniors were willing to select a postseason uniform.
“We have to have it if we’re going to do what we know we can do,” Bell said. “If we don’t have the confidence then there is no point being out here to play ball. We’ve got to speak it into existence.”
Kyle Ringo: twitter.com/kyleringo
