PUEBLO — The CSU-Pueblo ThunderWolves have impressive facilities, both for a program in only its third season and on the Division II level. As running back Jamaal Johnson spoke at the ThunderWolves’ media day Friday, he was in the team meeting room on the upper level of the fieldhouse- dressing room complex on the south side of the school’s little gem of a new stadium, the Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl. A squeaky-clean weightroom was just down the stairway.
But it wasn’t always like this. Johnson laughed as he recalled the early days of the revived program in 2008, before the on-campus construction proj- ects were completed.
“The first day, we were lifting with towels,” said Johnson, a junior from Fountain-Fort Carson High School who gained 931 yards for the ThunderWolves in 2009. “We were in the dorms, on the dormitory basketball courts, and we did an Air Force-style workout with towels. But it’s always been the same feeling here. We have better equipment now, but we still have that family feeling of building something.”
John Wristen, a longtime Colorado assistant who played quarterback for the school then known as the University of Southern Colorado in the early 1980s, left the UCLA staff after the 2006 to take on the formidable task of building a program from scratch at his alma mater.
Last season, the Thunderwolves went 7-4 overall and 6-3 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
“The first two years, we outworked, surprised some guys with freshmen and sophomores and some transfers,” Wristen said. “But this will be a true indication of what we’re about.”
This week, Wristen announced that 6-foot-5 Ross Dausin, a sophomore transfer from San Antonio via Kansas’ Butler Community College, will open fall practice as the ThunderWolves’ starting quarterback.
“This spring, he took our offense and in the first scrimmage threw about four interceptions,” Wristen said. “I took him aside and said, ‘I don’t want Superman, I just need Clark Kent.’ Ever since, he’s kind of relaxed and did what we asked. I think he’s rallied the troops, more than anything.”
One of the potential competitors for the quarterback job is Bernard Jackson, who started as a junior at Colorado in 2006, Dan Hawkins’ first season as coach. After becoming academically ineligible for the 2007 season, Jackson hit bottom when he was convicted on felony second-degree menacing charges following a 2008 burglary in Boulder and spent nearly a year in prison before being released on probation.
Jackson was listed as a quarterback on the preseason roster, but Wristen said he will be used at wide receiver initially and perhaps also at safety. He said Jackson also will get situational work at QB, though.
“We’re going to put together a little package for him,” Wristen said. “It’s hard for a guy to come in late, not going through spring ball. He’s such a great kid and a great athlete, I don’t want to put that pressure on him to think he has to be the starting quarterback.”
Said Jackson: “I’ll play anything. I’m not here to cause any kind of uproar about where I’m going to play. I’m not here to take the spotlight. I’m here to be a role player, whether quarterback or safety or waterboy. I’m here to get my degree and do everything I need to do to accomplish that.
“Words can’t explain how grateful I am to Coach Wristen for this opportunity. I’m going to do everything within my power not to let him down, or let anyone at this university down, or all of the other people back in Boulder and Denver who have stood up for me.”
Terry Frei: 303-954-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com
