Colorado offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich joined the Buffaloes in December 2005 as a member of Dan Hawkins’ initial staff. Helfrich came from Arizona State, where he coached the Sun Devils quarterbacks for five seasons. Helfrich was asked to assess CU’s spring practices and prospects for the upcoming season.
Q: How’s the no-huddle, hurry-up offense progressing?
A: It’s going fine. The guys have bought into it and established a little bit more of an aggressive type of stance.
Q: Why was it added?
A: We’re trying to force ourselves to play with a little more confidence, force ourselves to play faster. We’re at a stage where we’re still going to be very young at a lot of positions. With this, we can be a little simpler with our plan and our approach, from game to game. This will force us, and me, to do that. And lastly, there’s the altitude. We want to get into the heads of opponents of having to play at elevation.
Q: Will you use the hurry-up 100 percent of the time?
A: No. It will depend on who we have playing in our lineup and who we are playing against.
Q: The two quarterbacks who aren’t playing give the signals from the sideline. Are they doing OK with that?
A: Yeah. That’s part of all this. It puts the offense in their hands a little bit more, having them take ownership in the communication part of it. These guys are having fun, coming up with their own little language, so to speak.
Q: How’s having a full year as the starting quarterback helped Cody Hawkins?
A: He’s getting better. Taking into account the scrimmages and all repetitions in practices, including all the seven-on-seven work, Cody had only turned the ball over twice (heading into the spring game). That was a huge point of emphasis for him. Last year we had way too many really unforced turnovers, trying to make a play when the play wasn’t there.
Q: Has 280-pound Kai Maiava adapted to his switch from offensive guard to fullback?
A: His biggest thing right now is just playing fast and playing with confidence. He’s still thinking about the formation, thinking about the motion, thinking about his aiming points on his blocks.
Q: Can the world’s heaviest fullback catch the football?
A: We’re not going to split Kai out wide and run too many routes with him. . . . But we can catch the ball well enough.
Q: It looks like you might have as many as three new starters on the offensive line, including converted tight end Nate Solder at left tackle. Another lineman, right tackle Ryan Miller, is only a sophomore. Are you getting comfortable with that?
A: Yeah, we’re young. But our depth is so much better. And when you talk Ryan and Nate, there are going to be a lot of NFL scouts come in here to take a look at those two.
Q: When last year’s trio of freshman wide receivers were recruited, the highest rated was Markques Simas. The 6-foot-2, 195-pounder from San Diego was redshirted last fall. He must have been champing at the bit to show what he can do during spring drills.
A: Markques does have kind of that, ‘I’m coming off my redshirt year and I have a chip on my shoulder’ attitude, which is awesome. He is a natural, ball-skill type of guy out there. We need him to keep progressing and do what we think he can do, which is be a big-play, big-time guy.
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
