FORT COLLINS — Colorado State on Monday went through its first full pads practice following Jim McElwain’s departure, beginning preparations for the matchup with Utah.
Dave Baldwin, McElwain’s offensive coordinator and the interim head coach for the bowl game, noticeably made the rounds of all position groups at the practice.
“It’s a great beginning for us,” Baldwin said of the practice. “If we can continue this for a good solid week before we get on a plane, we’ll be in good shape.”
He said of running from group to group during the positional work: “That’s me. I’m going to call the plays and all that, but these guys are going to know who I am on the other side of the ball and I’m going to be in their drills and I’m going to tell them to compete. That’s just me.”
That said, Baldwin — previously the head coach at two junior colleges, plus Cal State Northridge and San Jose State — added that he didn’t need to introduce himself, either.
“These guys know who I am,” Baldwin said. “I have a personality that’s different from the head coach who was here in the past. I’m much more of a hands-on guy. I’m not going to put that ‘HC’ on and walk around. I’m there. I can’t change and I don’t want to change.”
Baldwin said some things would be “tweaked” from the McElwain practice routine, but they would be only minor.
“When you’re 10-2, you did things right,” he said. “That’s why we want to stay status quo. We don’t need to make changes. The ship wasn’t sinking. It’s sailing in the right direction. We didn’t win the last one. We need to harp on finishing on that great note. This ship is headed in the right direction. There’s no doubt about that. Let’s just guide it in now. I’m that tugboat helping it to get in.”
The Rams will practice Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday this week. They’ll leave for Las Vegas after an afternoon practice on Dec. 16.
Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com or twitter.com/TFrei
