Thursday, May 16, 2013

CU Coaches Impressive at Coaches Caravan

CU Men's Basketball Coach Tad Boyle

Today I attended a coaches caravan lunch featuring University of Colorado head football coach Mike McIntyre, men's basketball coach Tad Boyle, and women's basketball coach Linda Lappe.  The lunch was hosted by Pasta Jay's in Lone Tree.  Some observations:

Coach MacIntyre (MM) was very impressive.  My wife, who is not much of a football fan, said afterwards "what a coach! I loved that speech."  MM talked about how he is getting the players to support each other as a team (more enthusiasm at practices, accountability groups, etc).  My wife's reaction tells me he'll be good with the Moms in recruiting.

MM said the Buffs are going to have 5 camps on campus this summer.  He said there are "10 or 11" BCS caliber players coming out of Colorado this year and coaches are visiting all those schools for the 2 allowed visits.  He was asked how he has been received by the former players and he said that is going very well.  He's going to have ex-Buff and New England Patriot Chad Brown speak to the team in June.

MM said he had an hour 45 minute lunch with Bill McCartney at Pasta Jays in Boulder recently where he picked
McCartney's brain on how to be successful at CU.  Good to hear the original Coach Mac is still supporting the program.

Tad Boyle said the team will play 31 games this year.  He said they have 4 exempt games that count as 1 towards the ncaa limit.  One of those will be Wyoming at home, and he's working on the other 3.  He said Harvard will be coming to Boulder, and he mentioned the Oklahoma State neutral court game in Las Vegas as well as the Kansas game.  He said the toughest part of his job right now is scheduling, and not recruiting, because it's tough to get teams to come to Boulder with the Buffs recent success.  Tad had high praise for each of the incoming recruits and said "we won't miss a beat" because of the Roberson departure.

Linda Lappe seems to have women's basketball headed in the right direction.  Tad Boyle called her the "CU coach of the year" (other than the Buffs ncaa champion skiing coach).  I realized I don't follow women's hoops much - I didn't know the Buffs beat Louisville at home last season and that Louisville later made it to the ncaa women's championship game.  Lappe said the return visit to Louisville this year will be very tough. 

All 3 coaches were very personable, meeting with fans individually before and afterwards.  The coach's caravan is a good idea.  I've been to a few recruiting lunches before but I liked this event better as it was easier for the average fan to talk to the coaches.

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