BOULDER — There’s a new summertime sheriff in town at the University of Colorado in speed, strength and conditioning director Malcolm Blacken. He followed new coach Jon Embree from the Washington Redskins.
Instead of running and lifting three times a week during their offseason conditioning program as in the past, the Buffs are conditioning four times a week. Player-organized seven-on-seven drills retain the same schedule, but with a renewed purpose.
“It’s probably one of the top strength and conditioning programs in the nation,” senior quarterback Tyler Hansen said. “Once people find out and we start having results on the field, people will take notice of it.”
It’s not as if former strength coach Jeff Pitman ran a Sunday softball league. To the contrary, Hansen said: “We were doing some heavy stuff. It’s just different-type stuff now. It’s not as much heavy power lifting to 500 pounds — it’s more body movement stuff, position-specific stuff. . . . It’s general high-tech stuff the NFL players are doing.”
Said running back Rodney Stewart: “It’s harder work. The routine is changing repeatedly.”
The NCAA permits nonmandatory summer workouts overseen by strength and conditioning coaches. Players get breaks right after school ends and the Fourth of July week.
Three days a week, the Buffs run their own unpadded touch football games. The linemen do their own drills.
“We try to work more on technique to get plays down,” offensive tackle Jack Harris said. “Some days, we go one-on-one and keep score with that.”
There are no whistles, no coaches yelling. Players come and go. There’s a lot more laughter on the field.
“The morale of the team is a lot better,” Hansen said. “Guys are walking around smiling, having fun. Not that it wasn’t like that before. Guys are starting to get more comfortable.”
He pointed to Embree’s effort to draw the team closer together.
Hansen and defensive captain Anthony Perkins can only use their influence to draw a turnout. When Hansen worked out in a gym in San Diego during the May break, he sought input from NFL quarterback John Beck and recent draftee Ricky Stanzi on how the NFL teams organized voluntary player workouts during the lockout.
When Embree appointed his senior leader in charge of running the players-only drills, Hansen took it seriously, saying: “It’s my job to get guys out here. It’s my job to make sure things run smoothly and guys aren’t messing around.”
Hansen is the last player off the field. He brings the footballs and his own notebook.
“I’m responsible for holding guys accountable. If they aren’t there, I’m going to get in their ear,” he said. “But it’s the summer, and everyone should feel free to have a good time.”
Players are also determined to do more with their free time. Tight end Matt Bahr said he and running back Brian Lockridge go fishing up Boulder Canyon.
“How can you not have fun in Boulder in the summertime? You have beautiful weather, you got the mountains, you got fishing,” Bahr said.
Some players work or have summer internships.
“They are the guys who aren’t here,” Harris said.
The ones who were present Tuesday broke the huddle with “Beat Hawaii.”
Rams sign transfer LB. Colorado State added Kilgore (Texas) College transfer linebacker Cordarius Golston on Wednesday. The 6-foot-1, 215-pound newest Ram has three years of eligibility. He clock starts as a sophomore this season.
He initially signed with Arizona but transferred almost immediately when Wildcats coach Mark Stoops left for Florida State. Golston was a Texas top-100 recruit at Lancaster High School.
Natalie Meisler: 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com
