Boulder – His long, dark hair flows only slightly freer than his conversation skills. His current address is Boulder, but the laid-back Southern California persona seems to stay with Colorado safety Daniel “D.J.” Dykes.
Dykes, 21, is a Long Beach, Calif., native who transferred to CU last year from the University of Idaho. The junior has the inside track to a starting job at strong safety, which would put senior Lionel Harris on the bench.
Going into this morning’s final scrimmage of preseason camp, strong safety is the only position that is up in the air.
A psychology major with a 3.3 grade-point average, Dykes spoke philosophically about what beating out a senior, who started at strong safety much of last season, might do for his and the team’s psyche.
“Competition is one thing that just makes everybody better, and that goes for everything in sports or the workplace,” Dykes said. “I think it’s really pushed him to get better also. I look at it as a positive thing and really tried to embrace it.”
Still, Dykes said there have been a few awkward moments with Harris.
“We’ve talked about it a little, and it gets a little uncomfortable at times,” Dykes said. “That’s just going to be natural. But we know that this is a business, and it’s not going to be pretty for everybody. Coach always tells us it’s not going to be fair for everybody on a good team. Not every good player is going to play, and that’s just the way it is.”
Dykes played two years at Idaho, but began to feel stifled. He didn’t feel like he fit into the community, or under new coach Dennis Erickson. Dykes liked what he saw of Buffs coach Dan Hawkins, whom he competed against when Hawkins coached Boise State.
“Up in Moscow (Idaho), it’s just a slow place. It’s a quiet place, and I’m from Southern California. And it just really wasn’t the environment for me,” Dykes said. “On top of that, this would have been my senior year there, and I would have had three head coaches in four years.
“With Erickson coming in, I didn’t see him staying for a while, and I just thought it was my time to get out. I appreciated everything they did for me, but it was time to move on. I played against Boise a couple times, and I was hoping that I could come here and not totally have to re-establish myself as a player. Someone that knew my name a little bit, I thought would be nice.”
Hawkins wouldn’t tip his hand as to his starting strong safety, but had good things to say about Dykes.
“He’s smart, he’s tough, he’s a playmaker and gets himself into the right position and works hard,” Hawkins said. “Those guys usually surface in life, and he certainly has. Like I like to say, he has great countenance. I think that lends itself to productivity.”
Chances are Hawkins will make his decision between Dykes and Harris after the morning scrimmage today at Folsom Field.
“Obviously it’s an important day, but so is every day of camp,” Dykes said. “I just want to go out and have fun and play some ball.”
Staff writer Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com.
