Fort Collins – For most college football players know, the tooth fairy develops the scouting reports and game plans. Coaches are just the guys who yell at practice and decide who starts.
Colorado State free safety Klint Kubiak knows better. He’s a coach’s son. While teammates get away from football to see their families for the mini- Thanksgiving break, Kubiak will see his father, Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak, and be on the sideline. Instead of Hughes Stadium, his reunion comes today at Reliant Stadium when the Texans play the Buffalo Bills.
Everyone associated with CSU’s team is aching over the five-game losing streak. Kubiak is aching just a little more because he sees the toll on his coaches.
By midweek, he hadn’t changed his postgame line about the players, not the coaches, bearing the responsibility for making the plays.
“Us as players make mistakes and it’s not because we’re not coached the right way to do it,” Kubiak said. “Coaches have us in position to make the plays. We haven’t made the plays. People put the blame on the coaches, and I don’t think that’s the right thing to do.”
It’s not as if he isn’t making plays. Kubiak had his first career interception last week against Utah.
“I know how hard the coaches work and the crazy hours. They do it for us. We’re really appreciative of that, especially with all the stuff our coaches have gone through this year,” Kubiak said in reference to offensive coordinator Dan Hammerschmidt losing his wife to cancer and receiver coach Matt Lubick’s chemotherapy. “They continue to work for us. It shows how much they care about us. I’d love to get a ‘W’ next weekend and return the favor.”
The players came back to practice midweek refusing to dwell on the losing streak. They know they have two games to finally get it right and salvage a .500 record.
“Guys are flying around at practice,” strong safety Mike “Pags” Pagnotta said. “Coaches told us we can’t dwell on the past. All we can do is work to change things.”
One of the reasons the staff and team looks ahead is every defensive starter for the final two games returns next year except senior linebacker Luke Adkins. Kubiak and Adkins share the team lead in tackles at 73, overtaking Pagnotta who missed a few games with a knee injury.
“Poor Pags, he’s been hurt so much,” Kubiak said. “If he didn’t get hurt he’d probably be leading the nation in tackles. We really don’t care about the stats. We just want to win.”
Said Pagnotta: “I just wish we were winning games. Klint has played really well. I don’t think either one of us cares about the tackle lead. We joke about it sometimes. The team success is most important.”
The players meanwhile can’t help but notice the dwindling fan turnout at games.
“When you’re not winning not a lot of people want to cheer you on,” Kubiak said.
Natalie Meisler can be reached a 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com.
