FORT COLLINS — Embattled Colorado State coach Steve Fairchild met with his new boss Friday and began making his case to stay on the job beyond today’s finale against Wyoming.
Fairchild drove up to the Wyoming-Colorado border with new athletic director Jack Graham for the annual Bronze Boot run and exchange of the game ball between the ROTC battalions from each school.
They used the time to get to know each other and Fairchild filled in Graham on where the program stands heading into 2012.
Graham said Thursday when he replaced Paul Kowalczyk as the school’s AD that the chat could be characterized as a job interview.
In that case, Fairchild said he thought the interview went well.
“Jack and I had a good conversation. We’re both former CSU quarterbacks, and we both appreciate the traditions we have related to the Wyoming game, including the running of the game ball from Laramie today,” Fairchild said.
Although a loss to the Cowboys would result in Fairchild’s third straight 3-9 season, his team was beset by injuries the last two years and he has a strong group of underclassmen returning next season for what is the last year on a contract that pays him $750,000 in 2012.
“We’ve worked hard over the last three classes to recruit the talent we have in the program,” Fairchild said. “Most of that talent will be juniors next year, and I’m hopeful that we can coach those players to the heights we believe we can reach as a team.”
Fairchild was Kowalczyk’s first hire when Fairchild replaced Sonny Lubick in 2008 and went 7-6 his first year but has gone 9-26 since.
This year, the Rams have lost 67 man games to injuries and seven starters to season-ending ailments. That doesn’t count All-America hopeful Mychal Sisson, a senior linebacker who entered the season leading the country in career tackles for loss but missed seven games with a broken ankle before his return to action Nov. 19.
Next year, the Rams are expected to return eight offensive starters, nine defensive starters and their star punter — and they have a promising group of freshmen to fill in the gaps.
