BOULDER — Former Colorado football coach Rick Neuheisel believes the program he coached from 1995-98 can return to national prominence within four years if university leadership truly gets behind it.
Neuheisel returned to the practice fields in Boulder on Thursday in his role as an analyst for the Pac-12 Network, which had CU defensive line coach Jim Jeffcoat on a microphone for a 30-minute “inside training camp” look at the Buffs that will air Saturday at 8 p.m.
Neuheisel believes Colorado hired the right man to turn around the program in coach Mike MacIntyre, but the school also needs to invest in new facilities to catch up to the teams in the Pac-12 and across the nation.
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And CU needs to do it quickly, because most of the teams in the conference recently have completed major facilities improvements or have them underway.
“It can happen fast, but what has to happen quickly is shovels got to get into the ground,” Neuheisel said. “A commitment to a renovation, a commitment to an indoor facility, the things that big-time programs have and exhibit, that has to get done to have recruits come back here.”
Colorado officials have taken some steps toward major renovations at Folsom Field and building a permanent indoor practice facility, but the athletic department is attempting to raise at least $50 million of the estimated cost of $170 million for the project. CU went public with the project in February but has not given any updates on how much it has raised.
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