Behind the glitz of the hiring of a head coach, beyond anticipation of what is on the horizon, there remains a group of Colorado football players and coaches who want to savor the moment and honor the past.
The Champs Sports Bowl may not seem significant to the masses who already have discarded what’s left of the season – moving on to speculation about new coordinators and coaches, wondering what Dan Hawkins’ Boise State offense will look like in black and gold, who might be coming with him, what the impact might be on recruiting – but it’s important to those still on the field.
CU’s players want to win one for the assistant coaches – most of whom will not be in the program as of Jan. 1. The coaches want to do it one more time: prepare hard and put a rejuvenated team on the field that is more reminiscent of the unit that nearly got Gary Barnett a contract extension than the one that precipitated his firing.
“You’re in a place where you have one more game to look forward to, one more opportunity to go to battle with these guys,” offensive assistant coach Darian Hagan said. “That keeps you going. You know that you can hold your head up high and try to go out and win this game against Clemson. Get these guys’ confidence back. That’s what we’re aiming for. We know that it’s going to be somebody else in here. But we’re still professional and proud to be Buffaloes one more time.”
Said running backs coach Shawn Simms: “To be able to overcome all this and still go out there and put together a great game plan and get the guys ready to play is, that’s the opportunity that we all look forward to. That’s what we want to happen.”
Colorado returned to practice Friday for the 7-5 team’s Dec. 27 bowl game – just the players and coaches, and virtually no one else. Simultaneously, newly hired Hawkins was holding court with media in a large room in the Folsom Field suites.
For a moment, there was a contrasting view of Hawkins in a packed room while out the window were practice fields with the team and no fanfare.
Junior center Mark Fenton is a realist. When asked if there were lingering feelings for Barnett, whose firing led to Hawkins’ hiring, he said, “I think what’s done is done. We have a new coach. We have to really go with the new direction right now. It’s the only thing you can do. Coach Barnett is going to move on, so we’re going to have to move on, too.”
But for the assistant coaches, Fenton said the goal is to send them off on a winning note.
“We want to play well for our coaches,” he said. “We’ve been through a lot with these coaches. Me, personally, I kind of want to end this in the right way, with a win in the bowl game.”
Colorado practices today and Tuesday, then leaves for Orlando, Fla., on Wednesday. The team will spend seven days there.
“Everybody is going to be excited to play, coming out of the locker room and all that,” Hagan said. “Just one last time. One last time being with the guys. Those players get to go out there and show what they are made of. We get to go out there and coach them up, show them what we’re made of, that we’re professionals and we’re good at what we do.”
Chris Dempsey can be reached at 303-820-5455 or cdempsey@denverpost.com.
