GREELEY — Like most first-year head football coaches, Earnest Collins Jr. had his wish list upon taking over at Northern Colorado. Things such as expanding the fan base, making a statement in the recruiting wars and restoring the school’s glory.
Collins wants all that and more.
“We’ve got to find a meaner-looking bear,” he said of a hallway trophy case with a ratty-looking head removed from a fuzzy mascot of old. “This looks like a teddy bear.”
Collins’ message couldn’t be clearer. The former walk-on from East High School in Denver, who became a four-year starter at UNC, wants to put the teeth back in Bears football.
“I’m a very vocal person,” said Collins, a defensive back and punt returner when he played for the Bears from 1991-94. “I’ll be the first to pat you on the back and the first to put my foot up your (rear).”
He has commanded instant respect from his players since taking over for Scott Downing on Dec. 28.
“He’s a tough guy,” said Dylan Orms, the Bears’ fifth-year senior quarterback. “When you see him coming, you kind of get a little nervous. I think that’s how it’s supposed to be with a head coach. You want to have that respect for him. You don’t want to let him down.”
Anyone underestimating Collins might reconsider knowing his background. At Denver East, he played out of position as a 170-pound linebacker.
“He made tackles all over the field. He had a huge heart and passion for the game,” former UNC coach Joe Glenn said. “But who would recruit a 170-pound linebacker?”
No one did, so Collins took a year off from school. He helped support his mother by delivering furniture until some former East coaches put him in touch with the UNC staff and encouraged him to be a walk-on with the Bears. Once he arrived in Greeley, UNC put him at cornerback. He quickly earned a scholarship.
“He was a real special athlete,” said Glenn, who coached the Bears to NCAA Division II championships in 1996 and 1997. “He was a big part of our turnaround at UNC.”
Glenn also credits Collins for helping him start a pipeline to Denver-area talent. “He has seen the blueprint. Look for him to shake the bushes for guys like himself or (NFL defensive end) Aaron Smith.”
Mostly, Glenn said, “I’m tickled they got someone who knows the northern Colorado area, who’s got some blue and gold in his blood. At this point, this is what they need — his passion and can-do attitude.”
Collins, 40, can’t precisely pinpoint when he wanted the top job at UNC but said, “Every coach dreams of coaching at his alma mater someday.”
He was a student assistant coach for Glenn after graduation and returned to Greeley in 2000 as an assistant coach after getting his master’s degree at Northwest Missouri State. His career path took him to Kansas (2003-06), Central Florida (2007) and to Alcorn State as defensive coordinator and associate head coach in 2008.
A year later, he became Alcorn State’s head coach after a bizarre sequence that included the athletic director firing the football staff and not telling the head coach, then keeping the staff and firing the head coach. Despite getting “fired” as a staffer, Collins was offered the head coaching job. He felt he needed approval from the former coach, and from his wife, Tabatha, whom he admits “hated Mississippi.”
Collins applied for the UNC job that went to Downing years earlier and was told he needed head coaching experience. After getting approval from Alcorn State’s former coach, and from his wife, Collins accepted the Alcorn State promotion. He went 3-6 in his first season in charge.
“We weren’t expected to win a game because of all the turmoil,” said Collins, who guided Alcorn State to a 5-6 record last year.
“He did a great job at what would be a challenge in anyone’s book,” said Jay Hinrichs, UNC’s athletic director.
At UNC, he took an approximate 30 percent cut in base pay to a $95,000 salary. But it was worth it to get back to his alma mater. Collins and his wife have two daughters: Tayler and Marci.
“Football is fun for me, even after 17 years. I don’t feel the pressure,” Collins said. “The Lord gave me this job, and I don’t think he put me in position to fail. I want to change the lives of young men. If I do that, they will perform for you.”
He has set high recruiting goals, starting with locking out the rest of the Big Sky Conference from Colorado and then taking on Mountain West neighbors for what he calls the “borderline” Division I-A prospects, or recruited walk-ons.
UNC has struggled since moving up to the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) level. The Bears are 5-35 in the Big Sky since joining in 2006.
“I don’t have to rebuild anything because I think we have the talent here already,” Collins said. “I really think if things go like I think they can go, we will have a winning season this year.”
UNC was 3-8 overall last year, 2-6 in the Big Sky. It was the first time the Bears won two Big Sky games.
“I’m one of those guys who will never count anyone out,” Collins said, “because that is what Joe did for me.”
Natalie Meisler: 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com
Did you know?
Earnest Collins Jr. . . .
• Holds the Northern Colorado record for most punt return yards (497) in a season.
• Ranks second in UNC history with 978 career yards on punt returns. Vincent Jackson, now an NFL star with the San Diego Chargers, has the UNC record (1,024).
• Delivered furniture for a year after graduating from East High School in Denver.
• Was a member of the Northwest Missouri State coaching staff when the Bearcats won Division II national championships in 1998 and 1999, beating UNC in the playoffs both seasons.
• Is the 16th head football coach in UNC history, but the first UNC alumnus in charge of the program.
• Graduated from UNC in 1996 with a degree in kinesiology.
