Karl Dorrell barely had a chance to enjoy his office at Colorado’s Champions Center before he had to leave it for a while.
World-wide concern about the spread of the coronavirus has caused many people, including Colorado’s new head football coach, to work from home. Dorrell has spent most of his first seven weeks on the job with his dogs near his feet and meeting with his staff and players through Zoom rather than face-to-face.
The unique challenge hasn’t dampened Dorrell’s love for what he calls his “dream job,” however.
“Every morning I wake up, I’m like, ‘What are we going to do today?’” Dorrell said. “I’m challenged every day to find something to do thatap going to help us be a better football team. Is it conventional? No. Is it in a lot of ways out of what I’ve been doing the last 32 years? Absolutely. But, everybody has to deal with it a certain way. I’m used to adjusting and doing whatever it takes to be successful.”
With previous head coach Mel Tucker suddenly leaving for Michigan State in February, CU was the last team in the Football Bowl Subdivision to have its coach in place. Dorrell was officially hired on Feb. 23. He quickly assembled his coaching staff, getting all 10 assistants in place before the scheduled start of spring practices on March 16.
On March 13, just 19 days after Dorrell was hired, sports around the world began shutting down and CU’s spring practices were put on hold. With stay-at-home orders in place around the country, the Buffs are unlikely to ever conduct spring – or even summer – practices. At this point, the start of the season is even up in the air.
For a team with a brand new coaching staff and no starting quarterback in place, the shutdown is not ideal, but Dorrell is embracing the challenge.
“You can’t have a mindset of, ‘Oh, this is going to hurt us,’” he said. “I can’t express that to my team, either. Everybody’s in the same boat right now. No one’s getting the advantage of anything.
“My mindset is whoever is doing their best job and due diligence of really discovering who they are as a team and doing those types of efforts right now, thatap really going to be the telltale. Who does the best evaluation of who they are in being able to put together the best package or systems offensively, defensively, special teams for us to perform the way that maximizes our potential.”
Although Dorrell has yet to get on the field with the Buffs, he has already learned a lot about them.
“They’re ambitious; I know that,” he said. “I think they’ve been frustrated the last, probably two or three years, underperforming and not playing at a level that they feel capable of playing. They feel that we should be much better than what we’ve been doing last few years.
“Their attitude is right about what they want, what their desires are, what they’re shooting for. We’re going to ride that and stress them and put them in tough situations to get ready to play once we get a chance to get in those situations to do it.”
Dorrell prefers to evaluate players through in-person workouts and practices. Thatap not possible right now, so he’s relying on game film. He has watched all 12 of CU’s games from last year “in a number of ways,” and is still going back and looking at those games.
“I’m trying to get a better feel, personnel-wise,” he said. “Where should we attack; where should we plan; and who should we feature and all of those things.
“I am going through those games over and over, because I have the time, and then secondly, I’ve got to get that much further ahead. Because I haven’t had the field time, I really have to use the video time as my biggest telltale now because I don’t know when we’ll be able to step back on the field.”
Retaining four assistants from last season, including defensive coordinator Tyson Summers and offensive coordinator Darrin Chiaverini, helps the player evaluation process.
“Thatap helpful that we know these guys – at least the coordinators do,” Dorrell said. “That gives them a starting point of where to build from where they think our strengths are. They’re the ones right now that have the best feel about who can do what.”
At some point, Dorrell and the six new assistants will have to catch up quickly with their on-field evaluations, but Dorrell said, “Thatap the fun part, to be honest with you.
“I like this part because your eyes (on the film) kind of give you the idea of what a guy can do, but then sometimes you get pleasantly surprised that he can do more. There’s always those guys that surprise you; guys that step up, they’re a little bit older, they’ve got a little more experience, they’ve learned from the season, they’ve done the work in the offseason. All of a sudden their skill level is a little bit better.”
Dorrell is confident that the players, who are all working out on their own at home, are staying motivated and busy. He also knows the coaches are staying busy as they prepare for the season – whenever it does come around.
Itap not an ideal situation for anyone, but the Buffs are making the most of their time.
“Itap all about our approach,” he said. “Obviously when we get a chance to get to work, we’ve got to get to work and get ourselves ready to play. (The players) feel they’re ready to step up.”
Notable
Dorrell said the staff will work together to coach special teams. “I did it that way at UCLA,” he said. “We were really pretty sound, pretty solid on special teams in almost every phase. I think itap because everybody was involved in it and I think thatap the best thing.” The Buffs also have hired Chris Reinert as a quality control coach for special teams. … In the past, CU has given one of the coaches the title of recruiting coordinator. Under Dorrell, that responsibility will be handled by newly hired director of player personnel Bob Lopez. … Aziz Shittu, who played the last four years in the NFL, is joining the Buffs as a graduate assistant working with the defensive line. Shittu, 25, played at Stanford and was defensive MVP of the 2016 Rose Bowl. He was undrafted, but has spent time the last four years with the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys.